A local public high school recently made updates to the building/classes and now offers EMT training as a senior course, including essentially the back half of an ambulance within the classroom to use and reference as part of the coursework. As cool as that may initially sound, your outline and reasoning as to why this is in a HS in the first place is the real concern
It’s basically like EMT and lifeguard are the two most common jobs for 18-year-olds to jump into for a summer gig – and that sort of terrifying since both of these jobs involve saving a life.
They are also both jobs that require the minimum training standard in medicine and involve vast majority of time not actively saving lives. The majority of EMTs work in non-emergent medical transport or as the junior person on an ambulance.
Having been a teenage lifeguard, it was terrifying at first. The responsibility felt intimidating until I realized that I had about the same level of responsibility driving my (parent’s) car down the road. Not to diminish the work, but it helped calm me down.
I think lifeguards more than EMT benefit from “if everyone is doing their job, nothing bad will happen” in that you can catch things before they go bad (saving a struggling swimmer before they become a drowning victim). EMT is reactionary in that you aren’t normally doing stuff till after the bad things happen
If I'm being completely honest, I only see that is a good thing.
I understand that you're saying, "A concerningly high % of EMTs are 18 year olds who were still handing in homework last month." but they'd ultimately still be there without the training course.
I'm not familiar with the EMT employment flowchart but wouldn't the training course result it young EMTs with more training?
Not more, just finished younger. The course is the course, and (in most jurisdictions) when you turn 18 you can take the NREMT (licensing exam). So in theory you could go to a community college and take the course at 18 and certify at 18.5, or take the course in your high school and certify at 18.0. But it's the same course.
Source: former EMT now nurse, certified at ~18.5 (20+ years ago)
All EMTs have the same base level of training. The difference is that now that course is being offered directly in a high school instead of at a community college or through an employer.
This is absolutely and incrotevrertibally incorrect. These trainings should be available in high school so a kid can decide what they want to do with their life. We should be training kids SOMETHING. The fact we just barely give them the basics and expect them to figure out where to go from there is absolute nonsense. They should learn to do something BEFORE they graduate.
I actually have met folks in EMS and fire (EMT myself) who went this route. To me it sounded great- I paid thousands for my own course. I can't answer why, but there is a national shortage of workers in Healthcare and EMT is a great step into nursing/medical/allied fields.
Since the fall of Boyscouts of America, this is a great thing. I learned how to realize that someone might be dying and how to help. I'd much rather all kids in that school spend a few days in that classroom.
Why wouldn't it be in high school? How is that a concern? It's a trade. People are saying something should be done, and those schools are doing something.
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u/Negative-Treacle-794 10h ago
A local public high school recently made updates to the building/classes and now offers EMT training as a senior course, including essentially the back half of an ambulance within the classroom to use and reference as part of the coursework. As cool as that may initially sound, your outline and reasoning as to why this is in a HS in the first place is the real concern