Look around the EMS social media world for any period of time and you’ll see a bunch of worn-out clichés. One of the more popular ones is “We do everything a doctor does, but at 80 miles an hour.”
Ok. I’ll accept your cliché. And being a betting type, I’ll raise you one. Let’s assume and accept that we, as EMS providers, are practicing medicine — because we are. And we’re even diagnosing patients. (Let that one sink in for a moment. I’ll wait.)
Ok, you’re back. So, yes, we’ve accepted the position that EMS providers are practicing medicine. That means we’re getting a medical education as well, right? And said medical education, regardless of how and where it’s delivered, should be at a level above high school, shouldn’t it?
You’re darned right it should be. As I’ve mentioned in the past, for the paramedic provider, we’re trying to condense the critical parts of a bachelor’s degree, medical school, and an emergency medicine residency into, at best, a two year program. That means there’s a lot of knowledge coming at students quickly.
Yet, of all of the education programs out there, EMS education seems to operate on the open enrollment model. Did your check clear? You too can try to become an EMT or a paramedic.
When we accept students who can’t express themselves in the English language, do simple mathematics, or have a rudimentary knowledge of the basic sciences of biology and chemistry, it should be little surprise that the course completion rates and National Registry exam passage rates are abysmal. It should be little surprise that EMS students are constantly posting questions about examination and certification processes that could be discovered with a simple Google search. And it should be even less of a surprise that EMS doesn’t receive the recognition and respect that other allied health professions earn.
If we want EMS to be treated as a profession, maybe it’s time to enforce some entrance requirements. Not everyone gets to be an astronaut or a starting NFL quarterback. Maybe, just maybe, it’s time to say that you don’t get to play doctor in the back of an ambulance unless you have some minimum academic credentials.
Never mind 80mph. Its more like do it within a 20 minute time frame from patient contact to ED delivery. With agencies looking to get more and more out of their employees, it’s becoming about productivity and time on a call rather than better patient care, clinical judgment and good documentation that the proper education gives. #first
Personally, I have more of a problem with the “but at 80 miles per hour.”, part. Everyone talks about how we should be making ambulances safer, but they all ignore the biggest safety factor of all.
Which is, don’t drive like an asshole.
but… but… but…
WHAT ABOUT THE VOLUNTEERS?!?!?!?!?!
we can’t have standards or the volunteers will go away and then we’ll have to pay for EMS…..
/snark off
The volunteers have to pass the same requirements as the paid to be certified/licensed, that should never change. That said, the last volunteer department I was in had a high level of people who had undergraduate and graduate degrees to meet the requirements of their paying professions. It is the emergency response side of their lives that had the lower academic requirements.
The snark isn’t about volunteers having education or the quality of people that are volunteers. The snark is about “what about the volunteers” being a reason to keep EMS education requirements down. No one stopped nurses from elevating their profession to a bachelor’s degree level, and it turns out they had a good idea, and no one is advocating turning nursing into a volunteer service.