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I read your article 'Is it time for the 25k Paramedic', and you
have made some very good points. I have experienced the inferior
treatment we get from A/E staff both sides of the pond, and
agree it is a lack of public education that causes this.
I will say, however, that there is a much better public image
here in the US, because the Department of Transport (I've always
thought it funny that they regulate EMS!) has been actively
advertising Paramedics and their roles and responsibilities
since the mid 60s/early 70s (Paramedic term introduced in 1966
in the NHTSA white papers.)
The structure of EMS, as set out by the Texas Dept Health (TDH),
has Emergency Care Attendants (First Responders, 40hrs, 48hrs
clinical) EMT-Basic (approx 100hrs class, 100hrs clinical),
EMT-Intermediate (100hrs class, 150hrs clinical. They follow the
NREMT-I/85 curriculum), EMT-Paramedic (unsure of the requiremnts,
run over 2 semesters though), and Licensed Paramedic
(EMT-Paramedic who has sat the Associate Degree, which we call a
Diploma. It is general education like Maths and English, which
is
really simple for us given our education standards.) All the
above primarily follow the DOT National Standards, and in fact,
state testing is being dropped next year in favour of National
Register only. It is difficult to understand how rare an NREMT
is around here, when I read the websites and textbooks at home I
thought everyone would be NR, but the reality is that a lot of
medics couldn't pass the much harder NREMT
exam.
EMS is taught through technical colleges with no interview and
the only
prerequisite being a CPR card, and so for this reason, the
quality of medic
can vary dramatically. Jobs as a transfer medic is relatively
easy to pick
up, but 911 is a little harder to come by. Most of these jobs
are Fire
Department, requiring cross-training as a firefighter.
Anyway, that is all I can think of now, if you, or anyone
reading this has any questions please forward them to me.
Regards,
Jamie Flynn,EMT
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