Persuasive Essay On The Paramedic Crisis

1536 Words4 Pages

Everyday there are hundreds of ambulances, fire engines and police cars being called to the scene of emergencies. I’m sure you hear the roar of their sirens, but you don’t think twice about them and are able to tune them out. The only time most people even think about the sirens is if they are forced to wait at a light or move over to the right shoulder and let them pass. When you look back and think about those sirens, where do you suppose they are going? Most people probably think that they are going to a car accident with entrapment, or a person with crushing chest pain to try and intervene and get them to the hospital. Realistically, they very well could be going to someone who has had a persistent cough for 3 weeks and decided tonight was the night that they should be checked out in the emergency room. Unfortunately, the abuse and misuse of the emergency medical system (EMS) is one that exists but can have terrible outcomes and consequences if not changed soon. This problem is not just an issue for the patients waiting on care, but it also affects the hospitals and the emergency workers alike. …show more content…

They have implemented a new level of pre-hospital technician above a paramedic, called the community paramedic or the paramedic practitioner. It requires more education than the normal paramedic, but it greatly expands the role and ability to treat a whole spectrum of health problems. They would no longer only be there to treat emergencies; they would be able to help in everyday health issues. There are some critics of this program, Dr. Bryan Bledsoe,“ This use of advance paramedic practitioners holds promise, but it’s still to early to tell,” he says. This may be why some places are very afraid to be the ones to try it out first. But, is fear of a potential failure worth the lives lost and true emergency care delayed that happens by not

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