fec153
Curt- Please splain dif 'tween pairofmedics and emt's. Also, who rides the fire truck and whose in the ambulance.
An EMT is an Emergency Medical Technician. When I first started they needed 120-140 hours of training. An EMT-I required another 40-60 hours and could do more, such as intubation, and starting IVs. A Paramedic is an EMT-P with over 400 hours of training, and can do quite a bit more.
The MINIMUM crew on a basic life-support ambulance is an EMT-Basic and a CPR-Driver. If the ambulance is licensed as an advanced life support service, then the crew must be an EMT-P and an EMT-B.
The EMT curriculum is a Federal Department of Transportation specification, and the title is copyrighted and trademarked. Nobody can use the Star-of-Life emblem or call themselves an EMT without the proper training etc, however states may set different specifications that do not adhere to the DOT EMT specification.
EMTs are registered with the National Registry of EMTs, and must complete continuing education requirements (about 40 hours per two year registry period) but individuals must also be licensed by their own state in order to practice there.
LION was an EMT-I, but since I am also licensed as a Registered Nurse, I could practice at an EMT-P level, although I never did this.
Our local volunteer ambulance service had 15 volunteers of which about 7 are EMTs, and one is a Nurse Practitioner with prescriptive privileges and so functions in the clinic the same as a doctor.
Our service covers about 700 square miles, with only two paved roads (not counting the interstate or city streets).
ROAR