Maybe the Is this going to be on the test? people are in charge.
Is this a case of bad reporting, is Brownsville, TX trying to find a way to force people out of the fire department, is Brownsville, TX trying to suggest that a 48 hour paramedic refresher course is an acceptable initial paramedic course?
Well over 20 years ago, my paramedic class was around a thousand hours long. A few years earlier, my EMT class was over a hundred fifty hours long.
Oakerson claims he is being retaliated against because of an expert opinion he offered that stated firefighters needed more than a two-week refresher course to take and pass the National Registry Exam to become paramedics.[1]
If someone does not know the difference between a refresher course, which assumes the successful completion of initial paramedic education and experience as a paramedic, and an initial course, should we trust them to make any important decisions?
BFFA president Carlos Elizondo said the union sued Brownsville over allegations that Fire Chief Lenny Perez was forcing 13 firefighters to take a 48-hour refresher course over two weeks before taking the National Registry Exam to become paramedics, which is a condition of employment set out in the collective bargaining agreement.
That lawsuit was settled and dismissed March 13.[1]
If you know nothing about EMS, a 48 hour course might sound reasonable to become a paramedic, but this is not a feel good movie, or The Secret,[2] or something that Deepak Chopra is selling as quantum[3] education.
These charlatans take advantage of misunderstanding.
Maybe we need to develop more understanding of what medicine/EMS is, if only to protect the public from those who would harm them.
–
Footnotes:
–
[1] Lawsuit alleges retaliation – EMS service takes action against city
Monday, April 21, 2014 10:21 pm.
The Brownsville Herald
Mark Reagan
Article
–
[2] The Secret is wishful thinking nonsense that claims positive thinking causes positive results and the cause of our misfortunes are negative thoughts.
In other words, children born with birth defects, or cancer, are the victims of their own negative thoughts, but they could be cured by positive thinking.
This works in movies – actually started out as a movie and was later adapted to a book. Unfortunately, many of us think this way. We ignore the bad things that happen and claim that the good things that happen are proof. This is self-deception.
–
[3] Deepak Chopra is just as ridiculous, only he throws in the word quantum to explain everything. People do not understand quantum, so they will be afraid to challenge him. I do not understand quantum, but I do recognize a scam and this is as much of a scam as when electricity was new and the frauds described their scams as electric. The words change, but the dishonesty remains.
.
The article is avoid of sufficient details and context to understand what was going on. However, I interpreted it to mean that the firefighters had been trained as paramedics, though they hadn’t taken the National Registry exam and so were being asked to take the refresher to cover any of the bits which might be different from their previous training (as in a bridge course). I’m not sure that would be any better, though it would make more sense.