Ambulance Driver = EMT = Medic

MMiz

MMiz

I put the M in EMTLife
Community Leader
Messages
5,612
Reaction score
479
Points
83
For a couple years now, since 9/11, there has been an effort to coin the term "Medic" for everyone working in EMS.

The reasoning is that there are far too many titles, many outdated, and they don't reflect the skill and responsibility of the job.

Here are two videos that give more info.

Medic PSA: Windows Media Player - Real Player

What do you think?

I'm all for it.
 
If I were an EMT-B, I would love to be called a medic as I think the term medic is a lot more powerful and prestigious than "EMT".

However, if we start generalizing everyone in EMS to be a medic, how would we distinguish between those who are 'truly' medics?

There's a grand difference between an EMT-B and a Paramedic. There has to be some way to disguinish the two to the public so that they know how much more training a Paramedic has.
 
Raf,

You're absolutely right, and that's the whole "deal" with the new term.

The issue is that they want a standard term to refer to EMT/Medics as, and I understand the need. When I hear reports on the news, I hear about police, fire, and...

  • Emergency workers
  • EMTS
  • Paramedics
  • Ambulance crew
  • Emergency services
  • Ambulance drivers
  • Ambulance attendants
They simply want a blanket term.

If we can call LPNs and RNs both nurses, and DOs and MDs both doctors, why can't we call EMTs and Paramedics both paramedics?
 
I think the Israelis differentiate between Medic and Paramedic
 
What a dumb commercial..

Up here we call everyone a paramedic. We have three levels; Primary care paramedic, Intermediate Care Paramedic and Advanced Care Paramedic.

But then again we do alot of stuff differently up here;)
 
I think I like your system a lot better nsmedic..
Primary, Intermediate, and Advanced. Simple and straightforward. You can also generalize everyone as "Paramedics" or "Medics".

The U.S. is very conservative with change in titles like this however (just like we are stubborn to change to the Metric system). So I doubt the titles will ever change. (and if they did "officially" change, the old titles would still remain).
 
Let me say right now that the PSA I just saw made me dumber than I ever thought I could be. I want those 10 seconds of my life back!!! I agree that blanket terms may confuse some people as to skills and education but for lay people it is so much easier since they don't know the specific term. Plus the term "Medic" rolls off your tongue some much easier than Ambulance Driver EMT-ABCDEFG Worker...From now on I want all of my certifications listed when people address me ;-)
 
This might offend some people but......

I have over three years of formal education just to get the title I have. Our BLS level has a year long course. I don't know how I would feel sharing my title with someone who took a 120hr evening course.....

Take it or leave it...
 
nsmedic393 said:
This might offend some people but......

I have over three years of formal education just to get the title I have. Our BLS level has a year long course. I don't know how I would feel sharing my title with someone who took a 120hr evening course.....

Take it or leave it...
Click to expand...

I'm not saying what you said is wrong, or irrational, but I think you may be missing the bigger picture.

This isn't about your title or my title. The idea behind the term "Medic" is our title.

If an MD can share his or her title with a person who got a PhD in sociology, and a RN can share his or her title with someone who is an LPN, why can you share yours?

Having an ego isn't a bad thing, but what about compromise for the common good?
 
nsmedic393 said:
What a dumb commercial..

Up here we call everyone a paramedic. We have three levels; Primary care paramedic, Intermediate Care Paramedic and Advanced Care Paramedic.

But then again we do alot of stuff differently up here;)
Click to expand...

And down here, everyone is an EMT: EMT-Basic, EMT-Intermediate, EMT-Paramedic

Medic is a lot easier to say and understand in a stressfull situation than EMT.
 
ffemt8978 said:
Medic is a lot easier to say and understand in a stressfull situation than EMT.
Click to expand...

I find I get called an ambulance driver by people who are experiencing a stressfull situation more than anything and if not that than they call me adrian.

As far as who should be called what, its all symantics. If you think that the person you are picking up off the ground cares what your title is you are wrong.

To clarify a little we have four levels of registration PCP, ICP and ACP which I have stated above and we also have a MFR (medical first responder level).
MFRs are used in rural fire departments to provide first response services in areas where the ambulance has a longer than normal response time. They treat until we arrive and do not transport. This MFR level is akin to your EMT-B level. They are registered under the same medical director but are not titles as paramedics because their education does not reflect as such.

Annother consideration is that if you break it down, the EMT-B is actually closer to a "technician" than my definition of a paramedic. They are given a crash course in pre-hospital medicine and they hit the streets. Maybe its just me, but that does not reflect the definition of a "paramedic" than I have in my head.

Like I said earlier, its not going to matter to the person lying on their back one little bit what your title is. And I will concede that US medics all share the title of EMT-X,Y,Q or whatever so why not change the title to medic-x,y,q. In the end its the same person performing the same treatment.
 
i thought there was 3 EMTs, B-Basic, I-Intermediate and P-Paramedic?????

why not use the term EMT instead of medic? i think medic and i think back to war movies where they called them all medics and the guy had the nickname "doc".

of course then people who go "WTF is an EMT?" which was why my instructor taught us to introduce ourselves as emergency medical technicians...

nevermind, there's no good answer to this.
 
Our chief and a lot of the people in the dept are ex-military so everyone with ems training,from 1st responders to paramedics,are usually called "medics" around here.A lot of the people we take care of also seem to use the term medic or emt no matter the level training.Personally I(an EMT)answer to any of them and don't really care.I look at the term "medic" as kind of generic like "nurse".Most people in the hospital don't know or really care wheter the person is a CNA,LPN,or RN to them they are just "nurse" and out in the field performing emergency medicine injuried/sick folks don't know or care about titles either-your there to help them and that's all that really matters.
 
I've gone up to many patients and said "Hi, my name is Matt, and I'm an EMT with ---." I can't even count the number of people who ask what an EMT is.

My response is always "I'm a medic," and they immediately know that I mean.
 
So what is the difference between someone calling a Sgt. on the local PD "Officer" rather than his/her rank? It's easier for the public. Why confuse them so much, simplify. Yes, perhaps EMT would be the best solution because it would be the generic title rather than Medic. However, I don't see how simply assuming someone is a Medic could offend others. Keep the ranks and professional titles for documents, introductions and within the departments. If we attempt to specify each licensure to the public then they will just generalize it themselves. My 2 cents.
 
We are all EMT's here too. I get asked ALL the time what an EMT is, and my friends/family always call me a medic even though I've told them a thousand times I'm not. I'd love to be called a medic, it's more prestigious sounding, and you don't get asked "Well what's that?" but I have 8 months more of school before I can do that.

And no offense to the Paramedics here, but I'd say about half the paramedics I've met no matter how good/or nice they are, have a bit of an ego about thier status and would be REALLY pissed to have thier assistants be categorized in the same way.

Btw, I usually answer the question: I assist the paramedic. Because here we do get to help on scene but generally all we do is the paperwork and driving to the hospital (Medic always drives to the scene, unless for some reason they don't feel like it).

I think smokemonkey had it right there is no good answer for this.
 
"ex-military so everyone with ems training,from 1st responders to paramedics,are usually called "medics" around here."

That's what got me in trouble. I got *****ed out for my screenname because of it too. Although I was never in the military, I grew up around it, and my dad's war stories made it stick too.

And yeah, everyone says "An EM-what?" Then to make matters worse, when I say "Technician" they look at me as if they think I'm the telecom guy from Verizon. :P
 
rcmedic said:
"ex-military so everyone with ems training,from 1st responders to paramedics,are usually called "medics" around here."

That's what got me in trouble. I got *****ed out for my screenname because of it too. Although I was never in the military, I grew up around it, and my dad's war stories made it stick too.

And yeah, everyone says "An EM-what?" Then to make matters worse, when I say "Technician" they look at me as if they think I'm the telecom guy from Verizon. :P
Click to expand...


try being an auto tech!

"automotive technician? oh you mean mechanic!"

"whatever..."

so i went from working on cars and being a tech to working on people and still being a tech and people still thinking technician doesnt fit in there somehow.

i just say something to the effect of "we're the people that show up in the ambulances when you call 911" its dumbed down but EVERYONE understands it.
 
Usually, for me when I tell someone i am an EMT and they give me that :unsure: :unsure: crazy look. I just tell them i work for the ambulance. Then its like OHHHH...

But then, just about every single time comes the next question.....


"Whats the difference between you and the other guy?"

I tell'em the other guy is the Paramedic. And that is followed by the same question..

"Well whats the difference?"
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I liked how many Acadian providers were in there ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top