When I worked as an EMT for the Fire Department, staying current on changes to my role as an EMT was easy. This was because I had someone from my Agency who was responsible to keep me, along with all my coworkers, up to speed on any changes to our scope of practice, new skills we had to know, training changes, or any other update that the EMS Agencies adopted. The “EMS Educator” from my Department took the initiative and communicated with me what I needed to know since that was his job.
Now that I am retired from the Fire Department, what I have come to discover is that keeping current on any changes to the role of an EMT is up to me to learn on my own. I no longer have an EMS Educator, Agency Training Officer, or Program Director watching out for me. And unfortunately, the State or County EMS Agency doesn’t really keep me updated either.
This really became evident to me due to the changes that went into effect in July of 2017, when the New California EMT Scope of Practice was implemented. This revision included new knowledge that EMTs had to know, as well as new skills that the EMT was required to be tested on.
One day at a Skills Testing session, seeing that a number of the candidates were not prepared to test on the new skills, it became abundantly evident to me that there needed to be someone to communicate these types of changes to ALL EMS Providers, regardless of whether they are currently employed by an EMS Provider Agency or not. That was the day that the EMS Matters Monthly Blog was born.
This monthly blog will focus on updates that apply to California EMS Providers, as well as information for those responders certified by National Registry. Our goal is to communicate relevant information and “Keep California EMS Providers Informed”.
At this point in time we are only focusing on California certified EMS Providers, but that could change in the future, should the demand for information from other States be warranted or frequently requested.
Please contact us if you have questions or comments.
Oh, and be sure to sign up today so you too can be emailed this monthly blog.
Thanks for reading.
Sincerely,
Jules Griggs
President/CEO
Safety Unlimited, Inc.
(Retired Fire Captain, Ventura County Fire Department)