EMS Round Table Discussion

Yesterday, I went to observe a mock call session at another college with a fellow EMT from my squad. Needless to say, the mock call session was incredibly well done with details ranging from bystanders who were given specific details of what to say and what not to say on-scene (simulating the fact that some bystanders know more than others which further helps the responding EMT identify who would have more information on a scene), to fake blood and clothes for the EMTs to cut off the patient (Awesome!). This whole session got me thinking about how to effectively train/educate the EMTs/FRs at my school and I came up with an idea. Mind you, this idea came to me during a US Foreign Policy class round table discussion and made it very hard for me to concentrate for the rest of the class. The idea popped into my head because I observed how my professor set up our class discussion and our class in general. At the beginning of the week, my professor provides the class with a lecture outlining the particulars of the weeks topic (this week he lectured about Operation Ajax and the rise of fundamentalist Iran). Then, during the week, the class does the assigned readings and on Friday we all come together to discuss, in a round table setting, our thoughts on the readings and the topic. It works amazingly well and makes me very excited to go to his classes.
So, I combined what I observed in the mock calls at the other school and what I like so much about my foreign policy class and came up with this idea of practical with discussion, or, as I like to call it, the EMS round table discussion. We would offer a series of mock call sessions for our EMTs/FRs to practice physically arriving, assessing, and packaging on-scene (getting our EMTs/FRs comfortable with on-scene protocols and on-scene communication with patient, team members, and supporting units). On top of this series of mock call sessions, we would also provide a round table discussion on calls. The class would be arranged in a round table discussion format so as to facilitate equal and responsive dialogue. The class would be given a call with all the details for them to see on a white board/computer screen (no hidden vitals or anything like that, I want them to see everything about the patient). Then the class would discuss how they would approach this scene. The discussion would involve what safety precautions would need to be in place (i.e. Police, Fire, Hazmat, etc.) and what precautions the individual responders would need to take (i.e. Gloves, masks, etc.). The discussion would go on like this; presenting issues of what tools should be on-scene and what we could use for improvisation if those tools are not available. Questions of how the patient should be addressed, who should be performing what duties on scene, how should we be allocating resources, etc. etc. In this format, the class members can not only discuss and develop new ideas to approaching scenes, but also challenge each other on ways to handle a scene.
By integrating a series of mock calls and round table discussions, the EMTs/FRs are getting both training and education. The mock calls act as a training/educating forum with responders practicing their skills on-scene (training), then discussing what could be done better or differently (education). This is what happened at the other college. The round tables act as, primarily, an educational tool, with EMTs/FRs discussing multiple facets of handling calls (the reason why this would not have a training component is due to the fact that I believe that training revolves around more hands on skills and repetition of those skills as opposed to discussion and learning what those skills mean in relation to training, which I define as education).
Think of this idea in terms of potty training. At a young age, our parents put us on the toilet and expected us to practice the skill of using this strange device when we needed to use the bathroom. The training portion of this is the physical act of our parents placing us on the toilet and having us practice flushing, etc. This is training because we are being taught a skill and we practice it over and over again, but we aren’t told why we are doing this. That is where education comes in. Our parents do not just plop us on the toilet without explanation (or at least, good parents do not just do this) and expect us to know why we are doing this. Our parents explain that the toilet is important for hygiene, social acceptance, and public sanitation (this might be complicated for a young child to truly comprehend, but at least they know where it all goes right?) In any case, the training involves us repeating the steps of our bathroom follies and education is the reinforcement of that training with the understanding of WHY we do this, WHEN we do this, and HOW we do this.
So, like in potty training, we need to provide the training portion of the education of an EMT/FR and the educational portion. By providing EMTs/FRs with excitement in what their doing and an explanation as to why they are doing what they are doing, you can get a better quality EMT/FR. So, with all this said, I hope to implement this scheme of alternating between having a mock call session one week and having a round table discussion the next, giving our EMTs/FRs confidence on scene and an expanding knowledge of what all this crazy EMS stuff means.