Guest guest Posted December 28, 2005 Report Share Posted December 28, 2005 Hello, Would some of the people who have practiced outside of Texas comment please on how other states manage? I understand that Texas is a LOT more spread out than other states and of course, people can come up with other reasons how Texas is different from other states (though I fail to see how better food affects EMS care), but I would like to hear how other states manage. Do other states have as large a volunteer pool? Do the volunteer services maintain a MICU level? My fiancee moved to Texas from Connecticut and a high school friend of hers is now a paramedic. In the part of CT where she is from, volunteer EMS is only on a BLS level. If they need higher level of care, they call for a paid service to intercept from a larger community. I do not foresee volunteering dying out over time if paramedics require college education. There may be a rough period could aid us in making EMS a mandatory service for counties and cities above a certain population like fire and law enforcement. I do foresee paramedics becoming less common for a while and some areas working on a BLS or ALS level. I support college education requirements for paramedics and look forward to future enforcement that after a set date, to become a paramedic, one must have education to understand why we do things and not just because the protocols state to apply treatment " A " to scenario " a " . Maybe some of you are spoiled by the service where you work and the company you keep but in my experience, for every great medic I meet, I usually meet two that I would not want touching my kids. To reinforce the need for more education, consider this: How many of you were trained to believe that half of your EMS education happens before your certification and the rest occurs as you practice and experience over time? That is how I learned, even though I was lucky to have some great instruction in the classroom and CEs. Sorry, I seem to have wandered from my initial topic so to re-route, would people with EMS experience in other states comment on how volunteers contribute to EMS? Thank you, Andy Wheeler paramedic __________________________________ Yahoo! for Good - Make a difference this year. http://brand.yahoo.com/cybergivingweek2005/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 30, 2005 Report Share Posted December 30, 2005 In a message dated 12/30/2005 2:36:29 P.M. Central Standard Time, ftstems@... writes: Some services have a limit on the number set by the By-laws, most were written in the 50's. That was very common in the late 1970's all over the north east but than again in the late 1970's folks were beating down the doors to join for a variety of social reason and when that no longer became the case. They simply made by-law changes. Now changing a by-law can be fairly straightforward or it can be akin to a change to the US Constitution which Jefferson made specifically difficult to change for a reason. The answer to that question is of course generally found in the By-Laws themselves. Fun isn't it? Louis N. Molino, Sr., CET FF/NREMT-B/FSI/EMSI LNMolino@... (Office) (Office Fax) " A Texan with a Jersey Attitude " The comments contained in this E-mail are the opinions of the author and the author alone. I in no way ever intend to speak for any person or organization that I am in any way whatsoever involved or associated with unless I specifically state that I am doing so. Further this E-mail is intended only for its stated recipient and may contain private and or confidential materials retransmission is strictly prohibited unless placed in the public domain by the original author. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 30, 2005 Report Share Posted December 30, 2005 In a message dated 12/30/2005 2:36:29 P.M. Central Standard Time, ftstems@... writes: Some services have a limit on the number set by the By-laws, most were written in the 50's. That was very common in the late 1970's all over the north east but than again in the late 1970's folks were beating down the doors to join for a variety of social reason and when that no longer became the case. They simply made by-law changes. Now changing a by-law can be fairly straightforward or it can be akin to a change to the US Constitution which Jefferson made specifically difficult to change for a reason. The answer to that question is of course generally found in the By-Laws themselves. Fun isn't it? Louis N. Molino, Sr., CET FF/NREMT-B/FSI/EMSI LNMolino@... (Office) (Office Fax) " A Texan with a Jersey Attitude " The comments contained in this E-mail are the opinions of the author and the author alone. I in no way ever intend to speak for any person or organization that I am in any way whatsoever involved or associated with unless I specifically state that I am doing so. Further this E-mail is intended only for its stated recipient and may contain private and or confidential materials retransmission is strictly prohibited unless placed in the public domain by the original author. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 30, 2005 Report Share Posted December 30, 2005 Find out what their reason for limiting their size is. If the department is worth its salt, it provides personal protective equipment, pager/radio/both, and some form of training to the membership AS A BARE MINIMUM. All of that costs money, and believe it or not, money is frequently in short supply in volunteer organizations, including those supported by taxes. I've been involved in organizations that were grateful that lots of people wanted to join, but the organizations simply couldn't afford to support that many people. phil __________________________________ Yahoo! for Good - Make a difference this year. http://brand.yahoo.com/cybergivingweek2005/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 30, 2005 Report Share Posted December 30, 2005 Find out what their reason for limiting their size is. If the department is worth its salt, it provides personal protective equipment, pager/radio/both, and some form of training to the membership AS A BARE MINIMUM. All of that costs money, and believe it or not, money is frequently in short supply in volunteer organizations, including those supported by taxes. I've been involved in organizations that were grateful that lots of people wanted to join, but the organizations simply couldn't afford to support that many people. phil __________________________________ Yahoo! for Good - Make a difference this year. http://brand.yahoo.com/cybergivingweek2005/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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