EMT-Basic Training classes?

[FightingIrish01]

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Hey, I am not sure if you guys have been EMT certified but how do you get trained? Is it a weekly class...is there a course over the summer? What's the procedure and what are the benefits?

 

[DropkickMurphy]

It depends on where the course is offered (university, community college, fire department, hospital, ambulance service, etc) and the specifics varies from state to state.

The benefits for a premed are minimal as it will not be a major plus to your application as the ADCOMs tend to see right through someone who was an EMT for a few hours a week for a year or two. Also for the most part, the work is dull and repetitive, the hours are long etc.

 

[moe_4eva]

The benefits for a premed are minimal as it will not be a major plus to your application as the ADCOMs tend to see right through someone who was an EMT for a few hours a week for a year or two. Also for the most part, the work is dull and repetitive, the hours are long etc.

Agreed.

I was personally trained during the summer, although the local community college offers it as a class year-round.

 

[PreMed4Dummies]

I took the EMT-B course last summer at a local community college. It took about 2 months and then we took the National Registry written and practical exams. The course was twice a week for the 2 months from about 9AM-4PM. It consisted of many lectures and practical training.

I would really recommend taking the EMT-B course and getting involved in your local squad or your college squad. Don't just take the course to look good for a medical school because this would be a terrible waste of time then. Also, take the course if you have a few years to commit to being an EMT. You want to show medical schools that you have actually spent time in the field. Good luck.

 

[spicedmanna]

Hey, I am not sure if you guys have been EMT certified but how do you get trained? Is it a weekly class...is there a course over the summer? What's the procedure and what are the benefits?

While you do learn a little about healthcare in the field from the class, the benefits don't come from the class so much as the actual work itself. Oh, man, the work is exciting. It's worth it for the awesome patient contact and the opportunity to be of benefit. Essentially, as an EMT-B, you are often the first trained person that treats the patient. You assess them, stabilize them, make simple interventions, and package them up for transport to the hospital, if needed.

Training depends on the state. As I've mentioned innumerable times, EMS is state run, and sometimes can even vary across county. In my county, training occurs in the public service training academy, as part of the fire and rescue service. The community college cooperates with the PSTA and the fire service to open up classes to non-volunteers. You get credit for your work if you do it this way, and the classes are usually one semester long, about three times a week for three hours a day. The CC will charge you up to $1K for the priviledge of making the classes available to you. The total classrooom time is about 131 hours and you need to do an evaluated clinical internship, where you ride on actual emergency calls and do patient assessments and/or simple BLS interventions under the supervision of a charge EMT-B or Paramedic. My state also requires minimal hospital time, too. Then, if the instructor thinks you are suitable for certification, he or she will recommend you; then you can take the state written and practical test. If you pass, you need to affliate with an EMS agency to receive your certification.

Most people volunteer at a rescue squad or fire station first, and then take the class at the PSTA's. This way you get experience as minimal staffing on the ambulance unit even before taking the classes, and the state pays for your training.

It's dedicated work, but the patient contact experience is invaluable.

 

[PreMed4Dummies]

Also, to find courses in your area research your local EMS council's website and I'm sure you'll find something.

Better yet, if you're really interested go down to your local EMS squad and tell them so and they will help you. (In NJ all the expenses for the course are covered for you if you are a member of a volunteer squad, I don't know how it works in other states).

 

[DropkickMurphy]

Once again, I recommend checking out: http://www.fieldmedics.com/forum/

I'm one of the moderators over there and we've got a really great bunch of experienced EMT's, paramedics, a few emergency nurses, and even a few docs who are active in the EMS field.

 

[Apoptosiskills]

If you are really looking for patient interaction and to help out your own community then EMT is a good way to go while in school. The type of stuff you deal with really depends on the type of area you live in. Rural usually means not so many calls and mostly calm transports for old people but there can be the occasional serious call, especially in a college town on Friday nights when someone drinks too much.

The EMT-I (advanced and another semester of work) also has great experience attached with it. The required 50 hrs ride along time and 50 hrs ER time can be a killer while taking a full course load but you learn to do IV's and intubate, so the experience can be amazing and exciting. 🙂

 

[FightingIrish01]

Well, I was wondering if I did get EMT-B...would hospitals allow me to volunteer 4 hours a week.. I mean I want to do this because rather than doing simple hospital volunteering, I really want to get more involved with the patient treatment so I was hoping that the experience might be really worht putting in a summer but I hope 4 hours of week (because of college work...etc..) on say a Saturday morning is legit EMT experience..

 

[DropkickMurphy]

No. If you want to volunteer at a hospital, you don't need to be an EMT. If you're going to work as an EMT for a hospital you would need to be on staff for legal and insurance reasons. BTW, you do realize that most EMT's who work in hospitals basically do the same job as a nurse's aide right? That means emptying bedpans, moving patients, restocking, cleaning, running specimens to the lab, maybe occasionally getting to do CPR, but most of your patient contact is going to be even more scut like than you would encounter on a private ambulance service running nursing home transfers......just so you know.

Oh, and by the way, "legit" EMT experience, for the purposes of an application (and in the eyes of the EMS community at large) implies you're actually doing it for something other than a bullet on your AMCAS, and for more than a couple hours one day a week. 4 hrs in most places will get you about 2 calls a week. That's hardly any patient contact. Just remember that most ADCOM's don't seem to put much stake in fly by night EMTs who don't show dedication to their "chosen" field.

Bear in mind, in my experience as an EMS supervisor and instructor, it takes an average rookie EMT, working at least 10 emergency calls per week (about "part-time" at most volunteer services), about 6 months to become truly independently functional, and another 6 months to become proficient to a point where they are up to speed with their peers.....

 

[spicedmanna]

Well, I was wondering if I did get EMT-B...would hospitals allow me to volunteer 4 hours a week.. I mean I want to do this because rather than doing simple hospital volunteering, I really want to get more involved with the patient treatment so I was hoping that the experience might be really worht putting in a summer but I hope 4 hours of week (because of college work...etc..) on say a Saturday morning is legit EMT experience..

Sorry, doesn't usually work that way. If you want to get good volunteer clinical experience with an EMT-B certification, you will need to be a volunteer at a fire station or rescue squad. It's most often 12 hours a week, usually being on-call overnight, plus fund-raising and training time. Many people will do more; for instance, another 12 hour shift on the weekend. Try to pick a busy station to get more calls. It takes about a year of solid calls to receive charge EMT status, and usually another year after that to become a driver. If you develop enough experience, some states will allow you to become an ER Technician at a hospital, but that's a paid staff position, not a volunteer one.

If you have no inclination to do pre-hospital work, then get your CNA. That certification is specific for hospitals.

 

[45408]

No. If you want to volunteer at a hospital, you don't need to be an EMT. If you're going to work as an EMT for a hospital you would need to be on staff for legal and insurance reasons. BTW, you do realize that most EMT's who work in hospitals basically do the same job as a nurse's aide right? That means emptying bedpans, moving patients, restocking, cleaning, running specimens to the lab, maybe occasionally getting to do CPR, but most of your patient contact is going to be even more scut like than you would encounter on a private ambulance service running nursing home transfers......just so you know.

although I do know an ER tech who gets to do practically everything a nurse does - she puts in IVs, orders tests per protocol, and lots of other stuff that sounds cool. However, you need experience (6 months or significantly more) to get one of these jobs around here, which she already had.

I really want to get more involved with the patient treatment so I was hoping that the experience might be really worht putting in a summer but I hope 4 hours of week (because of college work...etc..) on say a Saturday morning is legit EMT experience..

You want to get involved.....by volunteering 4 hours a week? Why bother? You'll end up spending more time getting your EMT-B than you will with actual patients. If you can't handle 12+ hours a week (I worked around 20 hours/week year-round for about 18 months), then it's not worth your time.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

although I do know an ER tech who gets to do practically everything a nurse does - she puts in IVs, orders tests per protocol, and lots of other stuff that sounds cool. However, you need experience (6 months or significantly more) to get one of these jobs around here, which she already had.


You want to get involved.....by volunteering 4 hours a week? Why bother? You'll end up spending more time getting your EMT-B than you will with actual patients. If you can't handle 12+ hours a week (I worked around 20 hours/week year-round for about 18 months), then it's not worth your time.

It sounds cool......but it gets old quick. Although challenging IV starts can be a lot of fun. 👍 I take particular pride in my IV skills..... 😀

 

[45408]

It sounds cool......but it gets old quick. Although challenging IV starts can be a lot of fun. 👍 I take particular pride in my IV skills..... 😀

Well, hopefully you'll end up leaving the job and going to med school eventually. 😉 Either way, you make the most of what you can get.

 

[Drexel2011]

Question related to thread: Lets say a college student is home for the summer, being trained in a different state than which they go to school in. If they recieve certification in their home state, could they go back to the state they go to school in and take a certification test (for that particular state), without having to retake the classes?


thanks guys,
brittany

 

[shaggybill]

Question related to thread: Lets say a college student is home for the summer, being trained in a different state than which they go to school in. If they recieve certification in their home state, could they go back to the state they go to school in and take a certification test (for that particular state), without having to retake the classes?

If you have taken the National Registry written and practical test, which you probably would at the end of your EMT course, then you could probably just apply for reciprocity in the state that you attend college. I live in NC, but I took the EMT course in Indiana, and at the end of the course I took the National Registry tests. Now all I have to do is send the NC EMS office copies of my national registry card and my EMT course transcript, and I am eligible to become certified in NC.

 

[Drexel2011]

If you have taken the National Registry written and practical test, which you probably would at the end of your EMT course, then you could probably just apply for reciprocity in the state that you attend college. I live in NC, but I took the EMT course in Indiana, and at the end of the course I took the National Registry tests. Now all I have to do is send the NC EMS office copies of my national registry card and my EMT course transcript, and I am eligible to become certified in NC.

thanks, this helps. i want to get certified over the summer(in MD), but this would mean going right back to PA for school as soon as I was done. I don't want to just hold on to a certification, and not do anything with it. Hopefully Maryland and Pennsylvania have some kind of reciprocal policy they use.

 

[Wizard of Oz]

Where I live, EMT-B is a four-month sequence in which you go to a technology center two nights a week (four hours each night). Extra hours are needed for clinicals, but you can take that national exam if you want.

 

[spicedmanna]

thanks, this helps. i want to get certified over the summer(in MD), but this would mean going right back to PA for school as soon as I was done. I don't want to just hold on to a certification, and not do anything with it. Hopefully Maryland and Pennsylvania have some kind of reciprocal policy they use.

I would guess that they do. Maryland certification is accepted in more states than the national certification. You might have to challege the PA state practical, however (due to protocol-specific information and procedures). Check the PA state EMS website, and/or contact MIEMSS for details on reciprocity. Also, Maryland offers you the opportunity to sit for the state test and the national test at the same time, in case you do want national certification additionally (you would only need to take the written portion for the national test, since the Maryland practical doubles as the national practical).

Also, I do not think you are actually considered certified until you affliate with an EMS agency, so you'll want to join one as soon as you pass the tests.

 

[Drexel2011]

I think in Maryland we have 2 options. Training that is spread over a greater period of time, or a program that is shorter, and more intense with regards to how long you spend training per week. Im not absolutely positive we still have the two options, but this is what ive heard from others. Ive also heard some are willing to pay for part of your training if you work for them for a certain period of time.- does anyone know this to be the case?

 

[spicedmanna]

I think in Maryland we have 2 options. Training that is spread over a greater period of time, or a program that is shorter, and more intense with regards to how long you spend training per week. Im not absolutely positive we still have the two options, but this is what ive heard from others. Ive also heard some are willing to pay for part of your training if you work for them for a certain period of time.- does anyone know this to be the case?

I live in Maryland, so I can speak to this. You either affliate with a fire station or rescue squad as a volunteer (incurring their individual obligations), or take the classes through a community college. The former option is free (the state pays for you), but you need to make a volunteer commitment to the fire station (hours per week + fundraising, etc.), and the latter option costs you (in my case, close to $1K), but you are free to do whatever you wish with your training. If you take the classes through a community college, they are about a semester long (three nights/days a week, three hours at a time), and you do receive credit for your efforts. I do not think you receive credit if you take it through the state (which is just as well, really). I think there is a summer school option for EMT-B classes through the community colleges, which allows you to complete the requirements in a shorter period of time. I believe the state offers something like that, too; again, check with MIEMSS, or MCFRS (if you live in Montgomery County).

Keep in mind that you also need to complete an internship to sit for the state tests, where you need to do a rotation on an ambulance and at a hospital. This can be hairy if you aren't already affliated, but it can be done.

 

[mastamark]

It sounds cool......but it gets old quick. Although challenging IV starts can be a lot of fun. 👍 I take particular pride in my IV skills..... 😀

That ER tech is probably a Paramedic. EMT-Bs are not trained or allowed to start IVs(at least not in Illinois or NREMT). I have worked as a ER tech along side EMTs and they had to come get us if a nurse wanted us to do IVs. They do train them sometimes to take blood cultures or EKGs sometime.

 

[SurgeonUFO]

My EMT-B course was Saturday + Sunday 10 AM - anywhere between 4 and 8 PM for the entirety of last semester. That, plus med. school admissions, plus 15 credits including a thesis was a fair amount of work 😛

Though I'm assuming Med. School will be many orders of magnitude more...