I think the National Registery has to realize that most EMTs do not come across people that have been attacked by a bear. The larger number of EMTs are in cities or small towns. I dont think we even have bears in my town. In CT, were divided up into different sections so what an EMT can do in one area may not be the same in another area. I think the National Exam should be more generalized and questions about bear attacks should go on the state tests where youre most likely to come across that problem. Are they trying to set these new EMTs up to fail? Is that the point? Why? Dont we want them to pass and get field experience?

In my department, we need the new blood, were short staffed. I dont think they need to worry about bears here. There needs to be some lee-way given to these young recruits. If the present system keeps up, we may see only elderly firefighters on the line and no young people applying. Scary thought!

Susan,

Does National Registry want them to fail? I doubt it. Do they want the best EMTs in the field? Why wouldnt they.

I have a real problem with people in our field complaining about how hard a test is when they are putting peoples lives in their hands. If you were taking care of one of my family members I would hope that you would have passed the test on your own and were not given multiple attempts just to appease your complaints. Rules to pass are there for a reason. They want the people who can do the job. ONLY 28% failed. So there was a question about a bear attack? Was that the question that made everyone fail? Its one wrong answer.

This same situation arose in St. Louis a couple of years ago with their firefighter test. A large percentage failed the test and complained that it was too hard and unfair. Yet, our department administered the same exact test and had a very high pass rate. It all has to do with demographics. And, if we continue to bend over backwards every time someone complains about how hard a test is, we will get that kind of quality in our patient care.

I say if you fail, you fail. Go find a job where a test isnt required to pass and saving a life isnt your responsibility to bear.

The national registry should not dumb down the testing because some folks cant meet a standard. This was shown when the NR went from EMT-A to EMT-B. New students are coming out of class with less experience and less training. Its not right when its your career. Its not right when you volunteer. But the two seem to be held by different standards sometimes.

I retired from Emergency Services 3 years ago, and have not seen the current National Registry test. However from what Ive heard from friends still on the job, it is indeed a tough test with an average of a 50% failure rate on the 1st attempt. I have to wonder if this is because the agencies that are providing the training are more focused on paramedics and consider basics and intermediates only as adjuncts to the medics. In trying to assist some of these newer EMTs in studying for the test, Im finding that they are being taught far less than I was in my basic class 30 years ago.

In reference to the Bear Attack on the National Registry Exam, I notice one thing that the previous comments seem to miss. HOW ABOUT SCENE SAFETY. If there is a bear attack I think I would want to know where is the bear.... Irregardless of what state you are in or how many bear attacks happen in your state, it is pertinent to securing your scene and preventing further injuries (a prominent objective in the EMT-B curriculum). Before people start slamming a test make sure you read the objectives of the National Registry program for EMT-B and understand the CURRENT criteria.

1st. Ive been through both the EMT-B and the Paramedic exams...neither were easy. Both, and in case you missed it, BOTH, stressed EMT-B before Paramedic. EMS is a young field and has realized that in order to be professional and be fair to our patients, we need to tighten our standards and be fair across the board. We arent out to fail anyone and our goal is to educate and pass everyone capable of doing the job. Are some talented would be medics having a tough time? Of course there are! Rise up to the challenge! Get the job done and stop whining!

If you are the patient in trouble isnt that what you expect of us? Isnt that what you should demand of us?

May I always give my best to every patient that demands it of me that I may give them the best opportunity at living life to its fullest!

Could this be the true state of FD based EMS. They interview people who say they want to fight fires and serve their community, but no quote about how they want to be better prehospital medical providers.
lets be honest, more than half of the calls these fire fighters wil do are straight EMS. Either wake up and smell the coffee and realize it is the city EMS than fire dept, or get out of the way and let a stand alone EMS agency work. Oh, wait, that would mean a huge budget cut for the FD and a really low call volume that they could not use to ask for more money.;

D.C. Fire needs to give it up. They have poorly trained and poorly prepared Fire Fighters already. If they drop their standards any lower then they should just shut the department down and start all over. The test is difficult but not hard. Being able to do your job right all the time is tough, but it what the people of our cities expect and deserve. I am sure that these members who failed the test will be walked through the test and will pass then in the future we can read about how D.C. fire failed in their job once again. Remember the 7 Ps ( proper pre planning, prevents piss poor performance)!

The story should include how many EMS employees are failing the test as well! To pick on the Firefighters is an injustice... the problem lies with the instruction at the Training Academy... They need to hire qualified outside instructors not force or order employees to teach on daywork when they dont want to...

We have a lot of bears here in Maine, but the chances of a bear attack is very slim and to put a question like that on the NR test is ridiculous. I myself have had trouble passing the new NR test. I think that if I had a written version I would do fine, but a talk with the head of the NR in Ohio said otherwise "We dont have the written version anymore." So is the NR discriminating against people with test taking disability? By the way I did hold an EMT license in NY so I know I can do the job and pass a written test. Sorry about the venting, I do wish the DC firefighters luck with the test.b