EMT's

203bravo, MSN, APRN · Nov 22, 2014

An EMT program is nothing like a RN or LVN program.

Medic6758 · Nov 22, 2014

An EMT is more similar to a CNA when it comes to knowledge and duration of instruction (in the hospital setting they share the same duties). Paramedics are similar to LPN's in the same aspect.

RunBabyRN · Nov 22, 2014

Two completely different scopes of practice and approaches to healthcare. I learned stuff going through first responder training (used to be a requirement for EMT in CA) that I never learned in nursing school, and vice versa.

akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P · Nov 22, 2014

Edit: Sorry
I recently was faced with witnessing and being on a 3 car head on collision and met various EMT's
Is a Nursing ADN similar to a EMT or would it be similar curriculum to a LVN/LPN ?

I'm an RN that's also a Paramedic. Prehospital care is very different from nursing care. EMT is more akin to CNA in terms of amount of knowledge. Paramedic is more like LVN in terms of knowledge and scope of practice (usually). A Paramedic that got a degree is going to have a base knowledge that's similar to that of an RN. The biggest difference is that EMS providers are specialists right out of the box, so to speak. The model they work under, the education they get, the scope of practice they have is all optimized for their primary job of keeping people going during transport.

Nursing is very much a generalist education with later specialization and more in-depth pharmacology and pathophys than what EMS usually gets. Nursing usually doesn't get training in first aid/EMS type work.

Neither provider is going to be able to do the other's job without some significant education. Also, because the two are really that different, and neither usually gets exposure to the other field, there's often quite a bit of misunderstanding between the two fields (EMS and Nursing) that is present.

EMS and Nursing are just very different approaches to doing patient care. If you're looking for "fun" calls, that's often not the reality of working as an EMS provider. What was novel for you (head-on collision) is often old-hat for EMS and probably rarely memorable.

AnnieOaklyRN, BSN, RN, EMT-P · Nov 23, 2014

Paramedic is NOTHING like an LPN, hate to break it to you, but in some places paramedics can do MORE than an RN.

Where I live I can assess my own patient and come up with a treatment plan based on a working diagnosis using protocols as a guide, intubate, do needle decompression, interpret a 12 lead EKG and activate the cath lab if necessary, administer multiple medications WITHOUT consulting with an MD (the only medication we have to consult for with an MD is Heparin for STEMI), pacing, synchronized cardioversion, defibrillation, IO insertion, calling a cardiac arrest if we don't get pulses back within 20 minutes of starting ACLS, initiate CPAP, and the list goes on an on... Please don't ever compare paramedics as being the equivalent to LPNs, we are not, as our education goes far beyond what an LPN can do.

Comparing nurses and paramedics, or any EMS provider for that matter, is like comparing an apple to a glass of milk, two totally different trains of thought, totally different ways of thinking! They are not the same thing! I am both an RN and a medic!

An EMT is NOTHING like a CNA. EMTs are taught to assess patients and treat them accordingly to there level, they are limited of course in their abilities to treat patients. Where I live EMTs can initiate Nebulizers for asthma patients, administer Epi-pens, administer oxygen, administer nasal Narcan, ASA for chest pain, check CBS etc. EMT class is only one semester long. CNAs DO NOT ASSESS patients or treat them, they perform tasks as directed by a nurse.

HPRN

TheNGTKingRN · Nov 23, 2014

Paramedic is NOTHING like an LPN, hate to break it to you, but in some places paramedics can do MORE than an RN.
Where I live I can assess my own patient and come up with a treatment plan based on a working diagnosis using protocols as a guide, intubate, do needle decompression, interpret a 12 lead EKG and activate the cath lab if necessary, administer multiple medications WITHOUT consulting with an MD (the only medication we have to consult for with an MD is Heparin for STEMI), pacing, synchronized cardioversion, defibrillation, IO insertion, calling a cardiac arrest if we don't get pulses back within 20 minutes of starting ACLS, initiate CPAP, and the list goes on an on... Please don't ever compare paramedics as being the equivalent to LPNs, we are not, as our education goes far beyond what an LPN can do.
Comparing nurses and paramedics, or any EMS provider for that matter, is like comparing an apple to a glass of milk, two totally different trains of thought, totally different ways of thinking! They are not the same thing! I am both an RN and a medic!
An EMT is NOTHING like a CNA. EMTs are taught to assess patients and treat them accordingly to there level, they are limited of course in their abilities to treat patients. Where I live EMTs can initiate Nebulizers for asthma patients, administer Epi-pens, administer oxygen, administer nasal Narcan, ASA for chest pain, check CBS etc. EMT class is only one semester long. CNAs DO NOT ASSESS patients or treat them, they perform tasks as directed by a nurse.
HPRN

Don't forget the best part ... driving an ambulance!

akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P · Nov 24, 2014

I can assess my own patient and come up with a treatment plan based on a working diagnosis using protocols as a guide, intubate, do needle decompression, interpret a 12 lead EKG and activate the cath lab if necessary, administer multiple medications WITHOUT consulting with an MD (the only medication we have to consult for with an MD is Heparin for STEMI), pacing, synchronized cardioversion, defibrillation, IO insertion, calling a cardiac arrest if we don't get pulses back within 20 minutes of starting ACLS, initiate CPAP, and the list goes on an on... Please don't ever compare paramedics as being the equivalent to LPNs, we are not, as our education goes far beyond what an LPN can do.

HPRN, I'm also a Paramedic and an RN. I'm also very well educated as my undergrad degree is in Sports Med. In terms of depth of the base education, a non-degree Paramedic is roughly akin to an LVN. There's just not a lot of pathophys there and many times not a lot of in-depth A&P either. This Paramedic is well-trained to do a lot of things but doesn't know much outside the specialty. The Paramedic that's earned a degree usually has a college-level A&P course as well as some exposure to Gen Ed stuff, often Gen Psych and the like, in addition to the base Paramedic education. This Paramedic knows a LOT more in terms of base knowledge, so the depth of base knowledge, even though it's specialized, is akin to RN. The things this Paramedic can do is quite wide but the focus is on the specialty.

I'd be extremely comfortable working at basically any level and type of athletic activity. The "garden variety" RN or Paramedic has no education to be able to care for an injured athlete from the moment of injury through full-return to activity. This is something I am very much capable of doing and did for several years.

Hopefully you understood that I wasn't comparing the two fields directly as we both know that they have different purposes. I was comparing the depth of knowledge provided to the RN and the Paramedic. My own education in Sports Med made learning Paramedic incredibly easy. I probably could have passed the exam after having taken ACLS, PALS, and PHTLS, without sitting inside a Paramedic classroom.

The reason I'm adding this to the discussion is that I came to both Paramedic and RN with a fairly advanced and in-depth education and having gone through the traditional routes to become both a Paramedic and an RN, I have a very unique appreciation for the depth of knowledge (and skill-set) that each type of provider has.

Given that we both are Paramedic and RN educated, I think we both bring a rather unique (and sometimes odd) perspective to the patient-care table as we can draw from our knowledge bank from each to get the patient what is best needed.

AnnieOaklyRN, BSN, RN, EMT-P · Nov 24, 2014

Don't forget the best part ... driving an ambulance!

Oh, yes, I forgot... I can do all of that and I am only an ambulance driver!

HPRN