# Is emt school para-military?



## Jerseyboy732 (Jun 18, 2011)

Kinda like fire academy? I just graduated and will be attending emt school in the fall. Where I live (south Florida) you must be a ff and emt/pm to get a job do I am planning on attending fire academy after emt. Now I know fire academy is para-military but I have not the slightest clue on emt school. Will there be PT? Is it more active or classroom setting? I'm just curious of what to expect...


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## medichopeful (Jun 18, 2011)

Jerseyboy732 said:


> Kinda like fire academy? I just graduated and will be attending emt school in the fall. Where I live (south Florida) you must be a ff and emt/pm to get a job do I am planning on attending fire academy after emt. Now I know fire academy is para-military but I have not the slightest clue on emt school. Will there be PT? Is it more active or classroom setting? I'm just curious of what to expect...



Depends on the program, but it shouldn't be.


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## Lifeguards For Life (Jun 18, 2011)

Jerseyboy732 said:


> Kinda like fire academy? I just graduated and will be attending emt school in the fall. Where I live (south Florida) you must be a ff and emt/pm to get a job do I am planning on attending fire academy after emt. Now I know fire academy is para-military but I have not the slightest clue on emt school. Will there be PT? Is it more active or classroom setting? I'm just curious of what to expect...



No. It really depends on your class dynamics. While you may generally enjoy a more casual class setting, when warranted you may welcome a quasi-military instruction style.

This is really school-specific, but I would say in general, no.


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## Pneumothorax (Jun 18, 2011)

its like any other class youve ever taken. except when u do lab/practicals..theres a bit more structure to it...

where u goin to school?


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## sir.shocksalot (Jun 18, 2011)

EMT training is paramilitary in some places simply due to fire department influence in EMS. Ironically, the paramilitary mind-set is completely counter-productive to prehospital emergency care.
Training in a paramilitary fashion attempts to instill discipline and following orders. Medicine, however, requires creative and independent thinking as well as applying critical thinking skills to fluid situations. Occasionally in EMS, providers have to stand up to Lieutenants/Captains/Supervisors and justify their thought process, not simply say "yes sir! I'll do exactly as you say next time."

EMS is a job that requires a strong mind, compassion, and creativity. Fire Service requires strength and obedience, straying outside the box is often frowned upon.

My point is: Try to ignore the paramilitary claptrap if you encounter it in EMT school.


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## WTEngel (Jun 18, 2011)

Sorry, would have to disagree with the above statement. 

Structure, discipline, and following orders in no way mean that there is a removal free thinking or "creativity" in treating your patients. 

Without discipline and structure, many of the pre hospital and critical care treatment algorithms fall apart. That's just my opinion, but I have had plenty of time to practice it.

The best critical care teams I have seen and participated in have had a defined leader, who gave defined orders, and received feedback as those orders were carried out. Constructive intervention was used as necessary, if the team leader made an oversight or misspoke, and a debriefing was carried out post incident.


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## joeshmoe (Jul 16, 2011)

Yes, its extremely militaristic. Brutal discipline, forced marches, combat spine boarding assault courses, rapelling off the roofs of ambulances. Because if theres one thing thats important in EMS, its unthinking rigid following of orders and looking sharp. Ok thats two things.


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## HotelCo (Jul 16, 2011)

joeshmoe said:


> Yes, its extremely militaristic. Brutal discipline, forced marches, combat spine boarding assault courses, rapelling off the roofs of ambulances. Because if theres one thing thats important in EMS, its unthinking rigid following of orders and looking sharp. Ok thats two things.



+1

Glad to see someone has the guts to tell it like it is. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## JPINFV (Jul 16, 2011)

joeshmoe said:


> Because if theres one thing thats important in EMS, its unthinking rigid following of orders and looking sharp. Ok thats two things.









Nods in approval. 

/I wasn't expecting a...


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## Lifeguards For Life (Jul 16, 2011)

JPINFV said:


> Nods in approval.
> 
> /I wasn't expecting a...



NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition! Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise......


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## JPINFV (Jul 16, 2011)

Lifeguards For Life said:


> NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition! Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise......




We shall use... the rack. [Diabolical laughter]


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## beandip4all (Jul 16, 2011)




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## sirengirl (Jul 16, 2011)

My head instructor introduced the class by telling us it was para-military... If by para-military he means having the common courtesy to not talk in class, pay attention, do what's expected, answer respectfully, not be generally stupid, and not take offense when they're hard on us to get a point across... then I guess it's para-military. I'm FL too, btw, Sarasota county (which is Fire/EMS).


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## shfd739 (Jul 16, 2011)

sirengirl said:


> My head instructor introduced the class by telling us it was para-military... If by para-military he means having the common courtesy to not talk in class, pay attention, do what's expected, answer respectfully, not be generally stupid, and not take offense when they're hard on us to get a point across... then I guess it's para-military. I'm FL too, btw, Sarasota county (which is Fire/EMS).



This is how mine was years ago. It was generally easy going but the instructors let us have it if we weren't being serious, got lazy or just needed a kick in the butt. 


Sent from my electronic overbearing life controller


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## SixEightWhiskey (Jul 18, 2011)

my EMT course was part of my AIT for being an army medic. so obviously my course was not para-military, it was 100% straight up military! 

however, i'm glad I did it, because i feel like going on to civilian paramedic school, even if it is strict, will be a lot easier for me than someone who has never been in a high stress environment like the military creates.


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## Imacho (Jul 18, 2011)

Jerseyboy732 said:


> Kinda like fire academy? I just graduated and will be attending emt school in the fall. Where I live (south Florida) you must be a ff and emt/pm to get a job do I am planning on attending fire academy after emt. Now I know fire academy is para-military but I have not the slightest clue on emt school. Will there be PT? Is it more active or classroom setting? I'm just curious of what to expect...



RCC's is academy style. PT at 6 am, uniform inspection in the am, blah blah blah. It works.


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## TransportJockey (Jul 18, 2011)

Heh I'd never go to a medic school like that. Now service Academy (FDNY, ATcEMS, or similar) is a different matter.


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## Strap (Jul 19, 2011)

I guess you could say ours (at the local community college) is quasi-pseudo-para-military, i.e. they just recently started requiring everyone to wear their uniforms to ALL classes, not just the clinicals and ambulance rotations. And they're pretty strict about making sure you've got all the pieces, shirts tucked in, tattoos covered up, etc.

I think that probably is a good thing for creating a more professional class.

We don't do PT or anything like that...although it wouldn't hurt a few of the "troops" to get in a little of that too.


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## usalsfyre (Jul 19, 2011)

Talking to most med students, medical school is the antithesis of paramilitary. Yet they seem to turn out to be professionals. On the other end of the spectrum we have  EMT and fire academies, who focus on the "paramilitary public safety" aspects, yet ambulance services and many smaller FDs seem to have a serious lack of professionalism. 

How about we focus on the quality of the person we attract in the first place? Four to twelve weeks of "paramilitary training" won't polish a turd.


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