The family is all together—joking, smiling, laughing. You’ve just set the table for a massive brunch with all the fixings. Just as everyone takes their seats and begins to fill their plates, the one who holds a special place in your heart falls out of the chair apparently unconscious.
Who do you hope arrives in one of the darkest moments of your life? What do you need from the people on that responding ambulance?
Suddenly, we are faced with the possibility that the people arriving will carry the label “Emergency Medical Technician” or “Paramedic” but lack the actual education currently required to EARN that label.
This matters to every person who values even a single living, breathing human because it could easily be YOUR loved one who pays the price.
The National Registry of EMT’s (NREMT) has proposed to allow graduates of non-accredited educational programs to sit for the NREMT certification exams. Accreditation is the very standard society uses to establish uniform expectations all throughout healthcare and education. This clarifies expectations and facilitates movement among otherwise disparate states.
Money runs the world and “you can’t expect what you don’t inspect.” The loss of the accreditation requirement opens the race to the bottom due to lack of actual oversight.
State oversight is cited as an acceptable option. Nope. That is what we did before accreditation. They mean well but they’re also under-funded. They can barely ensure that the ambulances are carrying the required supplies.
And what happens when the VP of Instruction at your local community college is pressured to decrease the budget? That person will inevitably categorize a non-mandated accreditation as “optional”—those are the easiest line items to eliminate.
This proposal is open for public comment until Aug 17, 2022.
I am asking you to take a few moments to record your own comment, because if this becomes policy it could very literally mean the difference between life and death of someone you love.
Much attention has been given to the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) staffing crisis that has been ongoing for decades which is finally coming to a head. Apparently, the thought is if education requirements are decreased then availability of staff will increase because more organizations will be empowered to offer education.
This is unlikely. The NREMT previously established that students from non-accredited institutions had lower pass rates on the NREMT’s own certification exams. Additionally, many (most?) staffing issues are directly related to atrocious promoted-without-preparation “managers” within service provider organizations (retention issues) and ongoing lack of respect from other healthcare providers (which will not be improved by decreasing education requirements).
Instead of trying to reduce education (which would never be done with any other healthcare provider), the problem-solvers should be focusing on helping unprepared and damaging managers become respectful, caring leaders. Instead, they’re searching for a “quick-fix” to the detriment of patient care.
Furthermore, how low do we go? Pretty soon, the complaint will be that the exam (administered by NREMT) is too hard. How about we just sew the certification patches on their shirts and send them out there? This is NOT hyperbolic. It is precisely where we were 20 years ago, so the outcome of this move would simply be history repeating itself.
The loss of a nationally recognized standard of education would hurt many students as well. Young adults headed to school don’t know any better—they will go wherever is most convenient to them—accredited or not. Ten years later when their life circumstances change and a relocation is required, those from unaccredited institutions will find their entire investment of time and money suddenly worthless, because in the absence of accreditation, reciprocity among states is unpredictable at best.
Internationally, our educational counterparts prove we can do better. Here at home, our patients deserve that we do.
If you’re interested in all the technicalities, full explanation and evaluation can be found in this white paper:EMS Turning Point—2022? You may also choose to attend a live Roundtable discussion on Aug 9, 3pm CST.
Please do your part TODAY to support this oft-mistreated and unappreciated sector, and tell the NREMT that this will hurt patients AND providers. Comment here before Aug 17, 2022.
Statement by National Association of EMS Physicians https://naemsp.org/about-us/press-releases/naemsp-public-comment-on-nremt-resolution/
Excellent article! My Resume includes nearly 20 years a Paramedic now 25 years as an RN, my current title is Chest Pain Coordinator (over 20 years in the cardiac cath lab) I work, teach, train, educate both EMS and RN’s within my facility. Seeing that EMS has evolved immensely in a better direction since I became a Paramedic in 1980, I would hate to see educational mandates loosened to attract more potential. You have a leadership problem in EMS, too much OT not enough staff to keep extra units available and those that feel that they are not paid compensatory to their education. AND the tiara for the EMS as a whole, NO ONE to advocate publicly in their defense. You were right, nationally, EMS is terrible at getting the attention of public funding that is crucial for just keeping a service afloat. Social media has hundreds of services looking for qualified staff that remain unfilled, some with sign on bonuses, relocation packages, on so on. Loyalty and tenured staff at any EMS service is rare and usually limited to just a few. BUT the question is how do we “together” change this predicament that may be headed for someone’s personal private disaster. As my parents said to me as a young child” the squeaky wheel get the grease” We have to be better at getting, federal, state, county and city funding for our citizens to get the “best” EMS Paramedics and EMT’s not undereducated robots that ill be gone at the first sign of trouble. We have to inspire instead of whine. We have to promote instead of demean. We have get dirty to show our staff that we “Can” instead of “cannot”. I have told many stories about leadership in my career, which comes down to this first time I even noticed TRUE leadership. I was cleaning the unit of my private EMS service that I worked for, I was actually on my knees cleaning the floor. My boss came up behind me and said lets run an errand. I hopped in the passenger side and off we went., we came upon a store front that was shoes and boots, He stopped and began to get out, he said, “Are you coming?” . I jumped out and we went in, I was just looking around and he handed me $40 dollars, stunned I said “what’s that for?” He said it’s for new boots, he saw the holes in my boots that i had covered with cardboard (we didn’t have a uniform allowance). At first I balked because I was embarrassed, but I saw the look on his face. That moment was an epiphany for me, that’s the kind of leadership EMS needs, someone who sees the small things and acts on them with kindness and grace. He was also an excellent mentor to me and to countless others, he is still to this day . Leadership in EMS is the first step to success of ANY service, for retention, for loyalty, for growth! That leader is there somewhere, promote them, pay them what they are worth. Your service wil become better for it.