An example…

Of what’s wrong with so many of the people attracted to EMS.

So, I’m on an unnamed EMS forum/bulletin board and there’s a guy asking about the accelerated program that I’m familiar with from having precepted their students. The program is an all day program that’s very quick.  It’s also got an abysmal passage rate and the medics that do manage to get through it have trouble functioning as medics.  A lot of them are getting their paramedic certification for the fire department.

So, I proceed to politely warn this guy, focusing on the fact that it’s a lot of material to learn in not a lot of time.  He proceeds to post back (full of misspellings, by the way) that he doesn’t have a strong background academically, that he finished EMT classes in December and is currently in AEMT classes.  He says that he wants to do an accelerated program “just because I don’t want to go to school for another year.”

And this is why EMS is, at best, a trade, not a profession.  This is why most medics can’t be trusted to apply clinical judgment and must work from cookbook protocols.  And this is why abrasive  medical directors like Paul Pepe, Chris Colwell, and Paul Hinchey feel justified in limiting what paramedics can do.   However, with attitudes like this prospective paramedic has, who can blame them?

Sorry, I’m in a mood.