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Should the term "First Responder" be changed?
The term "First Responder" used to apply specifically to those who completed the roughly 40 hour advanced first aid course of that same name. However, in recent years, "First Responder" has begun to be used as a generic term that applies to all police, fire, and EMS personnel and has rapidly spread throughout the mainstream culture of the country.
While I think the traditional use of this term is best, I think that it might be a good idea to change it to something else so that there is no confusion.
What do you think? If it should be changed, what might be some good alternatives? The only thing that comes to my mind would be something along the lines of Emergency Medical Assistant.
While I think the traditional use of this term is best, I think that it might be a good idea to change it to something else so that there is no confusion.
What do you think? If it should be changed, what might be some good alternatives? The only thing that comes to my mind would be something along the lines of Emergency Medical Assistant.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Justin Scott on
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nope
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Permalink Reply by Loyd Dittfurth on
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in texas there is no first responder the certs go as fallows
ECA
EMT - Basic
EMT - Intermediate
EMT - Paramedic
I think thats how it goes here but most just skip straight to the basic
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Permalink Reply by ashfire on
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When I first seen the term used it was for the first person to reach a injuried patient before 911 was called.
I think of being a fully trained responder would be more of a emergency responder.
Has to how to change that term leave it up to the powers that be to come up with some new name to call those with a basic medical training that ride fire aparatus or a police vehicle or some form of government transpotation.
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wait 5 minutes it will change
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Permalink Reply by Dave Lucia on
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In my state, this is a MRT or EMT. It's the first responding group that holds the State R1 rating. In our case, it's the Fire Dept. In some other towns it my be the PD.
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Permalink Reply by Oldman on
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What confusion? Change to what? Last responder? middle responder?
Yes, it is used generically for LE, Fire or EMS but unless I have slept recently, most all fire department personnel are taught at least basic first aid and CPR. I teach in the criminal justice program at a local university, and guess what? They are taught first aid and CPR. A "first responder" utilizes very basic skills airway management, bleeding control, etc until more advanced care arrives.
It's not that confusing.
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Permalink Reply by Auxman on
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Perhaps it would help to explain that I'm coming from the perspective of volunteer fire departments where EMTs are rare and in which this level of training is common. We're not talking about the 8 hour first aid course that Red Cross teaches (or anything similar) by the way.
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You would be talking about training they would give to police officers or highway crews so they can help before EMS or Fire show up.
Some firefighters in our state still want that type of training instead of taking EMT or paramedic training.
Our county had ERTs (Emergency Response Tech) which were ff/paramedics. I don't know if they are still using that term or not.
We had ffs and ERTs. Firefighters were those that had been in the system before they started pushing the cross training.
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It appears that I was on to something as "First Responder" is well on its way to being changed to "Emergency Medical Responder".
See http://www.nasemsd.org/documents/FINALEMSSept2006_PMS314.pdf and http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/DOT/NHTSA/ems/811077b.pdf for more info.
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Or you could just say Emergency Responders if you include firefighters and police officers. Leave First Responder to those that don't ride around in regular emergency vehicles all the time.
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Permalink Reply by blair4630 on
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Correct, the new national scopes of practice which should take effect in a year or two are as follows:
EMR (Emergency Medical Responder)
EMT (Emergency Medical Technician)
AEMT (Advanced EMT)
Paramedic
I'm thinking some of the confusion may be coming from the fact that some aren't familiar with this responder level from their home state, as responder certifications currently are different in different states unless they are following National Registry levels. First responder is a current national registry level, and who knows, maybe your idea of the recent confusion is why it's being changed, to differentiate a medical responder from any emergency responder.
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