University of Cincinnati Reaches Out Nationally With Online CP Course

The University of Cincinnati plans to offer a “hybrid” version of its successful community paramedicine course in the upcoming fall 2014 semester. It will involve a one-weekend residency and seven weeks online, though the residency can be completed at a distance as well.

“For students who can’t make it in for the weekend, we will videotape the two days,” says Larry Bennett, program chair of Fire Science & Emergency Management at the university’s College of Engineering & Applied Science. “If you’re in Denver and you can’t get in, we’ll hook you up electronically.”

Bennett sought to offer this format to attract students from all over the country and from a wider variety of backgrounds. With its unusual format and variety of content, the course differentiates itself in the world of CP education.

“I think it is unique—there are no other courses like it in Ohio or Kentucky, and we’re going to make it more unique,” Bennett says.

The class will be expanded to include not only fire and EMS students, but also students in the UC School of Social Work, UC College of Nursing and others.  

Bennett says this is what will make the program truly stand out—“breaking down the silos,” as the expression goes. The course is adding to its expansive team of instructors by including the director of the UC School of Social Work, James Clark, PhD. The other instructors include Richard Braun, Cincinnati Fire Chief; Randall Johann, EMS Coordinator at Tri-Health; Rebecca Lee, PhD, RN, Assistant Prof., UC College of Nursing; Donald Locasto, MD of UC Emergency Medicine and medical director for the Cincinnati FD; Kay Vonderschmidt, paramedic and assistant director for the Division of EMS at the UC College of Medicine.

In addition to these instructors, Bennett utilizes numerous guest speakers, having previously brought in more than 25. Some of the sessions from February are videotaped and available for public viewing online.

Bennett hopes to see the program contribute to positive changes in the local region, and is working toward that end through discussions of potential pilot programs and by helping participants make connections. For example, a speaker from the Council on Aging of Southwest Ohio discussed helping the elderly stay in their homes. With members from 120 different fire departments listening, she was able to ask, “If any of you are located in our five counties, we would like to work with you.”

The sticking point, however, is that while Ohio EMS personnel can be educated on community paramedicine, they cannot yet practice it in the state until the qualified immunity statute is broadened to include non-emergency activities, Bennett notes. The social work students are expected to have more latitude than EMS personnel at this time to participate in any CP-related activities.

Associate Professor William Raynovich of Creighton University in Nebraska, who lectured for Bennett’s course in February, notes that early CP programs have proven successful and that, “There’s very little reason not to do it other than protectionism from other groups… bureaucratic boundaries slow down innovation.”

Raynovich says there’s no argument that seeing a paramedic isn’t a replacement for seeing a doctor. However, “It’s better to see a paramedic than no one at all for early assessment.”

He notes that CP-type programs have been practiced for decades in Alaska, on reservations and in other nations around the world.

He sees three main aspects to work out:

1. The legal barriers. “They have to get it worked out in the Medical Practice Act. Every state has one.”
2. The reimbursement aspect. “There has to be a sustainable economic model.”
3. Issues with pharmaceuticals. “Will it expand the drugs that can be administered? Will suturing be allowed?”

“One you get there," he says, "you have the foundations for a good system.”