Medical Officer Qualifications

[Dutchboy]

I was wondering if someone could tell me if you have to be a nurse, or can you be a EMT at a minimum in order to be appointed a medical Officer. IF EMT is ok, What level of EMT?

[EMT-83]

An EMT meets the requirements for health service officer, and the grade of second lieutenant.

From CAPR 35-5:
(1) Second Lieutenant. Licensed practical or vocational nurse, paramedic, or other health technician.

(2) First Lieutenant. Registered nurse, physician assistant or other health professional with a bachelor's or master's degree as outlined in CAPR 160-1.

(3) Captain. Licensed physician, dentist, or other health professional with an earned doctorate degree in a health care discipline.

(4) Major. Licensed physician appointed a unit health service program officer in accordance with CAPR 160-1 who has served 1 year time-in-grade as a captain.


From CAPR 160-1:
Only physician categories will have the title of "medical officer." Only nurse categories will have the title "nurse officer." All others will be known as "health service officers."

[JayT]

I was wondering if someone could tell me if you have to be a nurse, or can you be a EMT at a minimum in order to be appointed a medical Officer. IF EMT is ok, What level of EMT?

So, no.

You have to be a 'Doctor' to be a 'Medical Officers.'

You can be a Health Service Officer through!

[Eclipse]

And what, exactly, would the expectation of service and responsibilities for a unit HSO, MO, or NO, be, exactly?

I know what the text says, what would members looking for these appointments actually expect to do in the real world of CAP?

Because my answer is "nothing", other than maybe First Aid training, and you don't have to be a medical professional, per-se, to provide that training.

[Dutchboy]

I think EMT is good for first Aid Training. From what I know EMT's have a set number of hours they are required to train people in like first aid and that sort of thing.

[arajca]

According to CAPR 20-1:

Medical Officer
Responsible for advising CAP commanders and units on the health, sanitation and hygiene of CAP members relevant to CAP activities. (See CAPR 160-1 for policy on emergency medical treatment). They shall:
Assists the ES Officer in arranging or providing training in first aid and emergency lifesaving measures to include medically recognized cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) techniques.
Provide bloodborne pathogen protection training including preventive measures.
Report bloodborne pathogen exposures and ensure that those members exposed obtain appropriate follow-up medical care from non-CAP sources.
Advise members to obtain necessary physical examinations from their personal physicians and to complete emergency treatment consent forms where required by regulation to participate in various Civil Air Patrol activities. NOTE: Under no circumstances will CAP medical personnel perform physical examinations as part of their Civil Air Patrol duties.
Arrange for necessary medical training materials. Supplies and equipment for unit missions or special activities.
Maintain first aid kits for medical emergencies. (See CAPR 160-1 for policy on emergency medical treatment.)
Generally advise commanders and unit personnel on preventive medicine matters relevant to CAP activities.
Plan conferences and meetings pertaining to special affairs.
Medical officers should be familiar with all CAP directives in the 160 series and applicable portions of CAPRs 55-1, 50-15, 52-16, 50-17 and 62-2.

CAPR 20-1 predates the HSO title. MO, NO, and HSO have the same duties, except that if a unit has mulitiple MO's/NO's/HSO's, the one with the highest level of education and training is the HSO (etc) officer and the others are their assistants.

9. Members in any of the foregoing health disciplines may serve as a unit's health service program officer. If a unit has more than one health professional assigned, the most senior in terms of level of education and training should be the designated health service program officer and any others as his/her assistants.

[EMT-83]

I think EMT is good for first Aid Training. From what I know EMT's have a set number of hours they are required to train people in like first aid and that sort of thing.

Nope, not a requirement to be an EMT.

Hopefully an EMT has the skills needed to teach a first aid course. From a liability standpoint, it would be better to be a certified instructor and use an established program, Red Cross for example.

[Eclipse]

So like I said, not much of anything... 

I don't need an MD to advise my people about washing their hands after they go potty or when to go to the Dr., They can't provide medical exams, and any GT worth his salt can advise me about blood borne pathogen exposure.

Basically they can't do what any reasonable person would consider "Doctoryfyin".

Another place CAP has an entire program, insinuates to potential members they can have an impact based on their skills, and then essentially provides no real work for them to do.

In a perfect world, MO's should be able to do flight physicals, at a minimum, provide medical advice, and maybe even cadet evals for PT  (as a start).  Likely neither NHQ or most MD's insurance is ever going to allow that kind of thing.

[chiles]

It's a job that is really what you make it. As a Nurse Officer, I do the small stuff (hand washing classes and maintaining the first aid kit) and the large stuff (teaching blood borne pathogens and writing courses for medical and psychological mitigation). During Encampment, I act as the "Health Supervisor" required under Maryland State law for Summer camps. I'm trying to put a process in where I can keep track of medical operational qualifications (1st Aid and CPR) across the Wing so that I can link those about to expire with recertification courses close to them. So, the regs don't give us a lot to do, but there are a lot of ways MO's, NO's, and HSO's can make things better for the membership.

[Eclipse]

^ I rely on HSO's just as you mention (Oh, man have I leaned on those guys at encampments), so I'm not trying to make any comment as to the value of the people or the need for their services in certain circumstances, only that, like so much of CAP, we're setup to mirror military units, but are hampered by regulation as to what a lot of people can do.

[JayT]

I think EMT is good for first Aid Training. From what I know EMT's have a set number of hours they are required to train people in like first aid and that sort of thing.

Very little of what I did in my EMT-B class, and even less of what I'm doing in my EMT-CC class, has practical use in CAP.


They don't teach us how to deal with blisters, or how to spilt broken ankles with branches or what not.

I don't know many guys with Wilderness EMT or Paramedic training, and frankly, in my area, it's not worth getting.