The TV shows and movies make it look like EMT's are out saving lives everyday. You get the 911 call and turn on your 100 watt whooper and off you go to save someone. The reality is most calls are pretty basic, someone is sick or has been injured and you're their caregiver and a ride to the emergency room.
EMT's and cops use positives to describe a negative many times, like asking another EMT if they've seen any good trauma lately. But most of the time your job is to simply be a caregiver, to care for someone who's sick or been injured, to hold their hand talk softly and make a bad day a little better on the way to the hospital.
Other days are hours and hours of boredom interrupted only by moments of sheer panic, then your training kicks in and yes on that day you do save a life.
I really hope our fire district becomes more proactive in getting volunteers in our medically under-served community. If we hope to get people to volunteer we need to let those who have an interest in becoming a volunteer firefighter fight fires, but we also need to include women in the EMS side of the fire district.
Women are excellent caregivers and make great EMR's, EMT's and Paramedics. But the truth is few women have any interest in becoming a firefighter. Only 3% of firefighters are women in the U.S., but they make up around 50% of private ambulance and EMS services.
To force everyone who may have an interest in being a caregiver and volunteering on the EMS side of our fire district is removing half the population of our small community before we even get started.
The vast majority of calls to the LMRFD are Basic Life Support calls that an EMT and a EMR can handle just fine. (EMR $250 for 48 hours of training, EMT $1000-$1500 for 184 hours of training)
We need to become more proactive rather than reactive in our approach to emergency medical services here. And truth is an EMR or EMT course does not make an EMT. Book learning the didactic side and 16 hours of clinical rotations is the beginning. What you learn on calls with an experienced EMT or Paramedic is what makes you a great EMT and valuable asset in our local EMS system.
Kids here in Dolan Springs have little to do but get into trouble and sadly drugs. We could start a program for the kids where they could learn about EMS. They could become an EMT and be an asset rather than a problem.
If they find they love the job of being an EMT and being a caregiver they could take paramedic training. With some experience as a paramedic in Arizona it's only a couple semesters and they're an RN. A registered nurse making really good money.
And unlike other the other new RN's in their class who finish with little hands on experience, when our kids graduate they would be experienced RN paramedics.
Some may even love it and go on to become physician assistants, nurse practitioners or even physicians and come back and serve their little town.
Just a thought...... Jay
No comments:
Post a Comment