dr-exmedic.com

A recent study looked at the health characteristics of a group of people recertifying through NREMT, and I don’t think any of the conclusions were particularly surprising:  only 1 in 4 exercised at recommended levels (with the highest percentage being among those in the military, though still only 42%), just over a quarter had a weight in the government’s “normal” range (BMI 20-25) and a quarter met the “obese” category, and there were quite a few smokers (particularly among the women).

What was less surprising, but infinitely amusing, was a study in the exact same issue of Prehospital Emergency Care. The study itself was moderately informative (abstract here), particularly the part which described the subjects, who were South African paramedic students:

All subjects had been taking part in structured physical training…since beginning their studies in the department.  This physical training involved a 5-kilometer run once a week, at a pace of approximately 6 min/km, general training involving upper and lower body exercises (push-ups, sit-ups, squats, calf-raises, and so forth) lasting 20 minutes once a week, and informal ball sports for 30 minutes once a week.

Now, this isn’t very much, and certainly less than what you’d do at a comparable police or fire academy, but given the strain on the body of a paramedic (you too have probably seen Stryker’s “By the time his career is half over, he’ll have lifted 500 tons” ads), don’t you think it’s time that physical fitness became part of the curriculum?

Or, as the paramedic curriculum lengthens, are we better off letting the medics do the heavy mental lifting, and let EMTs do the physical stuff?