I agree with most of Gurby's post. I would suggest looking at not just RT or Paramedic, but look more broadly at the medical field. From what I've seen, only a few places truly offer a degree for Paramedics. In my eyes, an AAS isn't quite up to there... go for an AS at the minimum as the AS requires a little more broad education than the AAS does. What I'm about to say may irritate some people here, but look at the broader picture. What you're going to want to do is look at most of the nursing programs in your area and see what they require for prerequisites for entry to their programs. I'm not saying that you should go nursing, but the prerequisites for a nursing program will give you an excellent foundation for going into any medical field. If you were to complete the typical nursing prerequisites and pursue a paramedic license, you will have a much easier time working through the paramedic program because you will understand the science behind what you are learning. This should translate to being a much better clinician later. The same thing goes for respiratory therapy. From what I understand, respiratory therapy prerequisites are very similar to nursing prerequisites, therefore by completing all of the nursing prerequisites you should be able to also apply to respiratory therapy school.
As has been stated above in this thread, respiratory therapy and paramedic practitioners do not have much flexibility in where they can go after they complete the program. If you are a respiratory therapist, you can practice as a respiratory therapist in several different venues such as long-term care, ICU, general inpatient, ER. As a paramedic, you have generally reached the pinnacle of your career and therefore you have no more avenues for advancement in patient care unless you change fields. In my case, I am a nurse as well as a paramedic. I have a lot more flexibility right now in terms of where I can go and what I can do as far as patient care is concerned. I work currently in the ER, and I'm looking to transition to ICU. If I get bored of ICU down the road, I have the option to yet transition to another field. By continuing my education, I can extend my ability to provide patient care.
Lastly, if you do extremely well in your prerequisites, and you have a fairly high GPA, I would suggest that you look at attending a university and attaining a four-year degree. You may very well be able to go much further by attending either PA school or medical school. Both typically require education well beyond that of a four-year degree, but for someone that has strong academics, and a love for medicine and patient care, that may be an option. The reason I suggest this is not because I think that you are capable of being a physician or that being a physician is the cats meow, but rather to highlight the fact that you have many more roads available to you than what you might now consider. Please do not get me wrong, I have the utmost respect for paramedics (I am one) and for respiratory therapists, as I work very closely with them. I'm just simply asking that you look more broadly at the field of medicine in general before you narrow things down and prematurely close some doors that might be rather fascinating if you went through them.