Halloween

I decided to come in 'costume' to work today.

I'm wearing an old paramedic uniform, augmented with my ham radio as well as normal accessories (trauma shears, stethescope, etc.).

Comments on this uniform led me to answer, for the 2,456,125 time, what the difference between a paramedic and an EMT is.

Technically, of course, a paramedic is an EMT, but we don't like to be called that. EMT generally refers to an Emergency Medical Technician-Basic, while we are Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedic(s).

Back when I did it in Pennsylvania, to become an EMT-B you needed to take about 100 hours of classroom training, spend about 8 hours in the field with an ambulance service, and pass a few hours of practical and written testing. To become a paramedic, you need to already be an EMT-B, usually for at least a year, take an additional 200-300 hours each of classroom time, field training, and hospital rotations. In the field you had to perform various procedures, including doing a minimum number of IV starts, intubations, interpreting patient EKGs, and so forth. Your field time had to be graded by a veteran paramedic who'd gone through additional training to be a "preceptor" and your hospital time had to be reviewed by a doctor, nurse, or tech, depending on the rotation (OR, ER, labor and delivery, psych, ICU, Cardiac ICU, burn unit, pediatrics, respiratory, among others). At the end of all that you needed to go through several days of practical and written testing.

I took my EMT-B test with a group of firemen and coal miners. Almost everyone passed.

I took my paramedic test with a group of people who ranged from professional city EMT-B's to rural volunteers, and less than half of us passed.

EMT-Bs can administer a handful of medications. Paramedics can start intravenous lines, intubate, interpret EKGs, and administer dozens of medications, including fun things like morphine.

So why do paramedics tend to get a little bit annoyed when we're called EMTs? Because we were EMTs, and now we're better than that, usually through a great deal of sweat and often some blood.