8th Annual Website Review

This year's Website Review again focuses on websites related to EMS education, training and career development. These sites will help you enhance your abilities and the care you give patients, make you a smarter and better provider and, perhaps, lead to a better outcome or two somewhere down the line. If you have recommendations for websites that should be included here in future reviews, e-mail suggestions to Nancy.Perry@cygnusb2b.com.

American Safety & Health Institute
www.ashinstitute.org
ASHI provides training resources for all aspects of EMS and downloadable information for the public, including basic first aid, CPR and AED use.

CE Solutions
www.ems-ce.com
EMS continuing education credits at your convenience. Promises to match or beat any price for comparable offerings. Students can earn two free CEUs by taking a no-cost "test drive."

Columbia Southern University
www.columbiasouthern.edu/ems/
CSU's degree programs pertinent to EMS professionals include a bachelor of science in healthcare administration and an MBA in healthcare management. Certificate programs in allied fields are also available.

Distance Learning Systems
www.dlsii.com
Should you want to expand your career or skills, this site provides courses toward associate and bachelor degrees in nursing and management.

Elsevier
www.mosbyjems.com
Elsevier offers online CE tests and credits.

EMCERT.com
www.emcert.com
Offers over 45 courses worth 1--3 CEUs in everything from airway management to hazmat emergencies, CHF, trauma, pediatric assessment and more. Try their free trial course worth one credit: "Case Study: GSW to Chest."

EMSED.com
emsed.com
In association with EMS Magazine, the full range of ALS and BLS CE is available in multimedia formats at a bargain: Under $7 per lesson/credit for individuals or $60 for unlimited access to all courses for one year. Group packages offered to organizations are even better. The first one's free.

Firehouse.com
www.firehouse.com/links/EMS/Training
This page of the Firehouse.com website offers an extensive list of training opportunities for EMS providers.

FISDAP
www.fisdap.com
The brainchild of a couple of emergency health services instructors, this site helps EMS students at all levels to track and objectively measure the experiential learning that occurs during field assignments, internships and ambulance shift ride-alongs.

The George Washington University
Medical Center
www.gwumc.edu/ems
Emergency Health Systems (EHS) programs available onsite, online, on videotape and in print. Offers paramedic certificate programs, bachelor and master of science degrees in emergency management.

Medic.Ed.com
www.mediced.com
Features free access to lectures--you pay only for tests and credits. Lets users manage their CEUs via a personalized homepage. AHA CPR certification renewal available.

MEDIC University
www.medicuniversity.com
Developed by MEDIC First Aid International (www.medicfirstaid.com), this site features an AED refresher course. Future courses include: CPR, Bloodborne Pathogens and Allergies & Asthma.

Special Training

Centers for Disease Control
www.bt.cdc.gov
The CDC offers downloadable guidelines for prevention of, preparation for and emergency response to mass trauma from CBRNE-related incidents, as well as natural disasters and severe weather. Other information includes where to obtain training, details of actual occurrences and related links.

Center for Domestic Preparedness
https://cdp.dhs.gov
This Department of Homeland Security site offers an overview of the CDP's only toxic (live) agent training program for civilian EMS providers to respond to incidents involving hazardous materials. Training is hands-on, but the site offers extensive pre-training guidelines and informational materials for preparation and prevention purposes.

FEMA
www.fema.gov
The Federal Emergency Management Agency offers free training online in the mandated National Incident Management System (NIMS) and the Department of Homeland Security's National Response Plan (NRP) predicated upon it. These plans constitute a comprehensive all-hazards approach for managing domestic incidents.

Medical Emergency, Rescue and Global Information Network (MERGINET)
www.merginet.com
Research EMS topics, prepare EMS presentations, find jobs, training opportunities and more at this "ultimate resource for EMS." E-mail subscribers can also receive free industry-specific Alerts whenever something important happens in EMS.

National Center for Biodefense Solutions
www.ncbsolutions.org
Basic disaster life support (BDLS), ADLS and other CDC-approved standards for disaster response and WMD medical training are available online and hands on. Includes military-style triage methods.

National EMS Pilots Association
www.nemspa.org
Programs, papers, practices, job lists and more are available on this flight medics site. Not for members only.

National Safety Council
www.nsc.org
Defensive Driving: Coaching the Emergency Vehicle Operator (CEVO) II and other online training programs for emergency care professionals are offered.

National Terrorism Preparedness
Institute
https://terrorism.spcollege.edu
Sponsored by DHS's Office of Domestic Preparedness (ODP), the NTPI of St. Petersburg College regularly offers CEUs for training related to emergency response to terrorism. Financial aid is available.

Pan American Health Organization
www.paho.org
In light of last year's Madrid train bombing, the Christmas tsunami and the Los Angeles-area commuter train wreck, this site has compiled guidelines for the management of mass fatalities and addresses the question of risk for infectious diseases resulting from them.

Job Listings and Career
Development

911hotjobs.com Employment Portal
www.911hotjobs.com
Search by state or by job title. Includes EMS, fire and law enforcement listings, as well as free study and training aids.

EMSresource.net
https://emsresource.net
A career development site for EMS providers, EMSresources.net offers job listings, information and links on training/education, scene safety, grants/funding, field references and more.

EMS Safety Services
www.emssafety.com
Provides instructor training in CPR, first aid, AED and other programs, along with supplies and support to businesses, schools, government agencies and the general community.

EMS Village
www.emsvillage.com
Jobs, as well as learning and grant opportunities, are listed in this EMS community site, which also offers forums, chat rooms and more. Registration is required.

LifeGuard Medical Solutions
www.lifeguardmed.com
Applicants with AHA Instructor certifications can apply to join a national network of CPR instructors. Email taryn@lifeguardmed.com or call toll-free 866/932-2331.

MedHunters.com
www.medhunters.com
Billed as "the world's largest healthcare job board," at this writing it has 26 jobs listed for paramedics and 13 for EMTs in the U.S. and Canada. Information about potential employers is also provided.

Monster Healthcare
https://healthcare.monster.com
The popular job search site Monster.com has a healthcare division searchable by job category or location. Users can also post their resumes.

National Association of EMTs
www.naemt.org
Lists current job offerings for EMTs, paramedics and EMS-related positions. Site promises more career resources for EMS workers are under development.

Other Resources

Bureau of Labor Statistics
www.bls.gov/oco/ocos101.htm
Offers information about the EMS profession overall and statistics about employment, wages and working conditions around the country.

Bound Tree Legacy Scholarship
www.boundtree.com/training/scholarships
Bound Tree Medical offers scholarships to the offspring of firefighters and EMTs for EMT and paramedic training programs. This site has more information, submission guidelines and an application form to download or print.

Disaster Mental Health Services
www.ncptsd.org/publications/disaster
From the Department of Veteran's Affairs, the National Center for PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) offers its entire Disaster Mental Health Services: A Guidebook for Clinicians and Administrators online.

Institute of Heartmath
www.heartmath.org
If you are interested in developing tools to help you manage stress, this site has them. Freeze-Frame Learning Programs--with and without biofeedback-type hardware--teach users how to combat stress on the fly. Testimonials from competitive athletes, corporate executives and first responders who have installed the hardware in their rigs are convincing.

Safe Traffic Positioning
www.respondersafety.com/sops.html
This site offers an overview for handling roadside emergency operations safely. It's geared toward firefighters, but many of the tips apply equally to ambulances and EMS providers.

The Future of Emergency Care
This is a hot topic every EMSer should be participating in or at least aware of. For a thorough discussion, see our cover story this issue, or check out the views of the industry's movers and shakers listed here:

Advocates for EMS
https://www.advocatesforems.org/Library/
upload/GW_Report_Response.pdf
Argues against DHS as the home for EMS and for the umbrella approach known as FICEMS.

GWU's HSPI Task Force on
Emergency Services
https://homelandsecurity.gwu.edu/reports/HSPI_EMS_task_force_report_5-2-5.pdf
Argues for the placement of EMS under the control of DHS.

The Institute of Medicine
www.iom.edu/project.asp?id=16107
Explains the expansion of IOM to include prehospital caregivers, lists board and committee members, provides information on key questions under discussion and other ongoing issues at stake for EMS.