Comments on: “EMT Basic” Skills Are Not Basic.

By: Kevin CFD

Kevin CFD — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:27:01 +0000

I’m sure some of you are great EMT’s, but your spelling and grammar are absolutely atrocious. I’m not typing just to hear myself talk, but I hope you aren’t writing your reports like this because I have seen how some of you write yours and it makes us all look bad when a doctor or nurse reads it…

By: Jermajesty

Jermajesty — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 01:54:10 +0000

Your articles are for when it abosutelly, positively, needs to be understood overnight.

By: Justin

Justin — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 20:44:42 +0000

Steve,
I must say that this is a great article. I have been in the EMS field for about 5 years now and am a Paramedic student at this time. I am also a FTO for my local and I always hear these “young guns” talk about “I am going to Paramedic school now” and I have always told them….you need to get confy with your BLS skills before you go ALS. It is so hard to convince people they need to get into the field and understand it before going to advance. It is amazing how the medical field changes on a day to day basis and nobody will ever know everything. As I have always said, the day you stop learning in this field is the day you need to find a new job.
Steve, my hat is off to you and am happy to hear you have landed your job! Hopefully I will continue on and become a good Paramedic as well. Stay safe

By: Bill

Bill — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 16:58:45 +0000

Great column! Thank you!

By: hilinda

hilinda — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 16:16:27 +0000

I want “EMT skills are not basic. They are foundational.” on a t-shirt.
Perfect.

In so many things, people are in a rush to do “advanced” things and fail to appreciate the importance of a good foundation.

By: Anthony

Anthony — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 19:16:04 +0000

I completely agree with you Steve. I’m a certified basic EMT as well as a senior in college, hoping to go for my Masters Degree in Physician Assistant studies, and I’ve always said, you can know anything and everything about the human body, but if you can’t relay it to your patients, it does no good… On some of my calls, I’ve noticed how the ambulance and EMT gear can be intimidating to patients, especially children, and having good people skills, and knowing your patient assessment, makes the patients realize you’re still a human, just like them under the uniforms.. I really respect your post and I love the fact that you’re not afraid to admit to your mistakes… Awesome man!

By: Bill

Bill — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 08:12:26 +0000

Great post! I live in a rural town in a rural state. We are a volunteer service, which like Randy’s, sees something in the neighborhood of 650 calls a year. We are responsible for calls throughout the county as well as in town. Other than calling in an air crew, ALS is not an option; the “Basics” are it. There are two QRUs in the outlying areas; patients are passed from Basic to Basic, or from FRA to Basic. When we pass a patient on to a higher level, 90% of the time it’s going to be at the ER, and our assessments and interventions are closely examined. When your’e “it”, a strong foundation in the fundamentals is critical. These conditions are the norm in Montana rather than the exception. The state recognizes the necessity for Basics to provide a higher level of care and maintains an endorsement program. EMT-B’s can be licensed to provide advanced airways, monitor cardiac patients, initiate and maintain IV/IO, and have increased medications options including nebulizer treatment and analgesic therapy.

By: John

John — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 23:48:58 +0000

I’m in basic class myself now. I’ve been a responder for some time now with my local volunteer FD and decided I loved it enough to change careers. Just so happens my instructor made it plain to us on the first day of patient assessment that there were guys in the medic class across the hall that would either not finish that class or would not be effective medics because they left BLS in this classroom.
There’s also a hint of importance in assessment when that one topic is five times the length of almost every other topic with exception to airway.
Great post…and great confidence booster to those of us still drying our ears. Thanks man

By: Nate

Nate — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 02:05:48 +0000

Great article! I have been a first responder for a while now and I am in class for EMT-B. One of my classmates and actually the EMS chief in our firehouse feels that the EMT-B class we are taking is an overkill and as long as he can pass the state test he will be fine. He says “I will be good enough for a volunteer EMT and I don’t plan to make a career out of it”. Every time I hear him say this it just sickens me! If you or any one elses life depends on my actions, assement and treatments then I want to be sure that I have done everything I can. There is no reason I can not be as good or better than a paramedic at the skills I am responsible for.

In our county an EMT-B is all you will get when you call 911. Even the leader of EMS for our entire county says “all you can do is give oxygen and burn the diesel fuel that is all we have to offer our patients oxygen and diesel fuel”. Every time I hear this from him it also sickens me. No matter what you did with/for a patient I gaurantee there is room to improve somewhere! His simple minded thinking has the rest of the EMT’s believing that is all they have to do is Oxygen and Diesel fuel. They often forget that the preparation of the next step, the hospital and staff depends on our proper assessment and timely communication with them. They forget that the 4×4 you are holding direct pressure on the head with is not the life threat of the patient.

Keep writing I have learned alot from you! Thanks Nate

By: Randy

Randy — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 12:31:32 +0000

Thanks for the info. I have been an EMT-B in a town that has around 600 calls per year. There are about 15 to 18 full crew status EMTs with a fairly full schedule every week competeing for calls. My Basic skills fluxuate with the amount of calls per month. I’am 51 and have found that this is the field I really want to make a late career change to. Problem? I have applyed to all commercial ambulance companies in my area. Is there an unspoken age discrimination within the industry??? I have a resume that includes not only EMTB Cert but also Phlebotomy/EKG and Tactical BLS Cert. 16hr course completion. I have had no calls even for an intervue. Whats going on? Is the field becoming satuated with B Cert. Techs?

Thanks sorry for the long winded reply