EMT-B

[JCain18]

I'm a rising senior and plan to get EMT certified next summer (before my freshman year in undergrad). I have two major concerns.

1. I would be 18, and if I plan to do this as my job through undergrad, would I even get hired? A kid fresh out of high school with no experience doesn't seem qualified to either be an ER Tech or just work in an ambulance.

2. Should I be working to be an ER Tech or trying to get hired at a fire department? I feel like the tech job would be a lot better for giving me hospital experience, but I also feel like that would be a gig a lot harder to land.

If anyone knows anything about EMT training or getting a job as an ER Tech or ambulance staff, please reply. Thanks

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[TStJac]

Sorry to see you didn't get any replies! I hope I'm not too late to help address your concerns.

I'm 18 and I just graduated high school this year. I've been an EMT for roughly 2 years now and have been volunteering with two local ambulance services since I got certified.

Concern 1: It might be tough to find a job initially for a couple of reasons. Firstly, many commercial/fire-based EMS services will not hire EMTs until they're 21 due to insurance related to driving the ambulances. Secondly, the lack of field experience that comes with being fresh out of your class could put you at a disadvantage vs. applicants who have been volunteering or working for months/years since finishing their class. I don't have any firsthand experience with ER Tech positions so unfortunately I can't be of much help with regards to that hiring process.

My advice as far as getting a field EMS job is to immediately start with volunteer EMS. You'll start making connections, gaining clinical experience, and expanding your resumé. While volunteering though, keep your eyes open for commercial and fire-based jobs. Typically, commercial services are less competitive with hiring than fire-based, so once you have some experience as a volunteer ("Vollie"), it shouldn't be unreasonably difficult to find a paid job.

Concern 2: Working as an ER Tech and working as a field EMT are very different. As an ER Tech, you will likely make more connections and gain more familiarity with hospital protocols and routines. As a field EMT (whether volunteer, commercial, or fire), you'll have (at least in my opinion) much more autonomy than a tech and will be on the foremost front lines of medicine. There are pros and cons to both, and honestly, I don't feel that I can guide you in either direction. I personally love being in field EMS. I've been involved with some awesome calls and gotten some incredible experience I wouldn't trade for the world. Plus, being 18 and in charge of patient care at the scenes of 911 calls is a pretty cool feeling.

If you have any other questions or concerns feel free to ask me!

 

[osteohack10]

I'm a rising senior and plan to get EMT certified next summer (before my freshman year in undergrad). I have two major concerns.

1. I would be 18, and if I plan to do this as my job through undergrad, would I even get hired? A kid fresh out of high school with no experience doesn't seem qualified to either be an ER Tech or just work in an ambulance.

2. Should I be working to be an ER Tech or trying to get hired at a fire department? I feel like the tech job would be a lot better for giving me hospital experience, but I also feel like that would be a gig a lot harder to land.

If anyone knows anything about EMT training or getting a job as an ER Tech or ambulance staff, please reply. Thanks

I was in a very similar situation going into undergrad. I was always interested in EMS and was certified as a Basic after my senior year of high school. I worked with one ambulance service that summer to lay some foundation work where I would get to work with senior basics and medics to get my feet wet. It served me very well in terms of developing confidence, new skills and level-headedness.

I went to college and was hired by the trauma center nearby to work in the ED as a tech. After a year or so, a new position was created that they wanted to fill with a medic. I showed an interest and they promoted me, on the condition that I finished my medic within 18 months. They paid for my medic schooling and I stayed in the department all 4 years of undergrad. It also helped out because I took a year off to apply to medical school, took a job with a fire department and had a great job with a decent salary, benefits and a great schedule working 24 on and 48 off.

Based on my experience, I would say try to get an in-house position in the ED. The depth and breadth of what you see is wider given that your patients come from all the services rather than just a single unit. Whereas on the truck you'll see perhaps 6 to 7 calls in a 13 hour shift at most, working in the ED (at least in my department) you could be assigned up to 11 patients at a time in low acuity or up to 5 in high acuity/trauma with turnover adding up to 50-60 patients a shift. There's always tough patients that require some extra work, so being willing to help out co-workers will land you some extra patients as well.

My suggestion is initially look for ER jobs and apply. If those are not available or don't pan out, look for tech spots on other floors and get some inpatient experience and apply for a transfer when a spot comes open. Do NONE of this at the expense of your freshman year coursework.

Overall it's great experience and much more useful than only volunteering, though I highly recommend doing non-medical volunteering in something you enjoy... I volunteered at the humane society because I love dogs, and I ended up adopting one while I was volunteering. It worked well for my school schedule, gave me some extra play money and I had a lot to talk about during interviews. I absolutely believe that my work experience played a big part in my medical school application and is certainly why I will be starting medical school in the fall.

If you have any other specific questions, feel free to PM me. Good luck!

 

[Fedekz]

I'm a rising senior and plan to get EMT certified next summer (before my freshman year in undergrad). I have two major concerns.

1. I would be 18, and if I plan to do this as my job through undergrad, would I even get hired? A kid fresh out of high school with no experience doesn't seem qualified to either be an ER Tech or just work in an ambulance.

2. Should I be working to be an ER Tech or trying to get hired at a fire department? I feel like the tech job would be a lot better for giving me hospital experience, but I also feel like that would be a gig a lot harder to land.

If anyone knows anything about EMT training or getting a job as an ER Tech or ambulance staff, please reply. Thanks

I was in a similar situation as you. I went through an EMT-B program in the summer between my junior and senior year in high school, so was nationally registered at 18 and ready to get hired. It's VERY dependent on your area than ANYTHING if you're going to get a job. If you live and plan to work in an area that is career fire based EMS, so the fire department runs the 911 EMS service and they are full time paid you'll have a hard time getting hired. That's because people tend to get hired by these FD's and stay there for many years because it's such a good gig. If the primary EMS service in your area is something like AMR (American Medical Response), Rural-Metro, Pafford EMS, EMSA, etc then you have a better chance because they are private companies and the turn over rate is usually pretty high. That being said, with no experience you'll probably get hired on at a secondary agency (once that doesn't do 911's) that does primarily transfers. That's fine, and after you get a year or two under your belt doing that you can move up to a 911 primary EMS agency.

I got hired on at 18 for an service that did a 50/50 mix of 911 and IFT (interfacility transfers), so I was pretty lucky.

Depending on the area, ER techs may require you to be a CNA (my area does) - so look into that. Around where I work the ER techs are paid pretty competitively, on par with the EMS service, and you do a lot less heavy lifting. It's a good experience, you'll probably see a lot more pathology as an ER tech, but you don't have near the amount of autonomy as if you were working on a truck, so it's a bit of a trade off.

Like I was saying, your ability to get hired depends a lot of the area you live. If you're in a smaller town that isn't a medical "hub" for the area, and thus less EMS services, you'll probably have a more difficult time getting hired. But if you live in a large city, there will likely be TONS of private EMS services that are always hiring. I started out in Houston which is a huge medical hub, there are some agency where if you have a pulse and a patch, you'll get a job.

 

[Tri4thlete]

Got my EMT-B during first semester of undergrad when I was 18. Got hired with the service that conducted our course. I highly recommend doing this if you can land a job. I worked all 4 years of undergrad and it has honestly given me a leg up in medical school, especially when it comes to clinical skills. 10/10 would do again.