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 Some services have a limit on the number set by the By-laws, most were written in the 50's. Since Andy posted something on this topic, I'd like to follow up with > something. Has anyone ever heard of a volunteer fire department/first > responder unit that say that they are limited on the number of people > they can take. > > Where I'm at, the local department has told several people that are > interested in helping has been told, & quot;sorry no openings & quot;. > They have more people on the fire side, than they have certified EMS > for first responders. Those that are certified are told we don't need > you, when there are times that maybe one certified person is in town. > > Some have expressed interest in starting another group of 1st responder > that will allow those that want to join, join. > > Your views? > > Wayne > > > --------------------------------- > Yahoo! Shopping > Find Great Deals on Holiday Gifts at Yahoo! Shopping > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 30, 2005 Report Share Posted December 30, 2005 Some services have a limit on the number set by the By-laws, most were written in the 50's. Since Andy posted something on this topic, I'd like to follow up with > something. Has anyone ever heard of a volunteer fire department/first > responder unit that say that they are limited on the number of people > they can take. > > Where I'm at, the local department has told several people that are > interested in helping has been told, & quot;sorry no openings & quot;. > They have more people on the fire side, than they have certified EMS > for first responders. Those that are certified are told we don't need > you, when there are times that maybe one certified person is in town. > > Some have expressed interest in starting another group of 1st responder > that will allow those that want to join, join. > > Your views? > > Wayne > > > --------------------------------- > Yahoo! Shopping > Find Great Deals on Holiday Gifts at Yahoo! Shopping > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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