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EMT training hours cut in Mississippi

Staff Development Weekly: Insight on Evidence-Based Practice in Education, January 23, 2002

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Mississippi's State Board of Health reduced emergency medical technician classroom and field training hours from 1,700 hours to 1,200, fulfilling national standards and hoping to boost the state's shrinking number of EMTs. Mississippi annually loses approximately 15 percent of its registered EMTs because of retirement and career changes. Emergency medical service educators oppose the plan, concerned that it might compromise critical training that EMTs apply in the first few minutes of a medical crisis, or possibly hinder graduates' confidence. But ambulance service providers, including American Medical Response and Emergystat agree that this strategy would make it easier to fill the vacancies statewide. According to the Clarion-Ledger, the state calculated 86 open positions in November 2003. EMS educators suggest that fellow educators concerned with the quality of the new training should pair the trainees with experienced paramedics out in the field to compensate for the time reductions. They additionally plan to tackle the shortage challenge by aggressively recruiting more people for EMT training.

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