Your view on young EMTs

Most states require that in order to become a certified EMT, you must be 18. In some states, such as New Jersey, allow 16 year olds to become certified EMTs. And no, according to NJ's state laws, a 16 year old EMT is just as qualified to provide the same level of care as an adult. I am 16 and am a member of an EMS organization that is responsible for EMS coverage for a large area, and there is NO Junior/Explorer program, meaning I am entitled to do everything an adult EMT can do medically.

My question is, how do you feel about this system? I want your honest opinion, and will not get offended as long as it is your opinion and you aren't personally attacking/insulting people.

(Example: "I dont like young emts" or "I think its stupid for a minor to be an emt" would be opinions,

whereas "You are an idiot" or "I dont like you" arent really opinions but are rather offensive."

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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on March 25, 2011 at 12:39am

Ken,

It really doesn't matter what you have done and so forth. The issue here goes back to your original question about should those younger than 18 be allowed to be EMT's. The point being is that even younger than the legal age identified to vote or even sign your own HIPAA, there lies a quandry. Just because your state may allow it doesn't make such an idea a good idea, nor even a pertinent. So what if you have done all that stuff, anyone with such training should. However, the fact remains, there is no reason that such skills can wait until someone is of legal age.

Seriously, look at this from a legal aspect. I could seriously care less about your personal creditentials, but take say some other minor and put them in the same place. Now say they screw up and the agency is now in litigation. Justify it, justify the fact kids should be running EMS. For the most part most kids won't even have a HS diploma (typically necessary to even get in such collegiate courses) so justify a service defending the need to utilize children. This opens a whole can of worms, it is one thing to say one is an adult and should know better, but it doesn't alays work with kids, so justify it.

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Permalink Reply by Alexander Korsunsky on March 25, 2011 at 8:49am

We are missing logistics in this case I'm sorry but this is a bunch of rabbling of personal opinions on the issue and not facts this is like taking a rhetorical analysis with no ability to add the ethos or logos in their response. Please, the only way to really end this argument is through the facts. ex.- how many 16 year olds are EMT's. Court Cases where the EMT issue was brought upon. Maybe a news story where an EMT who was young brought a huge legal case to the department of hospital he was working at. It's time we bring more logos in to this though I do believe that the only ones who can possibly have any ethos here instead of pathos is the more experienced people who has done this for years and this is a battle with only experienced vs. unexperienced and vice versa experienced(unexperienced with the unexperienced) and unexperienced( not too well experienced with the experienced EMT's.) ADD LOGOS FACTS NEWS STORIES MAKE THIS A LEGITIMATE DISCUSSION ANALYZE.

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Permalink Reply by Nick S on March 25, 2011 at 10:14am

You can maybe do all of those things because you can "medically" BUT the 16 year olds HAVE to be with an 18+ EMT (at least thats my understanding of the law in NJ). So your searching for legislation against 16 y.o. EMTs is not going to be fruitful simply because the 16 year olds are never the lead patient care provider. It doesn't matter if you are trained to perform those skills if the 16 year old isn't the lead tech on the report, 99% of legal actions will NOT be against you. So you're not the same as 18+ techs. You HAVE to be supervised.

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Permalink Reply by Jack/dt on March 25, 2011 at 11:25am

The single, overarching comment that always comes up in a discussion on age and ability is that 'there are adults who are more immature than a 16 or 17 year old.' And certainly there will always be outliers from the norm, both young and old, but the studies suggest that on the whole, brain development is not complete until the mid-twenties.

I suggest taking a look through the following links.
Adolescent Brain Development
http://www.actforyouth.net/resources/rf/rf_brain_0502.pdf
Teens, Risk Taking and Emotional Maturity.
http://oldelmtree.com/?topic=6400.0%3Bwap2
Emotional Maturity Is A Conscious Choice
http://www.morler.com/emotional_maturity.pdf
emotional intelligence (EQ)
http://www.businessballs.com/eq.htm
Emotional Intelligence: What it is and Why it Matters
http://www.businessballs.com/emotionalintelligenceexplanation.pdf