Del. Ambulance attendants must become EMTs

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TODAY IS Monday, December 31 , 2001

Ambulance attendants must become EMTs

State fire commission requires advanced training after Jan. 1

By CHIP GUY

Sussex Bureau reporter

12/29/2001

Delaware ambulance attendants who provide basic emergency care will

be better equipped to treat patients after Jan. 1, when new requirements go into

effect.

Attendants had to be certified as basic emergency medical

technicians by Monday to meet a requirement adopted by the State Fire Prevention

Commission in 1998 to improve care.

Hundreds of volunteers certified as ambulance attendants to work in

ambulances operated by fire companies in Delaware have undergone 80 hours of

training to obtain the higher certification.

Nearly 1,000 people have the advanced certification. Before the

change, there were more than 1,100 people certified as ambulance attendants.

Advocates of the training said the result should be better

monitoring and care of patients during emergencies and better treatment on the

way to the hospital.

The advanced training also should give hospital emergency rooms more

information to help prepare for arriving patients.

Most companies in the state are ready for the change, but a few

smaller ones are not. At least two companies may need to pay people to fill in.

The Carlisle Fire Company in Milford has six volunteers with the

advanced certification and two enrolled in classes, said the company's

president, Francis .

That could mean problems in getting ambulances out for calls because

the new rules say an ambulance cannot transport patients without an emergency

technician aboard. Carlisle handled 1,800 calls in Kent and Sussex counties last

year.

Neighboring ambulance companies may need to pick up calls for

Carlisle until the company finds a solution, which could include hiring staff,

said.

" We don't know what it means for us, " said. " We don't want to

give up the ambulance service, because we feel we owe it to the public. "

State officials said they think the training problem exists in only

a few small companies.

" I don't have any perception of any public risk with this, " said

Bill son, director of the state's office of Emergency Medical Services.

Joe Murabito, director of the Delaware State Fire School, said the

number of people who now have basic emergency medical technician certification

suggests most found the time to get the additional training.

" Plus or minus some people coming in, we're almost where we were, "

Murabito said.

Improvement in quality

State emergency medical officials said the change was needed to

improve the quality of basic emergency care and meet new federal Medicare

billing guidelines expected soon.

" The whole area of emergency medicine has been growing by leaps and

bounds, " said Steve Austin, a past president of the Delaware Volunteer Firemen's

Association, which advocated the switch in 1998. " The quicker the patient can be

diagnosed and treated, the more chance they have of surviving. "

The requirement for advanced training will affect ambulances

responding to basic calls such as fractures.

More critical calls, such as suspected heart attacks, require

paramedics to respond to assist crews in ambulances.

Paramedics must complete about 1,400 hours of training and are

authorized to administer many drugs. All three of Delaware's counties have paid

paramedic forces that respond to critical calls.

Ambulance attendants were required to have 80 hours of training,

which advocates thought was not enough even for more basic calls.

son said it is important for ambulance crews to collect a

patient's vital signs at the scene and on the way to the hospital.

But some technology used to do that requires training that ambulance

attendants did not have.

The new certification standard requires ambulance personnel to

complete up to 140 hours of course work and pass written and practical exams.

Certified ambulance attendants were allowed to become rated as basic

emergency technicians by adding 80 hours of training, Murabito said.

The state fire school offered courses based on national standards

and administered the tests. The General Assembly provided nearly $400,000 to

reimburse fire departments for the classes.

Haley, chief of the Claymont Fire Company in New Castle County,

said the new standards were overdue.

Other states, such as land, already require ambulance crews to

be certified as basic emergency medical technicians.

" It better prepares one to deal with patients in the emergency

setting, " Haley said. " There's more training, and the training is a little bit

more in depth. "

Difficult for some

But getting to the higher level has been a problem for departments

such as the Milton Fire Company.

Milton's fire chief, Lynn , said paying technicians to cover

gaps could cost up to $30,000 for each full-time employee.

Milton already spends about $40,000 a year to augment its volunteer

staff with one full-time emergency medical technician and a part-time

technician.

said he doesn't disapprove of the new standards, but thinks

valuable experience may be lost.

" My problem is they put no mechanism in place for grandfathering

certain levels of experience, " said , who has worked for 31 years as an

ambulance attendant.

" A textbook student out of school who is very green, they look to

these people for guidance, " said. " ... Come Jan. 1, I'm a moron, and all

I can do is drive. "

said the training was too much for some volunteers already

strapped for time with jobs, families and fire company duties. He said he did

not have time to get the additional training.

State fire officials said there had to be uniformity in the

standards, so grandfathering was not possible.

son, the state emergency medical services director, said the

problems in Milford and Milton appear to be isolated. He said he is confident

they will find a solution.

Reach Chip Guy at 856-7373 or cguy@....

The News Journal/GARY EMEIGH

Reid, an ambulance driver for Carlisle Fire Company of

Milford, loads supplies after transporting a patient to the hospital.

Carlisle Fire Company President Francis may have to hire

more staff temporarily.

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