EMT Transfer: CA to CO

[DrewMann]

Hey guys, I'm currently working as an EMT-B for a BLS ambulance company in Riverside County here in southern California. I'm strongly considering moving out of California here really soon, most likely to Colorado. I'm not entirely sure where in Colorado I'd like to move, although I do consider somewhere in or around the mountains a huge plus. I was just wondering how simple it would be to transfer all my stuff (such as certifications and all that) to Colorado so that I may find another job as an EMT over there. Is it a tedious process or quiet simple? My current California certification expires on 10/31/16, and best case scenario I would like to relocate in the summer of 2016. Also, I was wondering how well the pay is in general for Colorado EMTs. Are there jobs throughout the state or are most of the jobs centered near the Denver area? Also I've been noticing many EMT jobs outside of California seem to require a higher level of EMT, such as EMT-I and EMT-A. Would it be hard to find a position as an EMT-B over there, or will I need to obtain more schooling before I can find one? Any information you could provide would be a huge help for me, thank you so much!

 

[Summit]

Mountain pay ranges from crap to volunteer. There are literally infinite amounts of EMTs in many mountain communities because of seasonal ski patrol.

If you have your NREMT, transferring is not arduous, but it is time consuming due to the national background check.

You won't find any CO EMT ambulance jobs unless you have your Colorado IV class and probably an EKG class.

 

[DrewMann]

Mountain pay ranges from crap to volunteer. There are literally infinite amounts of EMTs in many mountain communities because of seasonal ski patrol.

If you have your NREMT, transferring is not arduous, but it is time consuming due to the national background check.

You won't find any CO EMT ambulance jobs unless you have your Colorado IV class and probably an EKG class.

Ok thank you for that info, what would it take to find an IV and EKG class? How much would they cost, and how long are the classes? And does that mean most of the ambulance jobs are around Denver then?

 

[Ensihoitaja]

You'll need your National Registry if you don't already have it. You have to undergo a fingerprint-based background check, although you can get a provisional cert while that is pending. Here's a link to the state requirements: https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cdphe/ems-provider-certification

IV class is roughly 20 hours of classroom time plus clinicals. Here's a link to the curriculum.
There's a lot of places to take the class- Red Rocks Community College, Denver Health, Swedish Medical Center/HealthONE, St. Anthony's/Centura EMS, etc. AMR and Rural/Metro used to offer them in-house, I'm not sure if they still do. Cost varies depending on where you take it, I really don't know any numbers off the top of my head.

I don't think the EKG cert is anywhere near as a big a deal. It can't hurt, but you're very unlikely to get a job without the IV cert.

The vast majority of EMT jobs are along the Front Range (Denver-Colorado Springs-Fort Collins). Summit County Ambulance and Grand County Ambulance definitely hire EMTs, I'm not sure what other high country options you'll have.