Thank you, EMTs!!

[gwen]

Hey guys,

I'm a medicine resident and just renewed my ACLS. There were a lot of EMTs who took the test with me and I got to know some of them over the two day course. I wanted to commend you guys on doing such and awesome job. You guys are waaaay under-appreciated! You work just as hard if not harder than MDs and RNs but are so darn humble. Its sad that it took me this long to realize it. So anyway, I just wanted to say - THANK YOU!

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[Vince]

True True True.

As an intern and former paramedic...EMTs and Paramedics definitely play an important role in health care today...and are way underappreciated. I also would rather have a couple paramedics helping me in a code than the ridiculous cluster f's that occur on the medicine wards in which every single hospital employee comes to the code and just gets in the way.

Go EMS!

P.S. I was much happier as a paramedic than I am as a doctor...hopefully that'll change in the future.

 

[nev]

I feel that EMTs should be get advance degrees ans specializations so that they can be equivalent to PAs and NPs in ambulatory care or in emergency medicine.....
They do a great job...without them the trauma team will probably collapse.


Nev

 

[emtp6811]

I was much happier as a paramedic than I am as a doctor...hopefully that'll change in the future.

I don't know what your specialty is, but even if it is not EM or Trauma surgery, look into getting involved in your local EMS system again. Even if it is as small as doing an occasional ride-along or helping with training, it might help you out a bit.

 

[Sainttpk]

how come EMT's get paid so little? I mean 8 dollars an hour!! Im an EMT and i know peeps at macdonalds make more then some EMTS!!

T

 

[Febrifuge]

I feel that EMTs should be get advance degrees ans specializations so that they can be equivalent to PAs and NPs in ambulatory care or in emergency medicine.....
They do a great job...without them the trauma team will probably collapse.
Nev

I'm an EMT, and I think this is a bad idea. Part of the reason there can be so many great EMT's is that there can be more EMT's, period. It sucks to get paid nothing (I know this from experience), but EMT is a good way to get in the door, and then go on to PA or NP or physician, if that's your thing.

In principle, I agree, just like I agree that teachers should be paid as much as lawyers.

 

[OSUdoc08]

I feel that EMTs should be get advance degrees ans specializations so that they can be equivalent to PAs and NPs in ambulatory care or in emergency medicine.....
They do a great job...without them the trauma team will probably collapse.


Nev

Why? The payscale will never change. In fact, I find it ridiculous that some services are requiring a degree to work, when you can complete all of your training without college credit at other places and make more money.

 

[OSUdoc08]

how come EMT's get paid so little? I mean 8 dollars an hour!! Im an EMT and i know peeps at macdonalds make more then some EMTS!!

T

You can be an EMT with 1 month of education. I was an EMT 1 month after I graduated high school.

Obviously, they would get paid less than anyone with even a year of college education.

This is based on education level, and not the value of the profession, of course.

 

[Siggy]

I am wondering if some of the people are confusing basics and paramedics since both fall under the certification of Emergency Medical Technician, but have a rather large difference in scope of practice.

 

[Vince]

I don't know what your specialty is, but even if it is not EM or Trauma surgery, look into getting involved in your local EMS system again. Even if it is as small as doing an occasional ride-along or helping with training, it might help you out a bit.

I went back to the fire station and taught some CE classes on stuff like Trauma and EKGs while I was still in medical school but my specialty will be in Radiology and so that won't prove very useful to EMS systems or FDs in the future....I figure I have closed the "paramedic chapter" in my book of life. I do try to teach a few things here or there to paramedic students while I'm an intern.

Much less I have no idea when I would be able to find the time during residency...and then there's always the legal concerns....which I didn't think about as much as a paramedic but have to really really think about as a physician.

 

[PluckyDuk8]

You can be an EMT with 1 month of education. I was an EMT 1 month after I graduated high school.

Obviously, they would get paid less than anyone with even a year of college education.

This is based on education level, and not the value of the profession, of course.

Not exactly....my rig partner and I used to joke how we got paid less than the checkout ladies at Jewel...But it's true that they get paid more than EMT's