Nurses have been transporting Patients for over a hundred years. Nurses and doctors have taught you the Paramedic everything he or she knows. Paramedics have invented nothing, How dare you become so envious, I am a Registered Nurse, and swin circles around medics. You have need to come to grips with what is called the Pecking order!

Direct online medical radio control was provided by ED Physicians. That too was given to the RN. As Paramedic training/education expanded, so did their diameter of service. Counties formed Regions to share the training and coordinate expenses. The EMS Authority was born, providing medics with the ability to practice state-wide. Protocols expanded to what they are now. Most counties no longer have direct online medical ratio control anymore. Medics use field protocols. Some DCF’s still delegate who goes where for multiple counties, but by and large, medics practice very autonomously here in California.

CCT is a huge revenue generating ticket. Even documentation reimbursement in hospitals must state “1:1 critical care begins now” and then “1:1 critical care ends now” for reimbursement purposes! *blech* It’s about money. Plain and simple, folks. Higher “level of skill” = higher educational degree = higher reimbursement.

As far as skills go, ANY skill can be taught..it’s monkey see, monkey do, if you ask me. Skills are important, you can’t get shit done if you can’t DO. But what really makes a good practitioner is knowing HOW to think critically, not just what cookbook to follow. Not one profession is without their duds, EMT, Paramedic, Nurse or Physician. I’ve been around long enough both the street and in house to have seen some pretty clueless folks in ALL services. Personally, if you don’t have strong BLS skills, I don’t care what degree or license you have…nothing else matters.

Working the field is a unique environment. Many of my Paramedic students over the years failed miserably once they hit their field internships; they were EMTs but had never worked an ambulance; therefore, had no clue on how to manage a scene, much less delegate and lead one. The Paramedic Program I am very proud to have been a part of provided an Associates Degree. Our medics scored in the high 90th percentile, first time pass, National Registry. They are employed in some of the most hard-hitting cities of California. Lucky Cities! Some RNs wanted to crossover as medics and some failed during field internship for the very same reason. Some, rocked it up and are terrific CCT flight/ground staff.

My advice to you: Get organized. Require at least an undergraduate degree for your profession. Lobby for yourselves. Once you do that, you can advocate at the federal level for acknowledgement of your CCT skills. Nurse Anesthetists can now practice autonomously and bill on their own without having to do so under an MD. Why not Paramedics? Paramedicine = Para(llel) Medicine. Stop sniping at nurses…we have an ugly job nowadays..lol

People like you are exactly the problem. You belittle paramedics and assume we know nothing but protocols without actually being familiar with the paramedic education process. Yes, there are some three-month medic mill programs out there, and they are deplorable. But let's not forget the two-year associate degree programs that expose the student paramedic to over 2000 hours of clinical experience. Let's also not forget the paramedics who take advanced college-level pharmacology and/or anatomy and physiology courses. I know several paramedics with bachelor-level education, and some even have a master's degree. So before you go shooting your mouth off about “those derned ammalance drivers”, take a moment and educate yourself on the reality of the situation. Realize that EMS is no longer what is was in the days of Johnny Gage and Roy DeSoto on Squad 51, and it most definitely isn't like on Trauma. If you want to keep taking potshots, I'm sure I could bring up some of the more embarrassing things I've seen members of your profession do… like the nurse who stared at me with a dumbfounded look on his face when I explained to him the difference between ventricular tachycardia and supraventricular tachycardia… or the nurse who stated matter-of-factly that you should never touch the insertion site when starting an IV due to risk of infection, then proceeded to tape the IV down with tape that had been stuck to her sleeve before she even thought about applying a tegaderm… or the nurse who blew both ACs in a patient before I calmly stepped in and put an 18 in the gentleman's hand. I'm sure we could both site humiliating examples from either's profession, but please, do not make assumptions that have no basis in fact or else you will end up making yourself look like an idiot. More specifically, an idiot who cannot do anything but make an argument that is the philosophical equivalent of “You suck you suck nanny nanny poo poo I can't hear you na na na na naaaa naaaaa…”

All the best.

People like you are exactly the problem. You belittle paramedics and assume we know nothing but protocols without actually being familiar with the paramedic education process. Yes, there are some three-month medic mill programs out there, and they are deplorable. But let's not forget the two-year associate degree programs that expose the student paramedic to over 2000 hours of clinical experience. Let's also not forget the paramedics who take advanced college-level pharmacology and/or anatomy and physiology courses. I know several paramedics with bachelor-level education, and some even have a master's degree. So before you go shooting your mouth off about “those derned ammalance drivers”, take a moment and educate yourself on the reality of the situation. Realize that EMS is no longer what is was in the days of Johnny Gage and Roy DeSoto on Squad 51, and it most definitely isn't like on Trauma. If you want to keep taking potshots, I'm sure I could bring up some of the more embarrassing things I've seen members of your profession do… like the nurse who stared at me with a dumbfounded look on his face when I explained to him the difference between ventricular tachycardia and supraventricular tachycardia… or the nurse who stated matter-of-factly that you should never touch the insertion site when starting an IV due to risk of infection, then proceeded to tape the IV down with tape that had been stuck to her sleeve before she even thought about applying a tegaderm… or the nurse who blew both ACs in a patient before I calmly stepped in and put an 18 in the gentleman's hand. I'm sure we could both site humiliating examples from either's profession, but please, do not make assumptions that have no basis in fact or else you will end up making yourself look like an idiot. More specifically, an idiot who cannot do anything but make an argument that is the philosophical equivalent of “You suck you suck nanny nanny poo poo I can't hear you na na na na naaaa naaaaa…”

All the best.