Go Ahead And Tell US

[triemal04]

7 fruitful years...which I guess means I'm in for 7 years of famine if you believe in that sort of thing...

 

[abckidsmom]

There has been very little improvement in EMS nationwide since the 70s. Almost every "improvement" that anyone can point to really isn't an improvement in EMS. It's usually just an improvement in medicine or in technology, which we aren't responsible for.

The educational requirements aren't much more than they were then. EMT school was 80 hours in the 70s. We've added 80 hours worth of extra material in just the last fifteen years, yet it's still only 110 hours. That's why the EMT course is such a joke now. They've had to seriously water down the content in order to fit in the pharmacology and defibrillation without raising the hours and upsetting the vollies. Consequently, previous generation EMTs were much better educated, so that's the opposite of progress.

On the positive side, the paramedic degree programs are almost everywhere now, so that infrastructure is there for the future. But that's the future, not now. And the vollies and fire departments will fight any expansion of that. So really, I have to say I have seen no real progress in the last thirty years. It's still just a low education tech job that pays crap and attracts the lowest common denominator of society.

Maybe my glasses are a little more rose-colored than yours, and I certainly haven't been doing this since the 70s, but I have to disagree with you that nothing's changed.

Overall quality of medics, taming the cowboys, improved system dynamics, all of these work together to make things work better than they used to.

The pay isn't completely crap, we live quite comfortably on just my husband's salary and a little bit of part-time stuff...with 5 kids, that's nothing to scoff at.

I'm intrigued by your final comment, though. Do you really think that EMS attracts the lowest common denominator of society? It's anecdotal, but I know lots of educated, middle-to-upper-middle class kids who are choosing EMS as a career. And this in the center of the vollie-laden universe, VA. "Birthplace of the Rescue Squad" and all that jazz.

 

[NolaRabbit]

I've been in EMS for almost eight years, got my gold patch in November. My SO is an RN in the local trauma center ER, which gives us plenty enough common ground to be able to talk shop without feeling like our lives revolve around work.

 

[AJ Hidell]

Maybe my glasses are a little more rose-colored than yours, and I certainly haven't been doing this since the 70s, but I have to disagree with you that nothing's changed.

Oh, I see a lot of little improvements here and there. But I was addressing the overall state of the profession nationwide, not small local victories. Most medics in the country are still attending accelerated patch factories and practicing at a technical (as opposed to medical) level, with a complete inability to reason outside of the cookbook.

What has changed for the better is administration. Systems have learned at least a little bit from the lawsuits over the years and have reined in some of the cowboys with policies and procedures that limit their potential for killing themselves or someone else. That's not progress of EMS. That's simple risk management. Safety of lifting? Nursing was teaching that for a century before EMS finally got on board. This is why I said that almost every "improvement" in EMS is directly attributed to another profession, and not ourselves. All these changes have been thrust upon us, not created by us. That's not progress. That's just playing catch up with the rest of the world.

I'm intrigued by your final comment, though. Do you really think that EMS attracts the lowest common denominator of society? It's anecdotal, but I know lots of educated, middle-to-upper-middle class kids who are choosing EMS as a career. And this in the center of the vollie-laden universe, VA. "Birthplace of the Rescue Squad" and all that jazz.

In most of the country, EMS is not a career to be chosen because there simply is no career path. It's either a job with an employer that offers no long future, or it's a volunteer hobby, or it's a side job for rookie firemen. Hardly a career. There are statistically few places where it is a true career option. But yes, because of that, it does attract the lowest common denominator. People who are not career minded. People for whom the practice of medicine is not the lure. People who are just looking for a hobby not requiring much commitment. People who have every intention of using EMS as nothing more than a stepping stone to something else. People who are looking for the fastest and easiest way to get a patch, and would leave tomorrow if they were told they needed an actual college education to practice. People who would quit tomorrow if we removed the sirens from the ambulances.

Face it, if we were attracting the right kind of people, none of the above factors would be relevant. We wouldn't have the overwhelming turnover rate we have. We would have more than a handful of people on an EMS discussion forum with fifteen or more years in the field.

For all our local victories, the big picture remains very, very bleak.

 

[EmsPrincess*]

I agree I wouldn't want significant other working same job as I do.

 

[BossyCow]

There has been very little improvement in EMS nationwide since the 70s. Almost every "improvement" that anyone can point to really isn't an improvement in EMS. It's usually just an improvement in medicine or in technology, which we aren't responsible for.

The educational requirements aren't much more than they were then. EMT school was 80 hours in the 70s. We've added 80 hours worth of extra material in just the last fifteen years, yet it's still only 110 hours. That's why the EMT course is such a joke now. They've had to seriously water down the content in order to fit in the pharmacology and defibrillation without raising the hours and upsetting the vollies. Consequently, previous generation EMTs were much better educated, so that's the opposite of progress.

On the positive side, the paramedic degree programs are almost everywhere now, so that infrastructure is there for the future. But that's the future, not now. And the vollies and fire departments will fight any expansion of that. So really, I have to say I have seen no real progress in the last thirty years. It's still just a low education tech job that pays crap and attracts the lowest common denominator of society.

Does any part of the above post have anything to do with the original topic or is it just another opportunity to harp on the same topic!

 

[karaya]

Does any part of the above post have anything to do with the original topic or is it just another opportunity to harp on the same topic!

He's responding to an off topic question that was posted earlier.

 

[reaper]

Does any part of the above post have anything to do with the original topic or is it just another opportunity to harp on the same topic!

Maybe because he was asked what changes have been seen in EMS, since his time in.

If more people cared about increasing education, EMS would not be filled with uneducated people, that have no buisness treating a stray animal!

This is an EMS forum. Where else should we talk about about making EMS better, On the FD foums?