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Law change leaves EMTs in legal quandary Some rescue squad members are upset to find their lifesaving efforts are illegal.
Paul Hammel
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
BEAVER CROSSING, Neb.
BEAVER CROSSING, Neb. -- Merlin Stuhr figured he helped his community by becoming an emergency medical technician.
It has allowed Stuhr, a 60-year-old farmer, to provide additional lifesaving measures, like administering oxygen and some medications, during rescue calls for the Waco Volunteer Fire Department.
But Stuhr was stunned to find out this week that he no longer is a lifesaver but a lawbreaker -- one who needed to self-report his violation to the state and quit applying his EMT skills on rescue calls.
Anger, frustration and confusion just begin to describe the reactions of Stuhr and other EMTs about a poorly communicated change in Nebraska law that has left dozens of small-town emergency responders in a legal and bureaucratic quandary.
"Anything that does any good . . . you're telling us we can't do," Stuhr said during a meeting this week with a state official.
The problem, discovered only recently, stems from Nebraska's 1998 adoption of a national standard for emergency medical services. State licensing requirements were dropped for some small-town rescue squads -- but the state's 6,500 EMTs were barred from performing lifesaving skills unless they were affiliated with a state-licensed squad.
Dozens of EMTs and perhaps 35 to 75 rescue squads in the state's smallest communities are affected.
.....
Clicky
Paul Hammel
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
BEAVER CROSSING, Neb.
BEAVER CROSSING, Neb. -- Merlin Stuhr figured he helped his community by becoming an emergency medical technician.
It has allowed Stuhr, a 60-year-old farmer, to provide additional lifesaving measures, like administering oxygen and some medications, during rescue calls for the Waco Volunteer Fire Department.
But Stuhr was stunned to find out this week that he no longer is a lifesaver but a lawbreaker -- one who needed to self-report his violation to the state and quit applying his EMT skills on rescue calls.
Anger, frustration and confusion just begin to describe the reactions of Stuhr and other EMTs about a poorly communicated change in Nebraska law that has left dozens of small-town emergency responders in a legal and bureaucratic quandary.
"Anything that does any good . . . you're telling us we can't do," Stuhr said during a meeting this week with a state official.
The problem, discovered only recently, stems from Nebraska's 1998 adoption of a national standard for emergency medical services. State licensing requirements were dropped for some small-town rescue squads -- but the state's 6,500 EMTs were barred from performing lifesaving skills unless they were affiliated with a state-licensed squad.
Dozens of EMTs and perhaps 35 to 75 rescue squads in the state's smallest communities are affected.
.....
Clicky
