EMT/Paramedic Insignia

[SARMedTech]

Now if I can just get HMRS to stop calling its graduates medics...

there is always hope.....

I wrote a draft document to the  Ranger Supplement on Health Services and eliminated the title medic, and upgraded it to medical specialist (ie as in just like in the USAR world, the medical pro that is assigned to support a team is a medical specialist regardless of their level of base certification)

we'll see where it goes form there....

mk

To throw a further curve ball, several states have bridge course for RNs to work in the field with an EMT-P scope of practice.
They are doing EMS - can they use the badge? <somewhat retorical, keep reading>

To further confuse things - in PA my certification as prehospital RN is under the Bureau of EMS. In NV my EMS RN license is under the state board of nursing. In CA the MICN certiification is further different. My original training in PA is NREMT-P test eligible.
At this point i just use the Nurse insignia and do not wear the EMT badge. But I am working in EMS so I wonder if I could wear the EMS badge. If I was nationaly registered there would be less of a question. At this point it's best not to wear it.

1. This discussion about EMS/Medical/CAP is more productive in terms of hashing things out than most.

2. I commonly see flight nurses wearing blue or green or black flight suits with the SOL on the back. As far as I am concerned, a nurse flying with a medevac crew, especially since alot of recent developments in flight med put the nurse in charge, give that nurse the "right" to wear the SOL. She is working as part of a crew, and possibly as the crew lead, and therefore gets to wear our "badge."

3. I think its a good idea that the SOL be more protected in terms of who can wear it, just like the red cross/red crescent is.

That being said, our IMERT logo is an outline of the state of Illinois with an SOL on it and the whole team wears it, including non-medical personnel. In my opinion, in that setting they should be wearing it because they are a part of a huge medical team and they are integral to everything we do. Logistics, commo, transport, supply, and on and on...without them we would be a travelling first aid stand.

Anyway, theres my .02 and YMMV significantly.

Ironically, the reason we wear the SOL is because the AMA decided it didnt like field medical crews wearing the Caduceus.

[SAR-EMT1]

The CAP SOL items aside....


Wiki terms the Star of Life as being the symbol for those rendering Prehospital Care at ANY OFFICIAL level

from that I took - CFR all the way up through Flight Nurses or those
funny PAs that ride on some european ambulances.
(And do surgery at 90 miles an hour)

[SARMedTech]

First off, whenever using wikipedia as a cited source, be careful to consider the source. I mean no disrespect to my fellow distinguished gentleman from IL, but anyone with a key board can write a wikipedia entry and if they call it a "stub" they dont even need to bother with a citation.

However, the first article offered by wiki on the SOL states many facts about its useage which can be documented and, in fact are:

1. The star of life as it currently exists was developed in 1977 when the Red Cross got upset because the orange cross currently in use by EMS was, (they felt) being misunderstood as having something to do with their organization, and...

2. In 1977, the now commonplace blue SOL was developed with each of the six points representing a different aspect of emergency prehospital care. They are as follows:

Symbolism

The six branches of the star are symbols of the six main tasks executed by rescuers all through the emergency chain:

   1. Detection – The first rescuers on the scene, usually untrained civilians or those involved in the incident, observe the scene, understand the problem, identify the dangers to themselves and the others, and take appropriate measures to ensure their safety on the scene (environmental, electricity, chemicals, radiations, etc.).
   2. Reporting – The call for professional help is made and dispatch is connected with the victims, providing emergency medical dispatch.
   3. Response – The first rescuers provide first aid and immediate care to the extent of their capabilities.
   4. On scene care – The EMS personnel arrive and provide immediate care to the extent of their capabilities on-scene.
   5. Care in Transit – The EMS personnel proceed to transfer the patient to a hospital via an ambulance or helicopter for specialized care. They provide medical care during the transportation.
   6. Transfer to Definitive care – Appropriate specialized care is provided at the hospital.

In 1997 when the DOT's patent on the blue SOL expired, it was "given" to the NREMT to denote pre-hospital emergency medical care providers. As I said previously, this would include (though it was not that original intention that it should, the NREMT only representing Emergency Medical Technicians and not nurses or PAs) flight nurses, flight RT's etc...that is, anyone involved in PREHOSPITAL care.

If you read carefully concerning the 6th point of the SOL you will see that it denotes transfer to definitive care, which not only describes the "signing over" of a patient to equally or higher licensed medical care providers, but also, the end of EMS, EMS being as it is defined as "emergency pre-hospital care."

It should be further noted that another reason that the blue SOL exists is that, as I said, the AMA and various nursing associations came rather unglued because EMS personnel were using the caduceus. If you look at old pictures of our predecessors in the "ice cream uniform and hearse" days, you will see that many of the ambulance personnel are wearing a caduceus on their collar, and, in fact, the caduceus was used by the military for decades to indicate a vast array of medical personnel with the "cut out" version being used for officers and the brass caduceus embossed on a circle being used for enlisted personnel.

I think the big thing here is "pre-hospital" care, which would include"

medical first responders, all levels of emergency medical technicians, air-evac pilots (many of who have adopted a version of the SOL with wings), flight nurses and various other medically trained and licensed personnel who care for a patient before he/she reaches the hospital. By definition, once a patient reaches the the door of the ER, EMS has ended and therefor the use of the SOL should end as well.

What does this mean for CAP members? If you are an MFR or EMT of any level, duly licensed and certified by your state and/or the National Registry, then this insignia belongs to you. It is not, however, appropriate for wear by CAP nurse officers, medical officers (ie physicians), dentists, veterinarians or any other allied-health personnel. While there is no official governing body for Emergency Medical Technicians in the US (Oh would that it were so) we have to be sort of self-policing, as it were. So basically, if you are a CAP member with medical training and certification or license other than EMT, leave the SOL to those for whom it was created and use the logo of your own profession. Certainly there are enough variants of the caduceus to cover most of the others.