nchirekos90

We just got the about MSA G1's about a year or so ago. We have had a lot of good luck with them coming from the much outdated MSA SCBA prior to that. The frame of the pack it self sits better on the hips, bends and shifts w/ your back w/ an adjustable back plate to user preference. We are in the process of obtaining the accountability system that is built into the pack also. Having used both Scott and MSA, MSA has come out with a pack I think has exceeded Scott. However, as long as I can rely on the product than it's all good. 

That was satire, right?
 
I know that it wasn't, but stuff like this is typical of where we are these days.  People expect a prompt, professional response from EMS when they or a loved one is experiencing a medical emergency, but they don't want to actually put up the money necessary to put that in place.
 
The problem isn't so much the increasing training requirements.  The problem is that too many are still trying to look at this in terms of what's convenient for the providers and not what's best for the patients.  EMS has progressed significantly over the past 4 decades in the care that we can bring to a patient's doorstep.  This increased capability necessitates increased training in order to effectively provide it.  We are no longer "ambulance drivers" scooping patients up and racing to the hospital.  We are now pre-hospital medical professionals bringing the ER to the patient, particularly at the Paramedic level of care.
 
If the requirements for providing this level of care have reached the point where the care can no longer be reliably provided by an all or largely volunteer staff, the solution is not to lobby the state to decrease the amount of medical training for providers.  The solution is to start treating EMS as the medical profession that it now is.
 
If that means a tax increase to do so, then suck it up buttercup.