Medical_Service

****** **** Teacher English 1A 3/5/2007 Medical Service Did you know that Emergency Medical Care started in war' “In the 1790’s French soldiers began transporting their wounded away from battle.” (Porter p.215) The purpose was to take them to a safe place where medical care was available. They did not provide care on scene. The Americans began to adapt this idea during the American Civil War; which led to establishing the American Red Cross. (Bledsoe p.215) Through war, ambulance services began to learn how to treat wounded out in the field. “In the 1960’s the Emergency Medical Service began to develop.” (Dickinson p. 7) “In 1966 the National Highway Safety Act charged the United States Department of Transportation with developing EMS standards and assisting the states to upgrade the quality of their prehospital emergency care.” (Grant p.6)There are four levels of training in the EMS system: First Responder, EMT-Basic, Advanced EMT, and Paramedic. I am considering a career as a Paramedic. To become one, you must get the proper education, know the roles and responsibilities, and understand the medical and legal issues that come with the job. You can’t become a Paramedic over night. It takes time, schooling, and lots of training. You start of by becoming an EMT-Basic. There are courses at colleges or EMS agencies that provide you with the basic training needed to provide care. Once you have passed the class you must take a test called the National Registry. (Limmer p. 10) This test is held at a national standard that everyone has to take to become certified. Next you would apply to a paramedic program. These programs usually range from eight months to two years. There you will learn pharmacology, anatomy and physiology. (Limmer p. 11) Many paramedic programs will require students to take classes and pass certification tests in advanced cardiac life support, and pediatric advanced life support. During the program you will need to complete an internship and begin building your experience by working in emergency rooms, fire departments or on an ambulance. After completing a paramedic program graduates will need to pass the licensing exam in their state. The National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians also offers a national exam for paramedics. (Grant p. 13) Once you are licensed you can then apply to fire departments, private ambulance companies, emergency rooms and air ambulances. Being a Paramedic comes with many important roles and responsibilities. Your first responsibility is keeping yourself safe. Personal safety is imperative because it is not possible to help a patient if you are injured before you reach him or while providing care. There are many dangers while working such as other people, animals, fires, and while driving an ambulance to an emergency or hospital. According to USA TODAY, there are approximately 15,000 ambulance crashes a year and out of those crashes about 50 of them are fatal. Assessment of the patient is crucial to providing patient care and then knowing which facility to transport the patient to. The actual care required for an individual patient may range from simple emotional support to life-saving CPR and defibrillation. Your paramedic training will prepare you to take an action or series of actions in order to help the patient deal with and survive his illness or injury. Lifting and moving patients are important tasks. When you bring a patient to a hospital, you will turn the patient over to hospital personnel, providing information on the patient’s condition, your observations of the scene, and other pertinent data so that there will be continuity in the patient’s care. A Paramedic is governed by many medical, legal, and ethical guidelines. The skills and medical interventions the Paramedic may perform are defined by legislation, which varies from state to state. Expressed consent must be obtained from every conscious, mentally competent adult before providing care and transportation. In the case of an unconscious patient, consent may be assumed. This is known as implied consent. Negligence is the basis for a large number of lawsuits involving prehospital emergency care. Two of the most common and significant causes of lawsuits against Paramedics are patient refusal and ambulance collisions. (Limmer p. 8) In patient refusal situations, Paramedics are sued because the patient’s condition deteriorated after the ambulance left the scene. This makes it critical for a Paramedic to follow his agency’s guidelines when a patient refuses care. Collisions are dangerous in any vehicle, however, when an ambulance is involved, collisions become serious because of the size and weight of the vehicle, the number of occupants, and the nature of emergency driving. Paramedics are rarely held liable when they have acted within their scope of practice and have carefully documented the details of the call. (Porter p. 220) Special situations include patients who are organ donors and patients who wear medical identification devices. At a crime scene, care of the patient takes precedence over preservation of evidence, but you make every effort not to disturb the scene unnecessarily and report your actions to the police. Peoples’ lives often depend on the quick reaction and competent care of Paramedics. Incidents as varied as automobile accidents, heart attacks, drowning, childbirth, and gunshot wounds all require immediate medical attention. Paramedics provide the vital attention as they care for and transport the sick and injured to a medical facility. In an emergency, Paramedics are typically dispatched to the scene by a 911 operator and often work with police and fire department personnel. Once they arrive, they determine the nature and extent of a patient’s condition while trying to ascertain whether the patient has preexisting medical problems. Following strict rules and guidelines, they give appropriate emergency care and, when necessary, transport the patients. Some paramedics are trained to treat patients with minor injuries on the scene of an accident or at their home without transporting to a medical facility. Emergency treatment for more complicated problems is carried out under the direction of medical doctors by radio, preceding or during transport. Paramedics provide the most extensive pre-hospital care. In addition to carrying out the procedures described above, paramedics may administer drugs orally or intravenously, interpret electro cardiograms (EKGs), perform endotracheal intubations, and use monitors and other complex equipment. I believe I have the mental, physical, and emotional capability to thoroughly enjoy the challenges and rewards implicit in a career as a Paramedic. Work Cited Bledsoe, Bryan, Robert Porter, and Richard Cherry. Essentials of paramedic care. 2nd. Prentice Hall, 2007. 215-221. Davis, Robert. “Speeding to the rescue can have deadly results.” USA TODAY. 04-04-2002. Limmer, Daniel, Michael O, Harvey Grant, and Edward Dickinson. Emergency Care. 11th. 2008-08-24,2008. 5-14.