I have the same opinion as you on this. The average Paramedic is not up to
the same level of competencies seen in the US. The JRCALC guidelines fall
short of some drugs and a couple of interventions that the US syllabus has.
But I think that if this list are not prepared to accept the concepts of
prehospital thrombolysis that they would go mental over things such as
prehospital central lines and RSI - no matter what length of training we
have.
Mike
----- Original Message -----
From: "Robbie Coull" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, September 26, 2003 11:09 AM
Subject: Re: ECGs at the scene for thrombolysis
> US EMT-B are less qualified than UK Ambulance Technician (looking at their
> basic syllabus vs. ours)
Oops.
You are quite right. I meant to say that UK paramedics are roughly
equivalent to 'EMT-Intermediate', aka EMT-2 and EMT-3 - see reference (1)
below.
I'm not going to get into a discussion of what centres of paramedic
excellence are doing, because there is some pretty good work going on out
there.
However, you need to look at the training and skills of the 'average'
paramedic. And as a whole in the UK, paramedic training is not as extensive
as I would like it to be.
I think introducing a formal, national, higher grade of paramedic training
(EMT-P or EMT-4 in North America), would solve a lot of problems and would
make it harder for reactionaries like Adrian to block change.
--
Robbie Coull
email: [log in to unmask] website: http://www.coull.net
https://www.locum123.com contact locum doctors by SMS and email
----------------
Reference (1)
U.S. Department of Labor
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Outlook Handbook
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos101.htm
The lowest level medical care because they tend to be the first persons to
arrive at the
scene of an incident. Many firefighters, police officers, and other
emergency workers have this level of training. The EMT-Basic, also known as
EMT-1, represents the first component of the emergency medical technician
system. An EMT-1 is trained to care for patients on accident scenes and on
transport by ambulance to the hospital under medical direction. The EMT-1
has the emergency skills to assess a patient's condition and manage
respiratory, cardiac, and trauma emergencies.
The EMT-Intermediate (EMT-2 and EMT-3) has more advanced training that
allows administration of intravenous fluids, use of manual defibrillators to
give lifesaving shocks to a stopped heart, and use of advanced airway
techniques and equipment to assist patients experiencing respiratory
emergencies. EMT-Paramedics (EMT-4) provide the most extensive pre-hospital
care. In addition to the procedures already described, paramedics may
administer drugs orally and intravenously, interpret electrocardiograms
(EKGs), perform endotracheal intubations, and use monitors and other complex
equipment.
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