Principles of Ethics and Personal Leadership (PEPL) Course Prepares Workforce for Healthcare Changes

Current changes in our nation’s healthcare system have brought EMS practitioners to a crossroads. What we have done in the past is rapidly changing and, for long-term survival, EMS practitioners must adapt to the ever-changing needs of healthcare.

Terms like Emergency Medical Services are giving way to Mobile Integrated Healthcare (MIH) and Community Paramedicine. To prepare for these changes, EMS practitioners, their respective agencies and their communities must explore new models for delivering medical care to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs. Whether providing traditional emergency medical care, or mobile-based community health services, foundational education is essential to advancing the professional development of practitioners.

The new 16-hour continuing education PEPL program from the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT) is designed to enhance the personal and professional core values, ethics and decision-making skills of all EMS practitioners.

The PEPL course provides EMS and MIH practitioners at all levels with the knowledge and skills they need to effectively interact with their patients and their families, other medical personnel, co-workers, supervisors and community residents at large. 

The course provides students with a deeper understanding of themselves, examines how they relate to basic principles of ethical leadership and service to patients, and raises awareness of the leadership challenges facing today’s EMS and MHC practitioners. PEPL helps students identify their own personal responsibility and accountability for ethical decision-making, and demonstrates how to exercise ethical servant leadership for themselves, their patients and their profession. 

Topics and skills covered in the PEPL curriculum include personal and professional core values, ethics, decision-making, duty to serve, strategies for conflict resolution, and ambassadorship for the profession, their agencies and the community at large. Through course presentations, dialogue and learning activities, which include written and video case studies, students explore the importance of ethics and personal leadership, identify their leadership roles in civic life as individuals, family members, professionals and members of the community, and then practice the skills important to the exercise of personal, ethical leadership.

PEPL course objectives include:

• Understanding personal responsibilities in ethical decision making and the exercise of ethical leadership;
• Explaining the concept of service beyond self; identifying personal and professional values and beliefs;
• Explaining methods of effective conflict resolution in EMS and MIH issues;
• Defining the concept of ambassadorship in EMS and MIH; and
• Relating written and video case studies to the exercise of personal and ethical servant leadership in EMS and MIH.

A significant attribute of the PEPL program is the development of critical thinking processes, which relate to leadership concepts, practices, and self-awareness. A true interactive learning process, this program’s curriculum uses a significant number of activities that promote dialogue and development of relationships between the students, to each other and the facilitator. This program uses a variety of instructional methodologies that include small- and large-group dialogue, experiential activities, individual reflections, video case reviews, classic and contemporary readings, and shared analysis. 

PEPL is one of several professional EMS education programs offered by NAEMT. Each EMS program focuses on core professional areas, emphasizes critical thinking skills to obtain the best outcomes for patients, and strengthens the knowledge and skills of EMS practitioners. NAEMT believes that EMS practitioners make the best decisions on behalf of their patients when given a sound foundation of key principles and evidence-based knowledge.  

NAEMT education programs are developed by collaborative teams of clinicians, EMS educators and medical directors. Development teams review current publications relevant to course content and incorporate the latest research, newest techniques, and innovative teaching approaches to provide students with the best possible learning experience. 

All NAEMT continuing education courses for EMS practitioners are accredited by the Continuing Education Coordinating Board for Emergency Medical Services (CECBEMS), and are recognized for recertification requirements by the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT).

The two-day PEPL provider course will be offered on November 9–10 at the NAEMT Annual Meeting, held in conjunction with the EMS World Expo in Nashville, TN. To learn more about the PEPL course, or qualifications for becoming a PEPL instructor, visit the Education section of www.naemt.org, contact education@naemt.org, or call 800/346-2368.

Scott A. Matin, MBA, NREMT-P, is Region I Director for NAEMT, chair of NAEMT’s PEPL Committee and vice president of Clinical, Education & Business Services for MONOC Mobile Health Services in Wall Township, NJ.