Paramedic Training Should Be Required Before Becoming A Police Officer

originally posted by: one4all
a reply to: MissSmartypants

If you weild the Power to take a Life you must also weild the Power to save life in case you screw up....right?

Wrong.......

They don't wield the power to take a life.......nobody does

They only have the power to defend themselves.

This is incredibly stupid idea. it takes years to train an EMT its not just puting a band aid on a boo boo. And if you did make this requirement you would have to pay them a huge amount of money. They all ready have basic medical knowledge they take courses but to try to make them medics is crazy. First i dont think I want a police officer trying to save me in a medical emergency i am more than happy to wait for the EMTs to show up. Anything other then CPR im afraid they would cause more damage then they helped.

a reply to: dragonridr

I agree, but as an LEO I was required to be current in a first aid response with a yearly certification. Same with firearms, self defense, fire response and in some circumstances driving. A merry go round. All to satisfy a coroner or magistrate if someone passed away.

Anyway, this extra yearly necessity kept us trained and if not up to date we couldn't go operational and lost a pay increment. Of course the training covered by the dept but sometimes you might not be able to meet the requirements due to operational needs. Hard to figure.

I don't disagree we had to be up to date but at times it could become over done for a cop each year. eg. Sorry I missed my requal but I was at court (which took precedence). Makes coffee for boss.

Kind regards,

Bally.

Sounds good.

Curious how much taxes will need to be raised to cover the 1500 hours of training just to get certified and then the continuing education each year. Any idea?

originally posted by: bally001
a reply to: dragonridr

I agree, but as an LEO I was required to be current in a first aid response with a yearly certification. Same with firearms, self defense, fire response and in some circumstances driving. A merry go round. All to satisfy a coroner or magistrate if someone passed away.

The OP is neither EMT or LEO, I'm guessing. Neither am I, but as a former hospital employee in IT we were required to take basic CPR classes because it's a good idea. I believe LEOs get far more first aid training than we did, what was referenced in the OP was abuse - not good policing. If you can't recognize that someone you're restraining isn't breathing, you shouldn't be there.

a reply to: bally001

Many of the Police in cities are not good Police and they often try to inflame situations so they can be brawly.

Would you or any other copper you know, have followed an order to stand down and allow rioting with civilians in harm's way?

P

"Defunde the police ... and give them more responsibility"

originally posted by: MissSmartypants
Law enforcement officers across the nation should be required to take paramedic training and to be certified as paramedics before they can become police officers. They should be required to actively be looking for signs of medical distress in every person that they're taking into custody. "I didn't notice that he was dying" should never be allowed as an excuse. They should be required to notice....and then to render the proper medical assistance when warranted.
If they are made aware of the potential for the physical damage that they could inadvertently or purposely inflict on a suspect's body during different types of scenarios, they might...might... just be a bit more discerning in their choice of actions.

That actually sounds like a reasonable idea. Then you could also give police training to all EMT's and increase public safety all round. The both of them come across the same situations where extra knowledge and training would be advisable.

The police are there to enforce the law. If we get to a situation where any criminal could just say they had a medical issue to get away with resisting arrest or detainment, we'd have chaos. The police training as a paramedic would be called into question then every time they got it wrong.

The police force does a brilliant job already. Just leave them alone to get on with their jobs and stop the anti-police nonsense.

originally posted by: MissSmartypants
Law enforcement officers across the nation should be required to take paramedic training and to be certified as paramedics before they can become police officers. They should be required to actively be looking for signs of medical distress in every person that they're taking into custody. "I didn't notice that he was dying" should never be allowed as an excuse. They should be required to notice....and then to render the proper medical assistance when warranted.
If they are made aware of the potential for the physical damage that they could inadvertently or purposely inflict on a suspect's body during different types of scenarios, they might...might... just be a bit more discerning in their choice of actions.

Or you can just become a paramedic.


Cops do have to take life saving courses. Some can even administer narcan.


What country do you live in?

originally posted by: MissSmartypants
Law enforcement officers across the nation should be required to take paramedic training and to be certified as paramedics before they can become police officers. They should be required to actively be looking for signs of medical distress in every person that they're taking into custody. "I didn't notice that he was dying" should never be allowed as an excuse. They should be required to notice....and then to render the proper medical assistance when warranted.
If they are made aware of the potential for the physical damage that they could inadvertently or purposely inflict on a suspect's body during different types of scenarios, they might...might... just be a bit more discerning in their choice of actions.

Maybe we require they go to Med school and get a Phd in psychology too?

originally posted by: hopenotfeariswhatweneed

originally posted by: acackohfcc
why not teach EMT's to shoot people?
2 totally different jobs / skills

Obviously so the paramedics can shoot the perps then the cops can resuscitate them and vice versa. See we just made a new tv show and we can call it 'doctor detective'

I can see Law and Order cops arriving on the scene of some doped out perp "it's okay son, open your mouth and let me take your tempeture and I need to check your blood pressure"

originally posted by: MissSmartypants
a reply to: Guyfriday

I think another part of the problem is your average Joe or Josephina should be able to earn enough money to support a spouse and children during the child rearing years so that at least one parent is home all day and can actually know first hand what their children are doing.
And people need to have good old fashioned common sense. I really miss common sense.
And church being the center foundation of a home doesn't hurt either.

"Common sense" isn't real.

Common sense makes no sense.

I think you have a good idea. There are many departments that already require cops to be trained up to the level of an EMT. I'd like to see this become a common requirement.

originally posted by: DanDanDat
"Defunde the police ... and give them more responsibility"

Was about to say that, EMT training is extensive and it's going to cost lots of money, not to mention you would probably lose a good percentage of good police officers just depending on how strict the guides would be. All on top of that every one would then like warrant even more that thier salaries are now.

It they went the EMT route it would be easier just to have a trained EMT ride along, the cost would be astronomical and I don't think people realize that 95% of the time cops handle stuff just fine. It's these high profile cases that set everybody off but the times an officer has to shoot his weapon is pretty damn low.

Well, that would be the opposite of the current Democrat agenda to defund the police and replace them with social workers.

So I think now social workers need to be EMT trained.

reply to: MissSmartypants
Yes. Just police cross trained. Great...great idea.

EMT

originally posted by: chr0naut
That actually sounds like a reasonable idea. Then you could also give police training to all EMT's and increase public safety all round. The both of them come across the same situations where extra knowledge and training would be advisable.

Not really the training for both are totally different ends of the spectrum, the

police are trained to physically protect the public.

EMT's /paramedics are medically trained to save lives.

However, to become a paramedic, you need to complete EMT training and then progress to the paramedic training which can be much more extensive including several months and is often part of an associate’s degree. Both EMTs and paramedics will need to take a test and become certified
With very few exceptions, the primary restriction for EMTs is they can’t perform anything that breaks the skin, including injections or IVs. But they are able to give patients oxygen, treat an asthma or allergy attack, or perform CPR.

A paramedic has a much broader scope in what they can do in the field. They can resuscitate patients who have had heart attacks or other trauma, they can administer medications and start IVs, and can provide airway management.

www.csmedicalpro.com...

To everyone who says it would take too much money and too much time.....my answer is it's going to take a lot of money and a lot of time spent training police recruits to fix the problems we are now (and have been ) experiencing.
Police officers are authorized to use deadly force against US citizens under certain circumstances. So extensive training and oversight has to be done. It's too serious an issue. Lives are at stake... for both the officers and the citizenry. And that means spending more money and time.

a reply to: MissSmartypants

So why not spend that time and money trying to fix current training issues instead of spending it on training for an entirely different skill set that has practically nothing to do with the vast majority of law enforcement?

People like you want cops to masters of everything instead of recognizing that the very same expectation you have is part of the problem, not the solution.