Equivalency?

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leviathan

leviathan

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Hey guys,

I was considering doing residency in the US in the future, and might like to do some part-time work in EMS while I'm there.

I have my Emergency Medical Responder training, and I'd like to know if this is recognized as equivalent to the EMT-B...if not, could you check this link and see how the skills compare to the EMT-B, and give me a rough idea of what skills I might be lacking in? Lastly, if it is not recognizable, but I do have the same knowledge/skills of an EMT-B, is there a way to challenge the course?

The link for the Canadian EMR program, and its description is here:

http://www.jibc.bc.ca/paramedic/programs/para_programs/emr.htm

Thanks for any help. :luck:
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leviathan said:
Hey guys,

I was considering doing residency in the US in the future, and might like to do some part-time work in EMS while I'm there.

I have my Emergency Medical Responder training, and I'd like to know if this is recognized as equivalent to the EMT-B...if not, could you check this link and see how the skills compare to the EMT-B, and give me a rough idea of what skills I might be lacking in? Lastly, if it is not recognizable, but I do have the same knowledge/skills of an EMT-B, is there a way to challenge the course?

The link for the Canadian EMR program, and its description is here:

http://www.jibc.bc.ca/paramedic/programs/para_programs/emr.htm

Thanks for any help. :luck:
Click to expand...

If I remember correctly, the National Registry of EMT's does not recognize training outside the US. Individual states may vary, and your best advice is probably to contact the state where you will live. The National Registry is just that -- a registry. Most states use it for initial testing, but it is up to the individual states to license or certify you. Some require that you maintain NREMT registration, but you cannot practice as an EMT with NREMT registration and not a state certification/license.

So, contact the state where you will reside. My hunch is that you will not be able to challenge the EMT-B exam that's administered by NREMT unless you complete a course in the US.

How are you going to work as an EMT when you are a resident? That will be demanding to say the least. If you want to volunteer, you can do that as a resident.
 
leviathan said:
Hey guys,

I was considering doing residency in the US in the future, and might like to do some part-time work in EMS while I'm there.

I have my Emergency Medical Responder training, and I'd like to know if this is recognized as equivalent to the EMT-B...if not, could you check this link and see how the skills compare to the EMT-B, and give me a rough idea of what skills I might be lacking in? Lastly, if it is not recognizable, but I do have the same knowledge/skills of an EMT-B, is there a way to challenge the course?

The link for the Canadian EMR program, and its description is here:

http://www.jibc.bc.ca/paramedic/programs/para_programs/emr.htm

Thanks for any help. :luck:
Click to expand...



On the surface, the skills listed on the link you provided look mostly EMT-Bish. You would have to expand on some of the things listed...i.e. it says assess and manage traumatic and medical emergencies. You might do these things at a good samaritan 'first aid' level or at the physician level. So to what extent are you trained to 'manage' these patients? One of the skills listed caught my eye--maintenance of IV lines. What does this mean? It doesn't say initiation, so I assume this means monitoring an established line for patency? Initiation (and subsequent 'maintenance') of lines is not an EMT-B skill here in the U.S.
 
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Based on what is listed, you are more likely equivalent to a US first responder then an EMT. Especially considering the length of the class (15 days) I would highly doubt any state would give you EMT certification.

Also, canjosh... most states allow EMT basics to monitor IV's (as long as they are not field started IV's) and only certain solutions are permissable, again depending on the state. In fact, some EMT-B can also start IV's in the field as well depending on your medical direction. I had to take a short class, do some IV's in the hospitals and bingo... I can do lines in the field.
 
haha hey my EMT class was only 15 days long :D

but i agree with what has been said - that website is pretty vague, and each state varies in their scope of practice for basics. I wish I could start IVs like izibo, but where I am (Los Angeles, CA), we are never more than 5 minutes from a hospital and ALS is readily available, so there's no point.
 
izibo said:
Based on what is listed, you are more likely equivalent to a US first responder then an EMT. Especially considering the length of the class (15 days) I would highly doubt any state would give you EMT certification.

Also, canjosh... most states allow EMT basics to monitor IV's (as long as they are not field started IV's) and only certain solutions are permissable, again depending on the state. In fact, some EMT-B can also start IV's in the field as well depending on your medical direction. I had to take a short class, do some IV's in the hospitals and bingo... I can do lines in the field.
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Right you can do whatever your medical direction says you can do. I was starting PIV's as an EMT-B in the hospital because that procedure had been delegated to me by a nurse. But that training is not provided for in the national standard curriculum. It's kinda like rapid sequence induction--not a skill tested in paramedic school--but nearly everybody in Texas (where I work) does it. You could say the same thing about field chest tubes or field post-mortem c-section by paramedics. The NHTSA is working on a new 'EMS Scope of Practice'. It specifically states that monitoring of IV lines is not an 'entry-level' EMT skill. EMS Scope of Practice <-----Adobe Acrobat required
 
southerndoc said:
How are you going to work as an EMT when you are a resident? That will be demanding to say the least. If you want to volunteer, you can do that as a resident.
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I thought I'd do a few hours a week, just to keep feeding the EMS addiction I have. :) I really don't know if it will be manageable until I cross that bridge, so at this point this is all just speculation.
 
canjosh said:
On the surface, the skills listed on the link you provided look mostly EMT-Bish. You would have to expand on some of the things listed...i.e. it says assess and manage traumatic and medical emergencies. You might do these things at a good samaritan 'first aid' level or at the physician level. So to what extent are you trained to 'manage' these patients?
Click to expand...
I'm not sure how to answer that. Maybe you could give me an example of what an EMT-B is trained to do, and I can give a guess as to how this program compares.

One of the skills listed caught my eye--maintenance of IV lines. What does this mean? It doesn't say initiation, so I assume this means monitoring an established line for patency? Initiation (and subsequent 'maintenance') of lines is not an EMT-B skill here in the U.S.
Click to expand...
You pretty well hit the nail on the head. The training does not include initiation of an IV, just keeping the line open.
 
izibo said:
Based on what is listed, you are more likely equivalent to a US first responder then an EMT. Especially considering the length of the class (15 days) I would highly doubt any state would give you EMT certification.
Click to expand...
Oh, okay...how long is the EMT course? I have little information about the role of an EMT-B, so I'm interested in finding out more. Where I'm from, we have three levels of care: The EMR, which is a first responder type course geared for industry, as well as more rural cities where a higher trained ambulance attendant would not be required. The Primary Care Paramedic, which is about 30 credit hours long (one year or two full semesters), and covers all of the physiology and pathology of your main organ systems, and some procedures such as starting IVs and administering symptomatic relief meds. Then the Advanced Care Paramedic program is likely the same as the EMT-P over in the US.

I'm assuming this three level system is similar to the way the US system has EMT-B, I and P....though again, I know very little about how your system functions.
 
leviathan said:
I thought I'd do a few hours a week, just to keep feeding the EMS addiction I have. :) I really don't know if it will be manageable until I cross that bridge, so at this point this is all just speculation.
Click to expand...
Not only will you probably not have time, but you will need approval from your residency program. It's doubtful they will let you moonlight as an EMT during your first and second years. Your third year, well let's just say you'll probably want to moonlight at an ED for $100 per hour than as an EMT for $10 per hour.
 
If you have an MD you can actually just take the test and get your medic (or EMT if you want) and most states will certifiy you no problem.
 
leviathan said:
Oh, okay...how long is the EMT course? I have little information about the role of an EMT-B, so I'm interested in finding out more. Where I'm from, we have three levels of care: The EMR, which is a first responder type course geared for industry, as well as more rural cities where a higher trained ambulance attendant would not be required. The Primary Care Paramedic, which is about 30 credit hours long (one year or two full semesters), and covers all of the physiology and pathology of your main organ systems, and some procedures such as starting IVs and administering symptomatic relief meds. Then the Advanced Care Paramedic program is likely the same as the EMT-P over in the US.

I'm assuming this three level system is similar to the way the US system has EMT-B, I and P....though again, I know very little about how your system functions.
Click to expand...


My EMT-B program was worth around 8 credit hours at the local CC. Actually, it is 4 level system here, and I believe the proposed national scope of practice keeps it that way. In TX we have the ECA (emerg. care attendant--geared towards volunteer firefighters), then the EMT-B, EMT-I (very rare in TX), and EMT-P. The terminology is slightly different in the proposed scope of practice.
 
leviathan said:
have my Emergency Medical Responder training, and I'd like to know if this is recognized as equivalent to the EMT-B
Click to expand...
Hey, I have a question for you leviathan, have you been able to get any sort of work with your EMR training? I was thinking of taking an EMR course so I could do some ambulatory work over the summer, but it looks as though I'd need at least EMT to do that, so I'm just curious if there are any urban jobs out there that require only EMR.
Thanks!
 
Daedalus said:
I wish I could start IVs like izibo, but where I am (Los Angeles, CA), we are never more than 5 minutes from a hospital and ALS is readily available, so there's no point.
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That still won't keep the nurses from calling dispatch on you when you bring in the guy thats A and O x 4 (retired surgeon, apparently. Nice fellow), pulse of 28 and BP of 90/50 without the paramedics because it was a 3-4 minute ride (My company's protocol is transport time < 5 minutes means that the hospital is the closest ALS intervention).
 
jaylily said:
Hey, I have a question for you leviathan, have you been able to get any sort of work with your EMR training? I was thinking of taking an EMR course so I could do some ambulatory work over the summer, but it looks as though I'd need at least EMT to do that, so I'm just curious if there are any urban jobs out there that require only EMR.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Hey Jay,

I could work with BC Ambulance in a northern city, but it's too far of a commute. I'm volunteering with St. John Ambulance in my spare time, but obviously do not get paid for that.
 
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