A.) Firefighter / Paramedic
B.) Paramedic / Firefighter
C.) None of the above
D.) All of the above
I was sent a suggestion by a distinguished colleague that I have a ton of respect for and he raised the issue that I have presented in the above multiple choice quiz. I will present my comments here for your review as always but I would love to here some opinions from all of you.
Does the training methodology used in training both of these groups, and the culture of the departments involved, have an impact on whether the FF. paramedic will be successful.
I know there have been issues in the northeast and other parts of the country with the combined training. Lets look at just some general issues from both sides of the fence and see if they have any impact.
Fire training versus Paramedic Training. In general paramedic training is longer, requires more academic work, and interfaces with allied health care professionals during the training program.
Firefighter training is shorter, general has less academic requirements and more vocational hands on requirements and the interface is generally limited to other firefighters and seasoned experienced members.
Paramedic training and methodology is that the medic can work with limited medical control following basic standards of care. They are trained to perform limited diagnostics and make judgment. They generally work independent or maybe with one partner. They are trained that their individual action and impact counts and makes a difference.
Firefighter training is more rigid based, less decision making involved, and a major emphasis on the team and crew concept where no one action stands out but the actions of a team as a whole are what counts.
Think of the following scenario for just a moment....a fire captain with some 15 years experience is managing a shift. The new paramedic arrives with 15 minutes on the job and he is given a key to the lock box where the drugs are kept.... and the seasoned Captain hasn't ever been given a key to anything in the building, even where the sacred and revered toilet paper and paper towels are kept! This young kid then explains to the captain how he (The medic) is in charge at medical scenes because the captain is "Only an EMT" and I am a medic so I have a higher level of medical control.
Where is this one going to end.........
Now I know some people could hang on one sentence here or could jump and scream and shout about the generalities that I have just made, but they are just that some broad observations.
There have been some real life career crashes and I am sure that you all have horror stories. Each of these professions has merit in their own right but what the question for the week is....how do we cross train them and is it easier to go from one discipline to the other.
In my humble opinion, I believe it is easier to take a firefighter who has some aptitude and interest and train them to be a paramedic. They already have a team work mindset, they are very creative thinkers and can adapt to most circumstances, and have a strong willingness to help others. This bridge to more academic work, and independent thinking is easier to cross.
When you attempt to take a medic who has worked in a third service non fire service related setting and try to then get them to suddenly give up independence and rely on strict paramilitary disciplines and more rigid control I think the potential for problems is greater.
Those are only some opinions and thoughts I have.
How do we make it better....here are some thoughts....
First providers have to recruit the right people. I am a firm believer that pyschological testing and temperament and ability testing should be done at a greater level. We do give aptitude and skill tests but we need to check other personality profiles to see if people fit!
I believe in either career (medic or FF.) we need to have more accountability and personal discipline and keep small problems small as they happen. It is a shame we have to teach respect in the workplace.
We need to spend more time when we cross train these people to spend time demonstrating and illustrating the common goals of both such as helping people, and features of emergency response that we have in common.
We speak of crew concept, working as a team, the union, the brotherhood, the volunteer association....it is all BS and we need to admit. Each day members of each of those groups are attacking one another....we are a team when we need to be, but between times we are anything but, sometimes.
Paramedical training should have some fire service interface piece built in so that if any transition is made....there will at least be some initial understanding.
That's is just my two cents worth....I would love to hear what you folks think.