Re: Law enforcement first responders

[Guest guest]

Matt,

The Star of Life means nothing when on the bumper or window of DPS cars.

Troopers are not EMT trained, not even ECA trained. They have a smattering of

first aid training, most of which they never use and which is of dubious value;

however, I do know DPS troopers who are paramedics and EMTs, but they got

there on their own and usually were trained before they went to the DPS.

Now, that said, this is NOT a swipe at DPS officers in Texas. They have a

different role from ours, and they perform it well. I have asked troopers for

help many times and usually have found them to be helpful. Some will jump

right in and help you, some will only do what you ask them to do nicely, and

some

don't want to get their shiny shoes dirty. Not much different from other

folks we sometimes have to work with, is it?

I have also had disagreements with troopers; usually the disagreements are

with the raw recruits who haven't yet controlled their testosterone nor learned

a perspective to their job and those few remaining old farts who never wanted

to know anything about EMS to begin with and haven't learned.

Having been unfortunate enough to have driven across Utah numerous times, I

can say that there is good reason for Utah troopers to be EMS trained. EMS is

often many minutes if not hours away from an incident location. Weather often

prevents air response, and the trooper may find himself or herself doing a

dozen different jobs at once. What else is new? We all do that at times. I

have arrived on scene to find a car on fire, put out the fire, extricated and

treated the patient and directed traffic all at the same time. Well almost.

One of the reasons that we need to try to preserve the agency that we have is

so that there will be one unified agency which can address concerns such as

what sort of training all sorts of first responders should have, roles and

responsibilities at an incident scene, and so forth.

I fear that no matter what we do now the die is cast and we are not going to

maintain a cohesive agency.

See how I managed to spin that? The lawyer in me.

Gene

[Guest guest]

the other day i was walking through a parkinglot and noticed the back of a

police car had a sticker on it noting that the car was equipped with an AED.

im all for law enforcement having EMS training. i dont know if EVERY officer

should be required to have it, but a few opn each shift or so, it would be a

nice help for the public, but you dont want to keep them from their intended

job.

an a large scale collision in utah, if the troopers are providing medical

care for the first few mins before EMS shows up, whos directing traffic,

preserving possible crime scene, and looking out for the safety of other

motorists?

only potential problem is slight conflict of interest at times.

Law enforcement first responders

>

> I was recently surfing the web and ran across the following statements on

the

> Utah Highway Patrol's website.

>

> " The UHP adopts a policy that every trooper and sergeant will be Emergency

> Medical Technician (EMT) certified.The UHP adopts a policy that every

trooper

> and sergeant will be Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) certified. "

>

> " The Utah Highway Patrol provides Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)

training

> for its troopers. Emergency medical services are provided by the Utah

Highway

> Patrol because troopers are usually the first EMS providers on the scene

of

> an accident or illness out on the highway. "

>

> I was curious as to the list's thoughts regarding mandating EMT

certification

> for law enforcement personnel.

>

> Thanks,

> Wes

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Having law enforcement as EMT basics is a good idea. I worked as a City

Paramedic in a small town in Arizona that employed Police/EMTs. Since there

are times when PD arrive on scene first, they can at least start with

evaluation the ABCs and get a good history. There is nothing better than

arriving on scene and the patient is already on oxygen with a history taken.

We had a couple of cases where the cops had successful use of AEDs prior to

us getting on scene with our defibulator.

I know this may involve territory issues between EMS and PD but if we get

over our egos, it is better for the community.

Quinten

Firefighter/Paramedic

Law enforcement first responders

I was recently surfing the web and ran across the following statements on

the

Utah Highway Patrol's website.

" The UHP adopts a policy that every trooper and sergeant will be Emergency

Medical Technician (EMT) certified.The UHP adopts a policy that every

trooper

and sergeant will be Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) certified. "

" The Utah Highway Patrol provides Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)

training

for its troopers. Emergency medical services are provided by the Utah

Highway

Patrol because troopers are usually the first EMS providers on the scene of

an accident or illness out on the highway. "

I was curious as to the list's thoughts regarding mandating EMT

certification

for law enforcement personnel.

Thanks,

Wes

[Guest guest]

Texas DPS Academy includes " First Responder " training as part of its

curriculum. I would assume that is roughly the equivalent of ECA

training. I have found a couple of our local troopers listed on the

TDH BEM website's 'Certification Query'....indicating the level " Law

Enforcement " , the certification period for which is 2 years.

I don't recall seeing the " LE " level of EMS certification anywhere in

TDH BEM before- and it seems to be exclusive to DPS officers.

I suppose that this is some sort of arrangement between the

two 'state agencies' to allow for recognition of their training.

There is no requirement for maintaining, renewing, or upgrading that

certification. Officers are required to complete 40 hours of TCLEOSE

CE credits every two years- includes certain mandatory content, plus

elective content credits. Most, if not all medical or EMS related CE

falls under 'elective' credits.

After their training, troopers receive a small round

embroidered " EMS " patch. Some elect to wear this on their sleeve-

others do not. It does not indicate any level of certification.

The " Star of Life " displayed on some/ most DPS vehicles- it's there

if somebody put it there. It doesn't signify anything. Trooper cars

are equipped with a first aid kit as standard equipment.

To Wes's question- my thoughts: I don't think it should be mandated

for LE in general. I do appreciate that DPS provides at least some

training for their guys. There are certain local departments where it

would be a good idea, such as in those areas underserved by EMS- ie

long response times for an ambulance. Those officers would probably

agree, epsecially if they've felt helpless awaiting EMS.

Ron

>

> I was recently surfing the web and ran across the following

statements on the

> Utah Highway Patrol's website.

>

> " The UHP adopts a policy that every trooper and sergeant will be

Emergency

> Medical Technician (EMT) certified.The UHP adopts a policy that

every trooper

> and sergeant will be Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) certified. "

>

> " The Utah Highway Patrol provides Emergency Medical Technician

(EMT) training

> for its troopers. Emergency medical services are provided by the

Utah Highway

> Patrol because troopers are usually the first EMS providers on the

scene of

> an accident or illness out on the highway. "

>

> I was curious as to the list's thoughts regarding mandating EMT

certification

> for law enforcement personnel.

>

> Thanks,

> Wes

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

i do think that all law Enforcement should be a emt basic minuim fire

department minium

first Responders here in iowa the law enforcement are First responders or emt

basic due to the fact a large number are fire dept Vol or Rescue /Ambluance

squad trained

My law enforcement teacher told me as well as a lot of his students to go and

take a emt basic