Compare Maryland EMS To The White Paper

A paramedic is an allied health professional whose primary purpose is to provide advanced emergency medical care for critical and emergent patients who access the emergency medical system. As medical providers, paramedics perform interventions with basic as well as advanced equipment under medical oversight. At a national level, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) defines the various titles given to pre-hospital medical workers within the United States based on the level of care they provide and the level of education they receive prior to licensure. (National EMS Scope) A paramedic’s education and skill set can vary from state to state. At a minimum, most paramedic education and certifying programs require that

Today’s society has seen an increase of unpredictable violent events that require an increasing need for tactical medical responders. While some if not all departments in the United States have a form of Tactical Emergency Medical Support, in the present time it almost seems as if there is a growing need for awareness, education, and personnel to have a tactical mindset. Tactical Emergency Medical Support is an out-of-hospital EMS system that focuses on medical support for law enforcement special operations missions. Although most emergency situations involve routine-like situations such as a mild allergic reaction or a person going in to cardiac arrest, Emergency Medical Responders need to be prepared for the unexpected. Multiple

Volunteering in the Emergency Department has been a fulfilling experience, while learning as much as possible helping the staff and patients. I have enhanced my listening skills and adapted my approach when communicating with patients and medical staff, being cognizant of non-verbal cues. I have become more perceptive of the wide array of ailments and injuries that prompt patients to visit the ER, while gaining a deeper appreciation of the delicate

However, what some don’t know is that assaults on first responders are happening across the nation and many go unreported. Violence against EMS experts takes many forms. Most acts of brutality are not less than deadly. Statistics shows that the risk of non-fatal assault resulting in lost work time among EMS workers is 0.6 cases per 100 workers a year; the national average is about 1.8 per 10,000 workers. The National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT) found 4/5 medics have experienced some form of injury as a result of the job. The U.S. Department of Labor reported that about 52 percent of EMTs operating in the field have been assaulted.

When I take a step back and look at the endless opportunities I will have as a Physician Assistant (PA) it truly amazes me. There are so many areas of clinical practice to choose from and at this point in my education as a PA student I am still unsure of where I will end up. However, the area of practice that I am currently most drawn to is emergency medicine (EM). What draws me to EM is that it is face-paced and team-oriented. In addition, not only do you get to see a variety of patients, but you also see a variety of diseases and injuries. This being the specialty that is of most interest to me, it is important that I understand what exactly being an EM PA encompasses.

Prior to the 1970’s, ambulances were staffed as basic life support (BLS) type units. They would transfer people on a basic level of transport performing “non invasive” interventions. The people who staffed this units were not called EMT’s at this time however were called Ambulance Attendants. They were severed with little medical training and only performed routine interventions. In 1966 there was an article called “The Accidental Death and Disability Report” also called “White Paper”. In this report The National Academy of Sciences Did studies on trauma and shock. This project was a federally funded report of their research which came to the conclusion that both the public and government were "insensitive to the magnitude

There are a limited number of specialties other than EM where the provider serves the undeniable role of determining whether the patient would benefit from hospital admission versus discharge home. Additionally, EM is a unique field in which you work in real-time to follow-up on tests, reevaluate patients, and keep patients, their families, and consultants up to date and involved in the progress of the patient’s evaluation and management. These specific aspects, amongst others, are what I feel separates EM from other specialties and why I am particularly drawn to the

The following case study addresses the care I provided to a patient who was brought in by ambulance to the emergency department after a gunshot wound.

Mr.Gary, a Paramedic yesterday came and talked to us about what paramedics or EMS do in their line of career. Starting off there are 3 levels of EMT: Basic EMT, Advanced EMT, and Paramedic. To be an EMT you can go through state training to become a certified EMT or go through a college and become a licensed EMT; along with this is 220 class & lab hours(class can be online or live class.)

So you’re new to EMS? First couple of days on the job? Let’s talk about the bells and whistles. You think when you sign up to be an EMT or FF you are signing up to save lives and that everyone you come into contact with is going to be happy to see you and thankful for your services. Wrong, so incredibly wrong. Let me introduce you to the people who want you to fail, so that they can jump on you for lawsuits.

With no standards being concrete, EMS agencies can develop their own EMS officer curriculum based off NEMSMA’s guidelines, and develop courses and credentials specific to their agency. This can be accomplished by conducting a needs assessment to figure what extra educational and training credentials should be required, and what the agency wants to take out of what is already developed. This way, agencies have their own specific EMS officer training programs that work well with their agency. However, along with conducting a needs assessment specific to an agency, the requirements outlined by NEMSMA should strongly be taken into consideration, especially the credentials. Each EMS officer positon is unique in its own way. It is important to have the experience, knowledge, education and EMS background in order to fulfil the duties of each positon. The credentials and competencies outlined by NEMSMA are realistic and can be implemented

The majority of fatal injuries sustained by EMTs and paramedics are happening on the way to render critical triage care. “From 1992 to 1997, there were an estimated 114 fatalities to emergency medical services (EMS) workers. Primary causes of these fatalities were ground transportation and air medical crashes.” (Reichard et al 511). More recently those numbers have dropped but the fatalities of EMTs and paramedics are still consistently

EMS was first used in the military in the 1790s, it was used “to transport battlefield casualties to a centralized care area” ("History of Emergency Medicine"). In the 1980s with the growth of cars and automobile transportation came the growth of accidents and trauma casualties. The report known as the white paper identifies that the chance of survival after a car accident is slim-to-none and suggest a prevention and management of Accidental Injury through a system known as EMT-A, which is essentially the ambulance system. The public was frightened by the data presented so Congress took the initiative under president Lyndon B Johnson and pass the “Emergency Medical Services Systems Act of 1973, providing funding for research and development, support for improved standards and rural systems, and much-needed administrative oversight that supported EMS systems” (Ferbrache). This act was the beginning of modern first responders and the beginning of the changes that were brought about as a

The EMS business model of the future, unfortunately, will be based more off of the money-oriented side, and reimbursement from insurance or federal agencies, rather than the patient care side. The minimal reimbursements that ambulance services receive today, will no doubt only get lower as the level of care increases. Although the current model calls for a unified system with equal certification levels and care across the board, the difficulty in achieving this results in part due to these low reimbursements causing many agencies to operate in the red, continually attempting to stay above going out of business.

Emergency situations happen all the time, people are constantly in need of immediate medical attention. Imagine being the person who gets to help. Who knows exactly what needs to be done and can actually save a life, in a life or death scenario. The program I am most interested is EMT. The EMT program will not only provide the exposure necessary to succeed as a medical professionals, but the satisfaction of helping others when they are in need the most. However, being an EMT does not mean you will save lives all the time the most important aspect of emergency care is that you are there for people who need help immediately when they are at their weakest moment.