July 1, 1998
To: Members of the EMS Advisory Board
Jon Morgan, EMS Section Chief, Department of Health and Family Services
As you are aware, the final drafts of the National Standard EMT-Paramedic Curriculum and the National Standard EMT-Intermediate Curriculum have been forwarded to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. These two curriculums mark the end of nearly three years of work by EMS experts from across the United States. In the next few months, NHTSA will release these curriculums as the 1998 National Standard Curricula.
As the advisory body and the regulatory body of Wisconsin government that are responsible for the areas these curriculums address, the Wisconsin EMS Association is calling for both the EMS Board and the EMS Section to complete a comprehensive, timely review, of both curriculums.
The release of these curriculums will affect over 140 ambulance services in Wisconsin as well as over 3,500 EMT-Paramedics and EMT-Intermediates. It will also affect ambulance services in Wisconsin that are considering a change in their level of care to one of the care levels affected by these curriculums. It is the concern of the Wisconsin EMS Association Board of Directors that opinions and decisions are being formed regarding the curricula without benefit of a thorough review of these curriculums and the data contained within.
The decision to accept or reject either or both of these curriculums is a significant one. The decisions made today will undoubtedly affect EMS in Wisconsin for many future years. Should Wisconsin decide to not accept the national standard curricula, it could seriously inhibit anyone trained and certified in Wisconsin at the advanced levels to become authorized to practice in another state. It could require Wisconsin to create and adopt their own curricula, testing, and continuing education standards, and it could leave Wisconsin segregated from the rest of the nation.
Therefore, the Wisconsin EMS Association is calling for a timely, comprehensive, and thorough review of the new curricula along with recommendations and rationale for its acceptance or rejection. The Association is further calling for input from the Wisconsin EMS community to be used in the review process, and for the dissemination of the data and rationale used to make any recommendations or decisions regarding the curricula to the Wisconsin EMS community. The Wisconsin EMS Association requests that this review process begin immediately and be completed in accordance with a time table that renders a decision by December 31, 1998.
If the Wisconsin EMS Association, its Board of Directors, or Executive Manager can be of assistance in any capacity during this process, please do not hesitate to call upon us.
Respectfully,
Dan Kurtz,
President
Wisconsin EMS Association