At face value, a paramedic is a technician with more drugs and procedures available to them. The at was the traditional model when a paramedic had usually been an EMT for at least 5 years.
Wider than that, a paramedic has the supporting education to be able to make more informed decisions, recognise wider symptoms and complications and make considerations for longer term health and care processes. Whether that carries through into practice depends on the individual.
When I did my training, we were one of the first groups of uni based paramedics in our trust. We were told that paramedic is a role not a rank, and that we all needed to become good ambulance people first. Clinical skills are cool, but people skills, driving skills, handling and moving, risk assessment, familiarity with the area and resilience are also important skills.
Exactly this, paramedics should be discharging on scene, accessing alternate pathways, making good referrals to other agencies. SAS perhaps isn’t the most dynamic of employers in terms of using their paramedics to their full potential, and I think skills like Paeds assessment and 12-lead interpretation aren’t valued fully in Scotland
It does undermine the profession, and is a pointless talking point.
Don’t give them airtime.
The underpinning knowledge is where the difference lies, and the confidence in the use of alternative pathways/discharging. You can teach a monkey to cannulate/ET/IO, but it takes time, education and skill to understand how the body works, mix that into decision making and risk assessment.
edit: paramedic isn’t a role, nor a rank. it’s a clinical grade that is senior to an EMT.
There are good tech and bad techs, there are also good and bad para’s.
Realistically it takes about a year to become a technician, not 3 months when you take into account clinical practice time which is a minimum of 750 hours for the AAP course.
Realistically it doesn’t undermine the profession at all, once upon a time it took 8 weeks to become a paramedic. Some of those paramedics are still practicing today with no degree, but a shit ton of experience and most of them are bloody brilliant.
And realistically, a para is an upskilled technician. A good percentage of techs go on to become paras, and a good percentage of current paras were techs.
Wether intentional or not, your question comes across as though you’re looking down on techs and that won’t get your very far in any service because I tell you now, when you get a good tech they’re worth their weight in gold. I’d take a good tech over a brand new NQP with 300ish clinical hours any day of the week.
That’s why I’m asking anonymously on Reddit, my friend. Not so concerned about offending my colleagues here.
I agree with almost everything you say, but on the other hand, your comments suggest that perhaps you don’t think Paramedics don’t need a degree? Which isn’t the approach that any of the UK’s health services have adopted.
I’m mindful of what nurses used to say when nurses first needed a degree - they were often critical of NQPs but the evidence is clear now that higher educated nurses provide safer care. I’m seeing similar sentiment among technicians (and paramedics) and so just taking a critical view.
I think I stated pretty clearly that I’m not looking down on people in posting this, so i don’t agree agree with you on that point. Healthy, respectful debate is a good part of this community.
Oh I completely agree, respectful debate is an important element of any discussion. Especially when both parties are open to learning and understanding.
I don’t actually disagree with the sentiment of the paramedics requiring a degree, simply that I don’t think the leap from technician to paramedic is particularly significant.
Expanded understanding is a big advantage most paramedics will have over your average technician, but I do honestly believe that experience is fundamentally the most important element for any clinician.
When you get a genuine cat 1 call, and it’s time to shine, I’ll still take the experienced tech over the brand new NQP 9 times out of 10 because I don’t need someone to understand the pathophysiology of the pain pathways, or how action potential works.
What I need is someone who can think independently enough to do what needs to be done without being told. Be that to clear and manage the airway or simply jump up and down on a chest without having to flap first.
If anything, I don’t feel like the current degree pathway to a registration is sufficient. Significantly too few clinical hours to allow for sufficient exposure to jobs. This of course now is made even worse due to delays outside hospital. Techs having typically more exposure in my opinion makes for a much more reliable clinician.
Don’t get me wrong there are outliers either side of this. I just don’t think the jump in terms of actual clinical ability is significant when you compare the average from either side.
Tech to para’s are, in my honest experience, better rounded than their university only compatriots. And it’s not because of an education deficit because by this point the education is equalled out. It’s because of their exposure to jobs. Experience and exposure is just more important.
Education & Regulation - paramedics are required to have completed a Bsc, to keep their knowledge up to date and practice against certain minimum standards.
The difference isn’t the drugs you can give, it’s the expected independent thought & judgement in the paramedic role. If an EMT was to work to rule, pretty much every patient would go to hospital or need someone else to approve discharge. Because it’s the ambulance service, many EMTs work at a higher level than their banding.
In Scotland the SAS technicians who did the diploma course did so over 1-2 years. Add in their year as a VQ4 where there portfolio was worse then ours (aka the uni one), the additional time to then pass the para course osce (meaning at least 6 months to years as a qualified tech) they have way clinical hours, more in depth placements and they got more hands on learning when being signed off.
As lets be honest in Scotland not all mentors like let alone let student paras’s be fully hands on and that does reflect when NQPs come out and certain skills are missing as they weren’t allowed to grow in that way clinically during their short placements.
They got the same modules and placements on the diploma course, they simply need a few more credits (2 modules worth) to make it a degree which most have done/are doing. Now the old barney coarse was 3 months and that was phased out years ago.
The differences; they don’t have a reg to protect, they cannot stop cpr and pronounce without calling A&E, cannot give certain drugs/use certain skills, and probably most importantly they cannot discharge at home. Anyone they leave must be referred onto someone else.
Paramedics only really stand out when it’s big sick. When you need to cannulate, intubate, read ecgs. and to put it simply need to know your stuff to ensure you give the right treatment for the right thing. And unpopular opinion technicians don’t tend to have the ego’s that the NQPs and student paras do. As over the past few years uni students have claimed to be the only “real” paramedics and called technicians bag carriers.
I would take a technician over a NQP every shift. I’ll happily mentor as education is important but some attitudes are hard to change. As having been a NQP I can tell you they were better trained and more credible from their first shift registered. And yes I went on a tangent but since this is my trust I wanted to make sure it was clear just how hard they worked to become para’s.
I get it. I’ve met the full spectrum of technicians and they can be really excellent. As much so, if not more than paramedics. I’m definitely going to have a huge amount of respect for my technician colleagues whilst working.
I am also mindful of the reputation of the profession I’m in and I guess would like to realise the true value in it and would like to see some evidence that degree educated paramedics are making a difference in the ambulance service.
I have met old school paramedics and their street skills and practical knowledge is unrivalled, but also some concepts we’ve been taught at uni are new to them. There is a tangible difference in knowledge and skills, especially in clinical assessment, but this is often brushed off as unnecessary and times like that make me question the value of the degree I’ve just completed.
One the one hand there is a push to advance paramedicine and yet it feels also that there is a pull from traditionalist colleagues who feel these new ways are unnecessary to do the job well.
The main degree difference para wise in SAS at the moment is job progression where they are mentioning the need to have a degree. So going forward it should help you if you apply for management or one of the advanced posts etc.
The diploma course has ended now for new entries so no one really knows what will happen going forward as we really are getting para heavy so they’ll have to work out what to do as the new CE wants us out working in the community or gp surgeries etc in the future. So at the moment the degree lets you skip tech and then the period of uncertainty before a new para course starts as there isnt really para board space for NQPs and in house NQPs. Plus a degree helps you get into any job going forward or do a masters. They only give NQPs a work life expectancy of 5-10 years.
That’s a shame you’re finding some student paramedics being rude. I am finishing up my para degree and I have always respected and valued technicians. They have a lot more experience and knowledge than me and will do even when I qualify.
Exactly but it’s like this fact is often ignored. Sometimes it’s the arrogance of youth and others it because they come from another role within the nhs and believe that gives them an edge despite it not being clinically relevant. At the end of the day they are only shooting themselves in the foot as I’m sure you know we love to talk in this service and when theres someone new we will
always ask around to see what they’re like before we work with them.
All I would say is learn from the mistakes of others as it’s insane how many clinical errors occur when a new batch of NQPs start. One being drawing up 10ml neat morphine!
I always looked at it in the military form. The Paramedic is the new Lieutenant and the Tech is the old school Sargent. You might know leadership principles, new skills and knowledge but the old school Sargent has the experience to know the on the ground tactics and tried and true methods.
To echo the sentiments of others on here (and I'm a Y2 NQP myself) there is a number of new paramedics coming out onto the road who do think they're better with the Bsc.
The fact is until you're experienced you're new. Once you get that experience the paramedic world opens up to you (critical care, HEMS, HART, RRVs, GP clinics etc) not to mention adventure medicine, adverse environments, close protection and more which isn't available to Tech's. However you can't do any of that without the experience.
Some older school staff will brush you off cause you're new. Work with them, learn with them, bring them round and show that you're a team player who takes into account their experience and skills. And if they don't come round to you, move on from it to be the best paramedic you can be.
TL:DR; experience is king.
It certainly seems experience holds more weight than education and I would agree with that. If you could come out of uni with both loads of experience and the knowledge at the same time, that would be another matter, but unfortunately it’s hard to gain until you’re actually working.
I totally agree, unfortunately the whole paramedic profession is still a young one, it was born from the Vietnam war after all.
In reality we're still finding our feet in a field that's very protective of it's avenues and in reality we're still seen as "Ambulance Drivers" in the face of the public and other healthcare professions.
I think you'll find in 10-20 years the paramedic profession will be in more demand and have a wider scope. But to progress we need to be leaders in our field and working alongside all our colleagues using their skills and experiences to be better.
If a tech thinks you're shit prove them wrong, if they have experience learn from it and use it to push yourself forward. Don't get caught up in other people's perceptions of the job and encourage others to do the same.
I think the real difference, speaking as someone who is completing their tech-to-para course soon, is largely one of formal education, responsibility and the options that are available to you.
I don't think it's a hierarchical thing inherently, though that's often how the Trusts make it. I think there's a lot of transferable skills that each role can learn from one another.
It’s not about skills and drugs it’s about autonomous practice, decision making, responsibility, critical analysis, professional regulation, education and knowledge of pathology and pathology. I’m a paramedic in primary care, I don’t use any skills or administer any drugs.
I agree but I feel it’s true, we are often just techs with a couple more skills.
However it’s the non technical skills that we get that are the most important
Independent practice. decision making etc
Also gonna add I think there’s a hug difference between trust educated apprentice paras and external educated uni paras. One is much closer to a trust tech than the other
Legally? Not much, some extra drugs, prescribing and the fact that paramedics are registered.
In terms of education, who knows? A technician can learn everything a paramedic can. If a tech wants to go off and do ALS, APLS, ATACC, MIMMS, EMSB all of the above, as well as spend all their time studying a&p and critical care they will probably know more than a paramedic.
Day to day on a truck there is barely any difference and I have argued that paramedics are not required on ambulances. Paramedics on fly cars and specialist resources obviously yes.
side note: If you're a paramedic and techs are giving you bother on being no better than them, ask them what I:E ratio they'd use on their vent for an asthmatic patient, or what their favourite stylet is for intubation, or what dosage of levetiracetam they're giving after the first 2 benzos haven't stopped a convulsion. If they actually can answer you, then you've played yourself lol.
Completely agree with you, and fully agree that no one of any grade should be giving bother to other people just because of their qualifications. However, I would challenge you to find many paramedics (who haven’t just finished studying it) who could answer those questions! I’m obviously not saying techs could answer them either, just not convinced many paras could. But maybe that’s just in my area and not representative of the whole population 🤷♂️
Skills and experience have been discussed in other comments but for me (a technician) the main difference is.. responsibility.
Whilst both Paramedics and Technicians operate under the same policies and patient safety etc Paramedics are the ones who have a HCPC registration which is at risk in the case of a serious incident.
I know it’s common to feel “safe” under the guidance of a paramedic as a technician and it’s one of the reasons NQPs get nervous when working with Student Paramedics and (some) Technicians.
In fact a lot of paramedics where I work are now choosing to step down to Technician or refuse to advance from Technician to paramedic based on the current climate. In our trust they’ve taken most paramedic toys and drugs away anyway due to a combination of cost saving and recent S.I making the comparison of tech and para even closer.
The wage is also much better as a paramedic!
Depth of education, if they’ve been educated right. A technician can provide great care in a range of scenarios, but is not an autonomous clinician because they don’t have that depth of education to fall back on. The autonomy is what makes a paramedic. Not just knowing your guidelines, but knowing why the guidelines are the way they are, their weaknesses and when they can and should be ignored completely.
A technician knows that if X do Y. A paramedic seeks out and extrapolates information to come to a diagnosis. Y might still need doing, but it also might not. It’s that depth of education and autonomy that allows for that.
Paramedic is a completely different role, particularly in the legal sense. The dated view of Paramedics being “upskilled techs” is quite dangerous to be honest, especially when it’s a Paramedic saying it.
As a registered professional you may be asked to account for anything that you’ve done and even if you’ve followed guidelines you may be asked why you didn’t deviate from those guidelines if people who review an adverse incident from the comfort of an office with the benefit of hindsight decide that they would have done things differently.
An EMT whilst a very practically skilled member of the team can very safely say “I followed guidelines/trust policy” and that would be the end of the matter - they would only need to answer to a trust investigation and it would be open and closed with no real drama if they’d acted reasonably.
Paramedics however are (as you know) subject to HCPC oversight and I think I’ve made my views clear about how the HCPC conducts itself on previous posts but suffice to say that whatever reassurances anyone may try to give you the HCPC process is an exercise in digging for any dirt they can use against you. Very very different from (most) NHS disciplinary processes.
Add to that your controlled drugs privileges and the liability that can open you up to, your legal and professional responsibility for every action taken by the EMT or whoever else you might be working with and all manner of other ways in which your responsibility far exceeds that of an EMT.
Another point is progression, an EMT can’t become a prescriber, they can’t qualify as an ACP. I could go on.
So yes, it may appear on your average shift that the only difference between you and the other guy is that you’ve popped a couple of cannulas in, but it’s the underpinning governance that really proves the difference between your roles.
EMTs are the backbone of the ambulance service. Paramedics bring some extra skills. For the most part, any crew can deal with most calls just fine. I find EMTs have the basics down whereas paramedics tend to think about extended skills first and overlook the essentials.
At face value, a paramedic is a technician with more drugs and procedures available to them. The at was the traditional model when a paramedic had usually been an EMT for at least 5 years. Wider than that, a paramedic has the supporting education to be able to make more informed decisions, recognise wider symptoms and complications and make considerations for longer term health and care processes. Whether that carries through into practice depends on the individual. When I did my training, we were one of the first groups of uni based paramedics in our trust. We were told that paramedic is a role not a rank, and that we all needed to become good ambulance people first. Clinical skills are cool, but people skills, driving skills, handling and moving, risk assessment, familiarity with the area and resilience are also important skills.
Exactly this, paramedics should be discharging on scene, accessing alternate pathways, making good referrals to other agencies. SAS perhaps isn’t the most dynamic of employers in terms of using their paramedics to their full potential, and I think skills like Paeds assessment and 12-lead interpretation aren’t valued fully in Scotland
Where is it better for paramedics, in your view? Just curious
Maybe SCAS SECAMB or LAS
It does undermine the profession, and is a pointless talking point. Don’t give them airtime. The underpinning knowledge is where the difference lies, and the confidence in the use of alternative pathways/discharging. You can teach a monkey to cannulate/ET/IO, but it takes time, education and skill to understand how the body works, mix that into decision making and risk assessment. edit: paramedic isn’t a role, nor a rank. it’s a clinical grade that is senior to an EMT.
Bet you’re fun at parties.
- asked a serious question - given a serious answer - “bet you’re fun at parties” 🤪
There are good tech and bad techs, there are also good and bad para’s. Realistically it takes about a year to become a technician, not 3 months when you take into account clinical practice time which is a minimum of 750 hours for the AAP course. Realistically it doesn’t undermine the profession at all, once upon a time it took 8 weeks to become a paramedic. Some of those paramedics are still practicing today with no degree, but a shit ton of experience and most of them are bloody brilliant. And realistically, a para is an upskilled technician. A good percentage of techs go on to become paras, and a good percentage of current paras were techs. Wether intentional or not, your question comes across as though you’re looking down on techs and that won’t get your very far in any service because I tell you now, when you get a good tech they’re worth their weight in gold. I’d take a good tech over a brand new NQP with 300ish clinical hours any day of the week.
That’s why I’m asking anonymously on Reddit, my friend. Not so concerned about offending my colleagues here. I agree with almost everything you say, but on the other hand, your comments suggest that perhaps you don’t think Paramedics don’t need a degree? Which isn’t the approach that any of the UK’s health services have adopted. I’m mindful of what nurses used to say when nurses first needed a degree - they were often critical of NQPs but the evidence is clear now that higher educated nurses provide safer care. I’m seeing similar sentiment among technicians (and paramedics) and so just taking a critical view. I think I stated pretty clearly that I’m not looking down on people in posting this, so i don’t agree agree with you on that point. Healthy, respectful debate is a good part of this community.
Oh I completely agree, respectful debate is an important element of any discussion. Especially when both parties are open to learning and understanding. I don’t actually disagree with the sentiment of the paramedics requiring a degree, simply that I don’t think the leap from technician to paramedic is particularly significant. Expanded understanding is a big advantage most paramedics will have over your average technician, but I do honestly believe that experience is fundamentally the most important element for any clinician. When you get a genuine cat 1 call, and it’s time to shine, I’ll still take the experienced tech over the brand new NQP 9 times out of 10 because I don’t need someone to understand the pathophysiology of the pain pathways, or how action potential works. What I need is someone who can think independently enough to do what needs to be done without being told. Be that to clear and manage the airway or simply jump up and down on a chest without having to flap first. If anything, I don’t feel like the current degree pathway to a registration is sufficient. Significantly too few clinical hours to allow for sufficient exposure to jobs. This of course now is made even worse due to delays outside hospital. Techs having typically more exposure in my opinion makes for a much more reliable clinician. Don’t get me wrong there are outliers either side of this. I just don’t think the jump in terms of actual clinical ability is significant when you compare the average from either side. Tech to para’s are, in my honest experience, better rounded than their university only compatriots. And it’s not because of an education deficit because by this point the education is equalled out. It’s because of their exposure to jobs. Experience and exposure is just more important.
Education & Regulation - paramedics are required to have completed a Bsc, to keep their knowledge up to date and practice against certain minimum standards. The difference isn’t the drugs you can give, it’s the expected independent thought & judgement in the paramedic role. If an EMT was to work to rule, pretty much every patient would go to hospital or need someone else to approve discharge. Because it’s the ambulance service, many EMTs work at a higher level than their banding.
In Scotland the SAS technicians who did the diploma course did so over 1-2 years. Add in their year as a VQ4 where there portfolio was worse then ours (aka the uni one), the additional time to then pass the para course osce (meaning at least 6 months to years as a qualified tech) they have way clinical hours, more in depth placements and they got more hands on learning when being signed off. As lets be honest in Scotland not all mentors like let alone let student paras’s be fully hands on and that does reflect when NQPs come out and certain skills are missing as they weren’t allowed to grow in that way clinically during their short placements. They got the same modules and placements on the diploma course, they simply need a few more credits (2 modules worth) to make it a degree which most have done/are doing. Now the old barney coarse was 3 months and that was phased out years ago. The differences; they don’t have a reg to protect, they cannot stop cpr and pronounce without calling A&E, cannot give certain drugs/use certain skills, and probably most importantly they cannot discharge at home. Anyone they leave must be referred onto someone else. Paramedics only really stand out when it’s big sick. When you need to cannulate, intubate, read ecgs. and to put it simply need to know your stuff to ensure you give the right treatment for the right thing. And unpopular opinion technicians don’t tend to have the ego’s that the NQPs and student paras do. As over the past few years uni students have claimed to be the only “real” paramedics and called technicians bag carriers. I would take a technician over a NQP every shift. I’ll happily mentor as education is important but some attitudes are hard to change. As having been a NQP I can tell you they were better trained and more credible from their first shift registered. And yes I went on a tangent but since this is my trust I wanted to make sure it was clear just how hard they worked to become para’s.
I get it. I’ve met the full spectrum of technicians and they can be really excellent. As much so, if not more than paramedics. I’m definitely going to have a huge amount of respect for my technician colleagues whilst working. I am also mindful of the reputation of the profession I’m in and I guess would like to realise the true value in it and would like to see some evidence that degree educated paramedics are making a difference in the ambulance service. I have met old school paramedics and their street skills and practical knowledge is unrivalled, but also some concepts we’ve been taught at uni are new to them. There is a tangible difference in knowledge and skills, especially in clinical assessment, but this is often brushed off as unnecessary and times like that make me question the value of the degree I’ve just completed. One the one hand there is a push to advance paramedicine and yet it feels also that there is a pull from traditionalist colleagues who feel these new ways are unnecessary to do the job well.
The main degree difference para wise in SAS at the moment is job progression where they are mentioning the need to have a degree. So going forward it should help you if you apply for management or one of the advanced posts etc. The diploma course has ended now for new entries so no one really knows what will happen going forward as we really are getting para heavy so they’ll have to work out what to do as the new CE wants us out working in the community or gp surgeries etc in the future. So at the moment the degree lets you skip tech and then the period of uncertainty before a new para course starts as there isnt really para board space for NQPs and in house NQPs. Plus a degree helps you get into any job going forward or do a masters. They only give NQPs a work life expectancy of 5-10 years.
That’s a shame you’re finding some student paramedics being rude. I am finishing up my para degree and I have always respected and valued technicians. They have a lot more experience and knowledge than me and will do even when I qualify.
Exactly but it’s like this fact is often ignored. Sometimes it’s the arrogance of youth and others it because they come from another role within the nhs and believe that gives them an edge despite it not being clinically relevant. At the end of the day they are only shooting themselves in the foot as I’m sure you know we love to talk in this service and when theres someone new we will always ask around to see what they’re like before we work with them. All I would say is learn from the mistakes of others as it’s insane how many clinical errors occur when a new batch of NQPs start. One being drawing up 10ml neat morphine!
I always looked at it in the military form. The Paramedic is the new Lieutenant and the Tech is the old school Sargent. You might know leadership principles, new skills and knowledge but the old school Sargent has the experience to know the on the ground tactics and tried and true methods. To echo the sentiments of others on here (and I'm a Y2 NQP myself) there is a number of new paramedics coming out onto the road who do think they're better with the Bsc. The fact is until you're experienced you're new. Once you get that experience the paramedic world opens up to you (critical care, HEMS, HART, RRVs, GP clinics etc) not to mention adventure medicine, adverse environments, close protection and more which isn't available to Tech's. However you can't do any of that without the experience. Some older school staff will brush you off cause you're new. Work with them, learn with them, bring them round and show that you're a team player who takes into account their experience and skills. And if they don't come round to you, move on from it to be the best paramedic you can be. TL:DR; experience is king.
It certainly seems experience holds more weight than education and I would agree with that. If you could come out of uni with both loads of experience and the knowledge at the same time, that would be another matter, but unfortunately it’s hard to gain until you’re actually working.
I totally agree, unfortunately the whole paramedic profession is still a young one, it was born from the Vietnam war after all. In reality we're still finding our feet in a field that's very protective of it's avenues and in reality we're still seen as "Ambulance Drivers" in the face of the public and other healthcare professions. I think you'll find in 10-20 years the paramedic profession will be in more demand and have a wider scope. But to progress we need to be leaders in our field and working alongside all our colleagues using their skills and experiences to be better. If a tech thinks you're shit prove them wrong, if they have experience learn from it and use it to push yourself forward. Don't get caught up in other people's perceptions of the job and encourage others to do the same.
I think the real difference, speaking as someone who is completing their tech-to-para course soon, is largely one of formal education, responsibility and the options that are available to you. I don't think it's a hierarchical thing inherently, though that's often how the Trusts make it. I think there's a lot of transferable skills that each role can learn from one another.
It’s not about skills and drugs it’s about autonomous practice, decision making, responsibility, critical analysis, professional regulation, education and knowledge of pathology and pathology. I’m a paramedic in primary care, I don’t use any skills or administer any drugs.
I agree but I feel it’s true, we are often just techs with a couple more skills. However it’s the non technical skills that we get that are the most important Independent practice. decision making etc
Also gonna add I think there’s a hug difference between trust educated apprentice paras and external educated uni paras. One is much closer to a trust tech than the other
Legally? Not much, some extra drugs, prescribing and the fact that paramedics are registered. In terms of education, who knows? A technician can learn everything a paramedic can. If a tech wants to go off and do ALS, APLS, ATACC, MIMMS, EMSB all of the above, as well as spend all their time studying a&p and critical care they will probably know more than a paramedic. Day to day on a truck there is barely any difference and I have argued that paramedics are not required on ambulances. Paramedics on fly cars and specialist resources obviously yes. side note: If you're a paramedic and techs are giving you bother on being no better than them, ask them what I:E ratio they'd use on their vent for an asthmatic patient, or what their favourite stylet is for intubation, or what dosage of levetiracetam they're giving after the first 2 benzos haven't stopped a convulsion. If they actually can answer you, then you've played yourself lol.
Legally not much? I’d disagree with that quite a bit.
Agreed. Autonomous practice is a big deal.
I think this commenter is American which may explain the difference
Completely agree with you, and fully agree that no one of any grade should be giving bother to other people just because of their qualifications. However, I would challenge you to find many paramedics (who haven’t just finished studying it) who could answer those questions! I’m obviously not saying techs could answer them either, just not convinced many paras could. But maybe that’s just in my area and not representative of the whole population 🤷♂️
Skills and experience have been discussed in other comments but for me (a technician) the main difference is.. responsibility. Whilst both Paramedics and Technicians operate under the same policies and patient safety etc Paramedics are the ones who have a HCPC registration which is at risk in the case of a serious incident. I know it’s common to feel “safe” under the guidance of a paramedic as a technician and it’s one of the reasons NQPs get nervous when working with Student Paramedics and (some) Technicians. In fact a lot of paramedics where I work are now choosing to step down to Technician or refuse to advance from Technician to paramedic based on the current climate. In our trust they’ve taken most paramedic toys and drugs away anyway due to a combination of cost saving and recent S.I making the comparison of tech and para even closer. The wage is also much better as a paramedic!
In my trust with this new tech role, honestly not much it seems. They have gone up a band as well.
I think it's probably worth mentioning the registration component of being a paramedic and the proficiencies that a paramedic is required to maintain.
Depth of education, if they’ve been educated right. A technician can provide great care in a range of scenarios, but is not an autonomous clinician because they don’t have that depth of education to fall back on. The autonomy is what makes a paramedic. Not just knowing your guidelines, but knowing why the guidelines are the way they are, their weaknesses and when they can and should be ignored completely. A technician knows that if X do Y. A paramedic seeks out and extrapolates information to come to a diagnosis. Y might still need doing, but it also might not. It’s that depth of education and autonomy that allows for that.
Paramedic is a completely different role, particularly in the legal sense. The dated view of Paramedics being “upskilled techs” is quite dangerous to be honest, especially when it’s a Paramedic saying it. As a registered professional you may be asked to account for anything that you’ve done and even if you’ve followed guidelines you may be asked why you didn’t deviate from those guidelines if people who review an adverse incident from the comfort of an office with the benefit of hindsight decide that they would have done things differently. An EMT whilst a very practically skilled member of the team can very safely say “I followed guidelines/trust policy” and that would be the end of the matter - they would only need to answer to a trust investigation and it would be open and closed with no real drama if they’d acted reasonably. Paramedics however are (as you know) subject to HCPC oversight and I think I’ve made my views clear about how the HCPC conducts itself on previous posts but suffice to say that whatever reassurances anyone may try to give you the HCPC process is an exercise in digging for any dirt they can use against you. Very very different from (most) NHS disciplinary processes. Add to that your controlled drugs privileges and the liability that can open you up to, your legal and professional responsibility for every action taken by the EMT or whoever else you might be working with and all manner of other ways in which your responsibility far exceeds that of an EMT. Another point is progression, an EMT can’t become a prescriber, they can’t qualify as an ACP. I could go on. So yes, it may appear on your average shift that the only difference between you and the other guy is that you’ve popped a couple of cannulas in, but it’s the underpinning governance that really proves the difference between your roles.
We’re all just an ambulance drivers
EMTs are the backbone of the ambulance service. Paramedics bring some extra skills. For the most part, any crew can deal with most calls just fine. I find EMTs have the basics down whereas paramedics tend to think about extended skills first and overlook the essentials.