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A comparison of EMS continuing education for paramedics in the United States
L L Herman1, P J Willoughby, M D Koenigsberg
1Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA.
Objective:
To determine characteristics of continuing education programs for paramedics in large metropolitan areas, and to make recommendations for changes in the Chicago Emergency Medical Services (EMS) system.
Design:
A survey of 95 metropolitan areas from each state in the United States.
Participants:
EMS medical directors, coordinators, and administrators.
Results:
The survey population included 56 respondents. Within this group, 23% were from areas of 1 million people or more, 61% in areas with populations of 100,000 to 1 million and 16% from areas populated by < 100,000 people. Several system types were represented in the survey. In the systems surveyed, 98% mandate didactic continuing education requirements. Clinical continuing education was required by 34% of the systems. Ten systems (18%) awarded continuing education hours for documented in-field experience. This method did not have a specific structure by the majority of users. Both written and skills testing were used by most EMS systems to evaluate paramedic competency. No statistically significant differences (p > 0.05) could be found among population subgroups or EMS system types when evaluating the use of these various methods.
Conclusion:
EMS systems primarily use didactic sessions to meet their continuing education requirements. Nearly half of the systems requiring clinical continuing education use in-field credit to fulfill these requirements. In-field credit systems are poorly developed to date. This mechanism may be an effective alternative to usual clinical experiences for paramedics and deserves further investigation.