KYMEDIC
04-26-2007, 12:51 AM
Hello all,
I'm looking for anyone who is using, or knows someone who is using, different levels of Paramedic as a form of career ladder for retention. I'm specifically thinking along the lines of having 2-3 levels of Paramedic (not the Canadian version...U.S. DOT-ish). For example, Level I is a newly frocked medic who is allowed to do general medic stuff (monitor, defib, ET in certain circumstances, etc.), Level II requiring a couple of years experience, maybe require certain cards (BTLS, PALS, NRP, M-O-U-S-E) and gets mo' money and a bigger skill set (RSI, more Rx with less required call-in). Level III is a super-medic who has seen/done all over 5-7 years maybe, has a wallet full of cards (maybe some unusual like CCEMT-P, ATLS, AHLS) or "x" number of instructor cards, and gets to be the scene manager, almighty intubator, maybe chest tubes or other holy grail stuff.
My biggest problem thinking this thru is that as the person moves further along the track there's more need to commit hours to more in-depth specialization. The EMT/Medic instructor might want to concentrate on an "Education" track instead of trying to juggle the hours for HazMat Tech or CCEMT-P. While a hugemongous service may have enough people to go in a lot of different directions and still field balanced shifts, our service is an in-between size (110 staff) with a lot of people wearing multiple hats...Jack of All Trades, Ace at Many But Not All...
So, has anyone used multiple levels, how did you break down the requirements to attain the levels, what areas of specialization did you use, and did it work for those people, the service and the patients?
Thanks,
Jim
I'm looking for anyone who is using, or knows someone who is using, different levels of Paramedic as a form of career ladder for retention. I'm specifically thinking along the lines of having 2-3 levels of Paramedic (not the Canadian version...U.S. DOT-ish). For example, Level I is a newly frocked medic who is allowed to do general medic stuff (monitor, defib, ET in certain circumstances, etc.), Level II requiring a couple of years experience, maybe require certain cards (BTLS, PALS, NRP, M-O-U-S-E) and gets mo' money and a bigger skill set (RSI, more Rx with less required call-in). Level III is a super-medic who has seen/done all over 5-7 years maybe, has a wallet full of cards (maybe some unusual like CCEMT-P, ATLS, AHLS) or "x" number of instructor cards, and gets to be the scene manager, almighty intubator, maybe chest tubes or other holy grail stuff.
My biggest problem thinking this thru is that as the person moves further along the track there's more need to commit hours to more in-depth specialization. The EMT/Medic instructor might want to concentrate on an "Education" track instead of trying to juggle the hours for HazMat Tech or CCEMT-P. While a hugemongous service may have enough people to go in a lot of different directions and still field balanced shifts, our service is an in-between size (110 staff) with a lot of people wearing multiple hats...Jack of All Trades, Ace at Many But Not All...
So, has anyone used multiple levels, how did you break down the requirements to attain the levels, what areas of specialization did you use, and did it work for those people, the service and the patients?
Thanks,
Jim