# New here, w-EMT coming up this Fall



## thatJeffguy (Jul 11, 2009)

Howdy,

I'll parlay the lengthy introduction for another time and save y'all the boredom.

Currently, I'm a 29 year old guy who's been traveling these here US of ours for a few years, working in National Park's in the summer and ski resorts in the winter, mainly serving tables and bartending.  My spare time usually consists of hiking, distance "survival" episodes, primitive skills, rifle and pistol shooting and basically any back country activity.

I'm considering mixing my love for medicine and the backcountry into a w-EMT degree at NOLS in GTNP this coming fall. 

What sort of "jobs" could I get into with this degree? Any sort of S&R possibilities?


Again, sorry for the pithy, ill-worded post! I'm a bit tired and I'll do up a proper intro in the next day or so.

Regards,

tJg


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## Summit (Jul 11, 2009)

You sound like a fun person!

WEMT is not a degreee. It is a certification. It will not open up any career opportunities for you over a standard EMT except in very rare cases. That said, it is a great, interesting, and useful course.

It may make you look a little better as a guide (like a raft guide or backpacking guide) or if you want to go for a wilderness ranger position. SAR is not a career anywhere. It is not a paid position anywhere except NPS and you probably need volly SAR experience going in (not sure).

Summit
WEMT


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## Luno (Jul 11, 2009)

*Hmmmm...*



thatJeffguy said:


> Howdy,
> 
> I'll parlay the lengthy introduction for another time and save y'all the boredom.
> 
> ...



Have you thought about Ski Patrol as a pro?  The money's not great (yeah, I know, EMS...) but it's a fun job...


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## oleanderEMS (Aug 23, 2009)

I have my WEMT and just a a thought(and this is what I did) if you don't want to spend the $3,000 you can take the WFR(Wilderness First Responder) and then take the EMT at your local community college. Its a hole hell of a lot cheeper and its not as crazy of a corse. Once you have your NREMT you send NOLS a copy of your WFR & NREMT cards and they send you a WEMT card. THe NOLS WEMT class is only 30 days and that is a lot of info in a short amount of time. Also if you take your WFR first it will give you a little leg up in the EMT class.

Good Luck


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## Shishkabob (Aug 25, 2009)

$3000 for WEMT?  WTH?

My entire medic class is $3,000!


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## LucidResq (Aug 25, 2009)

Summit said:


> SAR is not a career anywhere.



Pretty much true, unless you plan on joining the military. 

Out in Larimer County, CO, there is a small crew of paid "yellow jackets" (not sure what their official job title is). They are sheriff's deputies, wildland firefighters and SAR (the back of their jackets are hysterical... they are printed with all 3). Good luck getting that gig right out of EMT school. 

As mentioned ski patrol and guide jobs are options. You might find a good fire dept. to get on and get involved in technical rescue stuff like swiftwater and high-angle. 

If you get a bachelor's and some law enforcement training you could think about working as a park ranger. They are always involved when we get calls in national or state parks and I've seen them out in the field.


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## wyoskibum (Aug 25, 2009)

thatJeffguy said:


> I'm considering mixing my love for medicine and the backcountry into a w-EMT degree at NOLS in GTNP this coming fall.



Well, after 30 days of eating, breathing, and thinking about nothing but the EMT-Basic curriculum with some rescue and survival skills, you will have a National registry EMT-Basic card and a NOLS EMT-W card.



thatJeffguy said:


> What sort of "jobs" could I get into with this degree? Any sort of S&R possibilities?



I'm thinking you could get a job bartending, waiting tables, etc...

Seriously though, there isn't a lot of options.   Most SAR (especially out west) is volunteer.  You could consider the National Park service, but that tends to be seasonal and to be a Park Ranger you need to have an undergraduate degree.  Someone mentioned Ski Patrol, once again seasonal.


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## wyoskibum (Aug 25, 2009)

Linuss said:


> $3000 for WEMT?  WTH?
> 
> My entire medic class is $3,000!



It's an on site class that is held at the Teton Science School over 30 days in Kelly, Wyoming.  The $3,000.00 covers room and board as well as the tuition.


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## medic417 (Aug 25, 2009)

wyoskibum said:


> It's an on site class that is held at the Teton Science School over 30 days in Kelly, Wyoming.  The $3,000.00 covers room and board as well as the tuition.



Still way to expensive for basically an EMT-B certification.  Which is the only thing that might land you a paying job in all likelyhood.


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## wyoskibum (Aug 25, 2009)

medic417 said:


> Still way to expensive for basically an EMT-B certification.  Which is the only thing that might land you a paying job in all likelyhood.



I agree.  But the view almost makes it worth it! ;-D


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## medic417 (Aug 25, 2009)

wyoskibum said:


> I agree.  But the view almost makes it worth it! ;-D
> 
> [/QUOTE]
> 
> While pretty, I saw much better views for less, plus this is education not sight seeing.


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## ethorp (Aug 31, 2009)

wyoskibum said:


> .  You could consider the National Park service, but that tends to be seasonal and to be a Park Ranger you need to have an undergraduate degree.



i'm in school right now for this u need to go to a school that has splert *seasonal park ranger law enforcement training*and u need to do that to get a job as a national park ranger. but it is a pretty cool gig when i get out, i got a cupple of friends that graduated last year and they love it.


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## cfrench (Sep 3, 2009)

If you still wanted to spend 3K but did not want to travel much further from CT there is SOLO;

http://www.soloschools.com/wemt.html


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