Guest guest Posted March 10, 1999 Report Share Posted March 10, 1999 Mike, I agree with all of your premises and conclusions except one: Firefighting today is much more than just fighting fires just as it is much more than brute strength and the ability to dumbly follow orders. There is advanced mathematics and elemental physics involved in hydraulics and there is math and some advanced chemistry dealing with HAZMAT incidents. Cadets who graduate from a career firefighting academy today learn and are required to have a working knowledge of things such as rescue, fire science, chemistry of hazardous materials, hydraulics, building construction, fire codes, NFPA standards, ventilation, incident command systems AND EMS. A lot of fire departments are requiring college and at least EMT as a prerequisite to test. I have been a Paramedic for nine years and I guarantee you that the Tx Comm. on Fire Protection basic firefighter test I took six years ago was much harder than EMT-P was! Please don't knock a profession out of hand if you're not familiar with it. E. Zimmerman FF/LP [texasems-L] Licensure Hello all, It seems to me that I am probably going to stir up some animosity here, but is there anyone out there who thinks that licensure is a watered-down attempt to appease the masses? I have heard arguments on this server for both more pay and for complacency in seeking more pay, etc. for licensure. I think that now is the time for all of us, as a profession to step up and demand change first from ourselves, not our employers, public or private. We cannot truly be seen as a profession like doctors, nurses, RT's etc., until we set our standards of training and education higher. For example, require that there be college prerequisites such as English, math, chemistry, and certain biology courses during EMT and before Paramedic school. Perhaps make Paramedic an associate degree minimum like ADN programs. As both a field medic and an instructor in a large program, I am sometimes appalled at the education level of students and graduates alike. I also realize that the fire service and the rural EMS communities will not like this solution because of the cost factor. I would like to hear any comments on this subject, and please realize that this is just a suggestion, not an etched-in-stone belief. E. Zimmerman, FF/LP Internet FileZone: Always FREE! Instantly store & access your valuable PC files on the net, from any Web browser. SIGN UP NOW - http://offers./click/235/0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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