EMT to PARAMEDIC

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DarksideIV

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I'm a little confused here with a question I have yet to look up. In order to become a Paramedic, you have to have been an active EMT for 6 months or a year. Im confused if you have to be an EMT for a 911 company or just an EMTfor any company. Anyone know the answer?
 
Depends on the school. Some don't even require any time working as a basic.
 
DarksideIV said:
I'm a little confused here with a question I have yet to look up. In order to become a Paramedic, you have to have been an active EMT for 6 months or a year. Im confused if you have to be an EMT for a 911 company or just an EMTfor any company. Anyone know the answer?
Click to expand...

It's most likely an EMT for ANY company.
 
I had alive for 18 years for mine. I wanted to skip that part but I wasn't allowed out of the womb.
 
Really depends... if you work for an agency, they may require you have a few years as an EMT with them before beginning Paramedic school.
however, if unemployed, you can go to a school that will accept you and begin there.
Although MOST of the paramedics i have seen who don't have any experience as an EMT-B lack in a lot of the most basic skills.
 
Well, your location is los angeles, and i live in los angeles county myself. I have been looking to go to paramedic school as well. Alot of schools in california period require that you have emt experience, that experience can either be IFT's or 911.

I spoke with and e-mailed a particular paramedic school regarding pre-requisites. I am an IFT emt, and they said i do meet the minimum qualificaitons for entrance, however for successful performance in field internship, from what i was told, having previous 911 experience as an emt does play a role. So it's usually a suggestion to have 911 experience, but not required.

Then again, alot of it boils down to how confident you feel about everything. I posted a similar question and got lots of good feedback, hope this helps you. I have a spread sheet file that contains a listing of all paramedic schools in california. if you give me your e-mail, i can send it to you. It also lists the pre-requistites for entrance.
 
Emt_rocketman, can I have dat spreadsheet? I'm looking around for medic schools as well in SoCal, only been an EMT~B for 4 months but I'm already planning... Tnx!
 
Though the experience can technically be IFT-only at some schools, some may not seriously consider you without 911 experience. Some of the more competitive schools have minimum requirements, but everyone applying has those minimum requirements. Some schools choose you based on how successful they think you'll be in the classroom, clinicals, and internship. Someone with 1 year in a busy 911 system with a bigger picture idea of how calls are run may be thought to have a higher chance of passing internship than someone with a year at an IFT company.

Every now and then the sheriff's department puts SWAT members through EMT school, then directly into paramedic school. First of internship might be their first day doing an actual assessment and often gets overhwelming. Not that going straight from EMT to Paramedic without field time is a bad idea if this system were setup for it, but it's not...so the odds may be against you. Many adapt quickly. Many do not.
 
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The above posts are very true. An important fact to note, while some Paramedic Programs may have a "year of EMT service" requirement, they also may have an unspoken "patient contact" number they're looking for as well.

For example, if you work part time as an EMT for an IFT service and only pull one 8 hour shift a week and take the same couple of people to Doctor's appointments or if you volunteer as an EMT with a very slow rural service and only have a total of 40 patient contacts for the year, you might not be accepted, even though you've been an EMT for year.

It's important to speak to the Program Director to determine all of the criteria before you submit your material.

If you have several programs to chose from, shop around. Ask about the class, the text, past students you may contact for opinions on the program. What's their national pass rate?

Paramedic school is a big commitment, and you shouldn't just jump into a program simply based on price or "someone on the internet said it's a good one..." Do your research.
 
I guess one of the toughest things for me is being torn between two different fields i have a heart for. EMS and ENGINEERING.
 
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