EMT-B training in SF area? Also complicated situation...

I'll try keep my story as brief as possible.

I've always wanted to be an EMT since around age 16 (23 now), parents wouldn't let me until I finished college. That didn't precisely happen. Lost my mom to cancer very unexpectedly and started having serious mental health issues from the grief. Got arrested for hacking into my engineering school and kicked out. Ended up getting voluntarily admitted as an inpatient psychiatric and diagnosed with bipolar I.

So fast forward a few months I tapered myself off antipsychotics, noticed absolutely no further psychiatric symptoms other than general anxiety and decided to start turning things around. Kept up with my psychologist who thinks I'm probably not actually bipolar, but I'm still officially diagnosed as such.

I enrolled in EMT-B training last year (at a college I'd rather not disclose) and kept an A+ average until they ran a background check and found the felony from computer hacking, dropped me from the program. This was the college's decision, as it was not a disqualifying conviction by state law. Also do not have any other convictions or traffic tickets.

So fast forward to this year, I've trained as a pilot, daytraded and recently began prepping for ebola to keep myself occupied.

I'm looking at moving at least part time to the SF area as soon as I'm off probation (spring) and I'm looking for good EMT-B training out there that won't turn out fruitless (like my last experience)

Edit: Feel like I should add I'd have no trouble commuting by air under ~150mi from SF for anywhere near a local airport/airpark

Edited

While specific felonies will bar you from certification outright, LEMSAs have quite a bit of latitude for offenses not listed. You may find success in one county even if another denies you.

Not to be discouraging, but even if you are certified, you will go through another BG check to be hired. There are a lot of good candidates that don't have that baggage. It will be an uphill climb the whole way.

gotshirtz001 said:

While specific felonies will bar you from certification outright, LEMSAs have quite a bit of latitude for offenses not listed. You may find success in one county even if another denies you.

Not to be discouraging, but even if you are certified, you will go through another BG check to be hired. There are a lot of good candidates that don't have that baggage. It will be an uphill climb the whole way.

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To what degree do you think demonstrating academic competence will help versus someone who passed with an 81% and has a clean record? Are there factors likely to help other than just waiting and greasing the gubernatorial pardon wheels?

Also any recommendations on specific programs in the area?

Thanks!

Your best bet will to find some way to affiliate with a specific agency and begin a track record of solid performance. It will likely not be in the field to start. At the private I work for, we have a support position that cleans and restocks ambulances for field employees. This type of position would be a good place to start.

Some people value high grades, some don't. The people who score highest in the class are not necessarily the best people in the field.

If this is really your goal, create a plan and start meeting people.

Any places to get training near the greater SF area particularly likely to not remove me for "administrative reasons" right before clinicals?

Forgot to add that initially I had disclosed my conviction to my previous college's program director before ever starting and he was totally on board with me (he didn't disclose it wasn't only his decision!), but the decision later came down unexpectedly from the department's director after background checks came back and I lost my appeal because no area hospitals would take me (it was in a semi-rural two agency town). I've at least learned my lesson about checking to make sure the boss's boss won't decide to screw me.

leet said:

Any places to get training near the greater SF area particularly likely to not remove me for "administrative reasons" right before clinicals?

Forgot to add that initially I had disclosed my conviction to my previous college's program director before ever starting and he was totally on board with me, but the decision later came down unexpectedly from the department's director after background checks came back and I lost my appeal because no area hospitals would take me (it was in a semi-rural two agency town). I've at least learned my lesson about checking to make sure the boss's boss won't decide to screw me.

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Really? Your bosses boss forced you to commit a felony? You should definitely do something about that.

Have you ever heard of the expression, play stupid games, win stupid prizes?

John E said:

Really? Your bosses boss forced you to commit a felony? You should definitely do something about that.

Have you ever heard of the expression, play stupid games, win stupid prizes?

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Lol you're misunderstanding. I tried to edit my comment to be a bit more clear. The boss of the boss of my teacher decided to kick me out of the EMT program because of the conviction despite the teacher and his boss's protests that I was a good student.

I committed a felony due to poor judgment and poor mental health, only enrolled in EMT school once I was confident I was stable and had put that behind me.

Also as felonies go, I must say computer hacking generally doesn't scare people the way armed robbery does. In some states (and under military recruiting guidelines) my offense is would be considered equivalent to a misdemeanor (it was referred to the US attorney's office which declined federal prosecution under the CFAA for lack of applicability)

So to recap, you committed a felony that you now blame on bad judgement and poor mental health and when the reality of the severity of your actions hits home it's someone else's fault that you got kicked out of school?

You think that you're entitled to become an EMT because you've wanted to since you were a teenager and yet you committed a crime that is now precluding you from obtaining what you feel you're entitled to.

And now that you're discovering that actions do indeed have consequences, you're looking for someone to suggest a school and medical care facility that will be willing to overlook your criminal record in order for you to get what you feel you're entitled to.

I don't think I've misunderstood anything.

I'm curious, given the sheer number of EMT school graduates that arrive on the scene every semester, why in the world would an EMS provider hire a felon over someone without a criminal record? By the way, EVERY class has people in it who got straight A's, and the overwhelming number of them aren't felons.

Good luck.

John E said:

So to recap, you committed a felony that you now blame on bad judgement and poor mental health and when the reality of the severity of your actions hits home

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Not exactly like I blamed it after the fact, I had been seeing counselling for quite a while and made the poor decision of resisting medication and trying to take on a larger course load as an engineering student to graduate early. It all came crashing down when one night I decided to see a computer security final exam a bit early thanks to some poorly configured database security. I was in a peer group at the time where this was pretty acceptable unfortunately.

In the end people make mistakes and Robert Tappan Morris is proof you can come back from them.

John E said:

it's someone else's fault that you got kicked out of school?

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To be fair, this is somewhat objectively true with my first attempt at EMT-B. I went in and spoke with the college's EMS program director well before signing up for classes and he assured me he'd help get me certified by the state (which would have been a presumptive denial while still on probation), I was given absolutely no warning I could be administratively removed by someone else!

John E said:

You think that you're entitled to become an EMT because you've wanted to since you were a teenager and yet you committed a crime that is now precluding you from obtaining what you feel you're entitled to.

And now that you're discovering that actions do indeed have consequences, you're looking for someone to suggest a school and medical care facility that will be willing to overlook your criminal record in order for you to get what you feel you're entitled to.

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"Entitled" is a bit of a strong word with negative connotations, but I feel I shouldn't be denied certification if I'm qualified.

In the end I'm just hoping there are more people out there like my first EMS instructor who care more about the person in front of them than any labels.

I'm not in this for the money, I'd stick with day trading if I were (talk about an industry filled with white collar felons who don't care about helping people).

John E said:

I'm curious, given the sheer number of EMT school graduates that arrive on the scene every semester, why in the world would an EMS provider hire a felon over someone without a criminal record? By the way, EVERY class has people in it who got straight A's, and the overwhelming number of them aren't felons.

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Trying not to come off as too narcissistic, I think I can demonstrate superior competence. There were only two As in my class and I was apparently the first person to get a perfect score on the college's Psychomotor Exam in five years.

Wow...

I gave up reading or posting on this forum for a few years, mainly because the sheer number of self-indulgent folks that sound just like you when asking for ways to get around the rules and for shortcuts.

I guess it's nice to know that nothing's changed much in my absence.

Good luck, you're going to need it.

People deserve second chances. Kids do stupid things all the time, get in trouble for it, and learn they have to act like an adult. A lot of these mistakes are just a result of a poor decision. If you we are treated based on one mistake we made in our youth then a lot of us wouldn't be be in EMS, or be married, or have families.

That being said, @leet you might not be done paying for your mistake. A felony is a bigger deal than a misdemeanor. You are going to have to do the leg work and check with programs and county EMSAs and discuss your case and the nature of your felony. And as it's been stated, once your certified there is very little guarantee that you will be hireable without more years between you and the felony.