1) The Eagles represent the medical directors of the 50 largest EMS systems, not the 50 best EMS systems.
2) JEMS may have “Journal” in its name, but it is not a peer reviewed academic journal.
3) Calling yourself an EMS professional doesn’t make you a professional.
4) Despite their claims to be the voice of the field EMS provider, the overwhelming majority of the board of directors of the National Association of EMTs are actually EMS managers.
5) Good EMS systems aren’t good solely because of response time or cardiac arrest survival rates.
6) Anytime the committee is an EMS and Trauma Committee, be assured the nurses will take over and set the agenda.
7) EMTs and paramedics diagnose patients. And if you aren’t making a diagnosis, you probably don’t have any business treating the patient.
8) Yes, Page, Wolfberg, and Wirth is a law firm for EMS, but it’s even more so a consulting company for Medicare/Medicaid billing.
9) Anytime you hear the term “high performance EMS,” expect to see ambulances parked in parking lots, not based in stations.
10) The only difference between EMTs and Paramedics is that Paramedics have more ways to kill a patient. Good assessment skills are something that ANY certification level can master.
11) Malpractice insurance doesn’t make you “more attractive” to plaintiffs. It’s merely self-protection in light of the reality that your EMS employer may not have your best interests at heart in the event of a malpractice claim.
12) As long as the same people are involved in the upper echelons of EMS management and education, EMS 2.0 is gonna look a lot like EMS 1.0.
13) And another uncomfortable truth, albeit not EMS…. The Dallas Cowboys will never again go past the first round of the playoffs until Tony Romo goes away.
Thank you!
Most of those statements are factually correct. The connotation that goes with some of them are not necessarily correct.
So why would guys in their fourth decade of service want to run for a leadership position in NAEMT? Simple – and same answer as everybody gives when they first make the decision to try to “move up” in their organization – they want to make it better. The fact that they are now in management positions, trying to make EMS better, does not detract from NAEMT’s work to serve as the voice of the field EMS provider. Trust me – I’ve had discussions with several about issues, and they are trying very hard to make sure that the voice of the field provider is heard. The challenge – same as always – EMS providers can’t agree amongst themselves about what their voice should say. Get with it, folks.
About that Cowboy’s thing? I’m really sorry. Signed, Eli Manning