GeorgiaEMSAcademy.com For EMS Agencies or Fire Departments

At GeorgiaEMSAcademy.com, we understand the needs of your service. You have to make sure your employees get to work on time, in uniform, and run calls.  Due to the fact that your leadership team has to perform a million tasks to get emergency vehicles on the street, continuing education sometimes takes a backseat to the daily operation of your agency.  This is where GeorgiaEMSAcademy.com can help. GeorgiaEMSAcademy.com is committed to providing your staff with quality EMS continuing education that can be delivered to your staff at their convenience and in whatever blocks of time are available.  GeorgiaEMSAcademy.com can be used to complete the entire 40-hour continuing education requirement or only part, depending upon the needs of your agency.  GeorgiaEMSAcademy.com was designed with time management in mind.  Students can access the system from home or between calls as time allows.  If your employee is interrupted in the middle of taking a lecture, he/she can easily pick up where they left off at a later time.  The student never has to worry about figuring out which course to take, because the site will only display courses they haven’t completed. 

 

The material was written and developed by a Georgia Licensed Level III EMS Instructor and subsequently peer reviewed by a group of EMS Instructors.   The material was written especially for your users (the only thing that could make this more personal is if you wrote the material yourself).  There are two different curriculums, one for EMT-Basics and Intermediates and another one for Cardiac Technicians and Paramedics.  The materials were evaluated and approved as distributive education by the State Office of EMS and was contains 12 hours of cardiology, trauma, and pediatric content to meet the requirements of re-licensure.  You will find that the curriculum is very ‘Georgia specific’, citing sources from the Official Code of Georgia, Georgia State Office of EMS/Trauma, and Georgia Department of Transportation. 

 

In addition to improving patient care; the GeorgiaEMSAcademy.com curriculum also addresses issues your agency might have in terms of regulatory compliance.  Included in the each curriculum is a course in Infection Control, Driver Training, Hazardous Materials Awareness, and Incident Command System.   By developing these courses and including them in the curriculum, you can provide documentation of successful completion to insurance companies and can assist your endeavors to become NIMS compliant.

 

Frequently Asked Questions:

  1. How do students obtain credit?
  2. Does GeorgiaEMSAcademy.com offer group rates?
  3. Is GeorgiaEMSAcademy.com legitimate?
  4. Does this meet the 40-hour continuing education requirement for re-licensure?
  5. Is this material appropriate for my employees?
  6. How can the student document successful completion of a course?
  7. How does the student know which courses to take?
  8. Where does the material come from?
  9. How do students learn the material at GeorgiaEMSAcademy.com?
  10. What kind of equipment is needed to access GeorgiaEMSAcademy.com?
  11. What if I am not that good with computers?
  12. Will my employees learn anything at GeorgiaEMSAcademy.com that will interfere with the Standard Operating Procedures, Protocols, and Medical Direction of my agency?
  13. Is GeorgiaEMSAcademy.com better than my in-house training staff? In other words, should I put my EMS Instructor back in the field?
  14. Some of my employees are certified with National Registry.  How does your material measure up to National Registry Standards?
  15. What type of support is available for students?
  16. How long do they have to complete the training?
  17. What will my employees learn at GeorgiaEMSAcademy.com?
  18. Is it possible to preview the system before we make a decision?
 

How do students obtain credit? Click here to go back to FAQ

Students obtain credit for courses by passing the accompanying quiz.  The quizzes contain 15 questions on material covered in the lecture.

Does GeorgiaEMSAcademy.com offer group rates? Click here to go back to FAQ

Yes, GeorgiaEMSAcademy.com offers group rate discounts (see scale below).  In order to take advantage of the group rate, simply download the payment by mail form and have each employee complete the form.  If groups of EMS personnel (not necessarily associated with an agency) would like to take advantage of the group rate option, simply include the forms and send multiple checks.  Send the forms and payment to GeorgiaEMSAcademy.com.  Feel free to contact us reference group rates.

Number of Users

Discount

>10

10%

>50

20%

Is GeorgiaEMSAcademy.com legitimate? Click here to go back to FAQ

The State Office of EMS & Trauma approved the GeorgiaEMSAcademy.com curriculum up to 40 hours.  In order to meet the requirements set forth by the State Office of EMS & Trauma, GeorgiaEMSAcademy.com must have on staff a Medical Director.  The Medical Director for GeorgiaEMSAcademy.com is Dr. Stephen Holbrook, MD.  Each course was submitted to the Georgia Firefighter Training & Standards Council and Certified Firefighters (Firefighters and Airport Firefighters) can apply the 12 hours of non medical content to their annual recertification requirements as well as any of the medical courses can be applied to the 6 hour medical training requirement. 

Does this meet the 40-hour continuing education requirement for re-licensure? Click here to go back to FAQ

Yes, by completing all the courses at GeorgiaEMSAcademy.com, you can meet the State Office of EMS & Trauma’s 40-hour continuing education requirement.  Each curriculum contains 4 hours of Pediatrics, 4 hours of Trauma, and 4 hours of Cardiology. 

Is this material appropriate for my employees? Click here to go back to FAQ

Once registered, your employee will access a curriculum that was designed for his/her level of training.  The material was developed with the ‘street medic’ in mind.  The goal of the curriculum is to educate the student to provide better patient care and be mindful of hazards.

How can the student document successful completion of a course? Click here to go back to FAQ

After logging in, each student can view and print a transcript.  The transcript contains the name of each course he/she has successfully completed and tallies the number of hours. 

How does the student know which courses to take? Click here to go back to FAQ

This is the beauty of GeorgiaEMSAcademy.com; it only displays courses that the student needs to take.  Once the student has successfully passed a course, the course is no longer displayed on the students’ home page.  Once the student has passed all of the courses, the system displays no courses for the student to take. It was designed for the busy EMS professional who sometimes has no time to access their continuing education.

Where does the material come from? Click here to go back to FAQ

The Lead Instructor wrote most of the material from scratch.  The Incident Command System is the IC-100 curriculum was written by FEMA.  The Weapons of Mass Destruction course was written by FEMA and the U.S. Department of Justice.  The Hazardous Materials Awareness course was written by FEMA and contains all the material from the HAZ-A course taught at the Georgia Fire Academy and in Georgia EMS initial education programs.  At the end of each lecture, references to the source documents are a available for you to research.

How do students learn the material at GeorgiaEMSAcademy.com? Click here to go back to FAQ

Students are presented with the material utilizing state of the art online instructional teaching methods developed by one of the world’s foremost authorities in eLearning, Dr. Michael Allen, Ph.D.  The teaching methods promoted by Dr. Allen are specifically designed for workforce training.  Using the principles developed by Dr. Allen, GeorgiaEMSAcademy.com was developed with your workforce in mind.  The following table demonstrates how students will spend their time while learning at GeorgiaEMSAcademy.com:

Percentage of Time Occupied by Student

Description of Events Occupying Students Time

Explanation

17%

Taking Quiz’ for the purpose of obtaining credit for the course

30 multiple-choice questions per each lesson recorded in database (the application also possesses a ‘feedback’ function).

17%

Participating in Quiz’ provided as an interactive component of the lecture but not for a grade

30 multiple-choice questions per each lesson, not recorded in database, however giving feedback to the student.

8%

Participating in polls, surveys, or discussion boards

  1. Anonymous polls are found in each 3-hour lesson
  2. One end of lesson survey for each 3-hour lesson.
  1. ‘War Story’ Discussion Board – Gives students a chance to tell their war stories.
  2. Q & A Between Student and Instructor
  3. Open Discussion Board.

3%

Watching a movie or animations provided with the lecture to add depth and color to the material being presented.

At least 2 hours of video provided for the student from various sources.

6%

Working through interactive learning objects developed for each lecture.

Interactions allow the student to ‘discover’ the material you are trying to teach them.  On average 2 interactions per 3-hour lesson.  An interaction can be a game, an animation that the student somehow controls, or some other activity that will employ the students’ fingers on their keyboard or mouse.

50%

Reading the text component of the lecture and viewing the accompanying images.

The student will read an average of 14,000 words per 3-hour lesson.

What kind of equipment is needed to access GeorgiaEMSAcademy.com? Click here to go back to FAQ

All you need is a computer with an Internet connection.  We understand that your computer may not have technical support, which is why all media and interactions are developed using Adobe Flash (most other eLearning systems require you to download 3 or 4 different media players which makes accessing the material difficult).  In order to view any of the movies or interactions, you only need to download the latest version of Flash Player.  Despite the large quantity of media, everything can be downloaded using a dial up modem (some pages may take longer than 10 seconds to download using dial-up, but the site is blazing fast with any type of broadband connection).   You can use any browser to view the material (Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Netscape, AOL), however the site works best on Internet Explorer and Mozilla. 

What if I am not that good with computers? Click here to go back to FAQ

The site was developed with the philosophy that our students will come to GeorgiaEMSACademy.com with varying levels of computer proficiency.  This is why GeorgiaEMSAcademy.com sets new standards in terms of ease of use.  This ease of use makes using the features of GeorgiaEMSAcademy.com so easy, that an explanation is generally not necessary (however, an explanation of each feature is always provided).  If a student has trouble accessing the system or encounters a problem, a link to technical support is provided on every page.  Additionally, students can call 404.806.0584 during business hours (0900 – 1600) Monday through Friday for help.

Will my employees learn anything at GeorgiaEMSAcademy.com that will interfere with the Standard Operating Procedures, Protocols, and Medical Direction of my agency? Click here to go back to FAQ

GeorgiaEMSAcademy.com is not interested in interfering with the daily operations of your agency.  When a procedure or modality is discussed, the student is always referred to their local medical direction. 

Is GeorgiaEMSAcademy.com better than my in-house training staff? In other words, should I put my EMS Instructor back in the field? Click here to go back to FAQ

GeorgiaEMSAcademy.com is good, but not as good as a training staff that routinely develops and delivers continuing education.  If your agency has a good training team, you should hold on to them for dear life.  Only your Training Officer knows exactly what training needs your agency has.  GeorgiaEMSAcademy.com can also be used as an adjunct to in-house training.   GeorgiaEMSAcademy.com understands that EMS is a tough business to manage, given the fact that EMS personnel are often placed in decision-making situations often without the benefit of a supervisor.  The only answer to this problem is training, training, and more training.  If your agency is proactive at training, then GeorgiaEMSAcademy.com can help you deliver even more quality continuing education.

Some of my employees are certified with National Registry.  How does your material measure up to National Registry Standards? Click here to go back to FAQ

GeorgiaEMSAcademy.com is considered by the National Registry of EMT’s to be a form of distributive education (material presented in a non-traditional manner).  The GeorgiaEMSAcademy.com curriculum was not submitted to CECBEMS, however, since the curriculum was approved by the State of Georgia, National Registry classifies the material as distributive education.  In the eyes of National Registry, the hours you earn here can only be used as distributed education, which translates to:

  • EMT-Basic can apply up to 24 hours to the re-registration of his/her National Registry certification
  • EMT-Intermediate (85) can apply up to 16 hours to the re-registration of his/her National Registry certification
  • Paramedics can apply up to 12 hours to the re-registration of his/her National Registry certification

What type of support is available for students? Click here to go back to FAQ

On every page, there is an email link to technical support.  Technical support emails are usually answered within 24 hours during the business week.  In each lesson there is a question and answer discussion board that is monitored by the Lead Instructor.  If a user forgets his password, there is password support on the home page.  If all else fails, students can call 404.806.0584.

How long do they have to complete the training? Click here to go back to FAQ

Since everybody’s EMS license expires at the same time, so does his or her GeorgiaEMSAcademy.com account (June 30, 2008).  Your employees can literally work right up until the last minute.

What will my employees learn at GeorgiaEMSAcademy.com? Click here to go back to FAQ

Depending upon their level of training, your personnel can take the following courses:  


Course Title & Hours

Description

Drive Right, Pass Left (3 Hours)

This course will be designed to reinforce the importance of responsible driving and instruct the student on the rules of the road, common driving situations, appropriate braking distances, driving with patients in the back of the ambulance, and driving in adverse conditions.

Infection Control (3 Hours)

This course will be designed to reinforce the importance of universal precautions, and instruct the student on how to take universal precautions and the necessary equipment involved.  The course will discuss proper cleaning of the vehicle and maintenance.

Incident Command System 
(3 Hours)

This course will describe the Incident Command System and NIMS.  The material will be focused on EMS activities and Incident Command System.  Mass Casualty Incidents will also be discussed.

Prescribed Medications 
(3 Hours)

This course will be an introduction to medications commonly prescribed to EMS patients.  The lecture will present these medications by condition type. 

Weapons of Mass Destruction 
(3 Hours)

This course will cover the threats, methods, and perpetrators who would utilize WMD to destroy America and our way of life.

Hazardous Materials Awareness (4 Hours)

This lecture will be a condensed version of Hazardous Materials Awareness developed by NFPA.

Obstetrics
(3 Hours)

This lecture will discuss vertex delivery as well as abnormal deliveries. Delivery emergencies as well as neonatal resuscitation will also be covered.

Pediatrics (3 Hours)

This lecture will discuss pediatric trauma, diseases of childhood, febrile seizures, ALTE, juvenile DM

Fly or Die (3 Hours)

This lecture will discuss the ins and outs of aero medical evacuation.  The lesson will include who to fly, who not to fly, who to call, when to call, and where to go.

Trauma In Georgia (3 Hours)

This lesson is designed to introduce the EMT or Paramedic to the Georgia Trauma System and advise on how to utilize the system.  The lesson covers patient assessment, and special trauma categories (TBI, Burns).

Respiratory Emergencies  (3 Hours)

This lesson is designed to review the assessment and treatment of patients complaining of respiratory distress.  The lesson further covers specific conditions such as COPD, Asthma, and Pneumonia.

Cardiovascular Emergencies (3 Hours)

This lesson is designed to review the assessment and treatment of patients with various cardiac conditions.  Specific conditions like MI, HTN, and CHF are explained in detail.

Patient Assessment & Documentation
(3 Hours)

 This lesson is designed to review the principles of documentation.  The lesson explores the concept of documenting calls based upon the current principles of patient assessment.

Signs & Symptoms
(3 Hours)

This lesson is designed to increase the Paramedics’ differential diagnosis capabilities.  Various complaints & syndromes will be discussed as well as conspicuous signs that should clue the Paramedic of more subtle conditions.

Drug Dose Calculations
(3 Hours)

This lesson is designed to increase the Paramedics ability to accurately administer medications.  A review of math, drug routes, and medication administration basics, and specific application in various scenarios.

EKG Review
(3 Hours)

This lesson is designed to refresh the Paramedics ability to accurately interpret EKG’s.  The lesson will start with the basics and work through various blocks, tachycardias, and arrhythmias.

Is there anyway my agency can take a look before we decide? Click here to go back to FAQ

Yes, you may email us or send us a comment to request a test account. You may also call us at 404.806.0584.

 
 
If you have any more agency specific questions, don't hesitate to call 404.806.0584 or send us a comment (click here to send an email from your computer). You can begin the process now by downloading this form, fill it out, include payment and send it to the address on the form. The process will take approximately 10 business days to complete, and we will email you once your account has successfully been processed (this is a .pdf form and requires Adobe Acrobat Reader, click here to download).
 
   

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