I'm very confused and could use some guidance.

[infmascot]

I've been researching a career in EMS for awhile now, and I think I'd do well as an EMT. I'm going to give it a shot and try to become an EMT-B, see how I do and go from there.

So I talked to my local community college and they're doing an EMT initial course in a couple of weeks. Tomorrow I'm going to go sign up for that. It's a three month course, after I complete it, then what? Do I need further schooling to get a job or what?

I really hate to ask like this, I don't want to be spoon fed but it seems like every website I go to says something totally different. Basically I currently have no experience with emergency services but I'd like to become an EMT Basic. Is taking the course the correct thing to do or what?

Thanks in advance for any help, I really want to do this and do it correctly so any guidance would be incredibly helpful.

Also I'm in North Carolina.

 

[JPINFV]

Welcome to the forum...

I've been researching a career in EMS for awhile now, and I think I'd do well as an EMT. I'm going to give it a shot and try to become an EMT-B, see how I do and go from there.

So I talked to my local community college and they're doing an EMT initial course in a couple of weeks. Tomorrow I'm going to go sign up for that. It's a three month course, after I complete it, then what? Do I need further schooling to get a job or what?

Where are you at as job prospects and licensing requirements vary by location? In general, further schooling to get a job as an EMT (which is, in all honesty, "a job." Career? Look towards being a paramedic, which is more schooling).

I really hate to ask like this, I don't want to be spoon fed but it seems like every website I go to says something totally different. Basically I currently have no experience with emergency services but I'd like to become an EMT Basic. Is taking the course the correct thing to do or what?

An EMT course (160 hours now, give or take. Taking it over 3 months is pretty standard) is the right way to get the education required to become licensed as an EMT. You'll be required to be CPR certified at some point, the question is does the EMT course provide the CPR certification, or do you need to do it before you start?

American Heart Association "BLS for the Health Care Provider" is generally the preferred course since AHA ultimately does the guidelines and it is a 2 year certification. American Red Cross "CPR for the Professional Rescuer" is generally also accepted, but is a 1 year course. It might sound petty to suggest the 2 year course because you won't have to renew as often, but CPR is easy ONCE YOU'VE DONE IT on actual patients and renewals generally don't add much use short of when the guidelines change.

Also I'm in North Carolina.

Anyone from NC here? Unfortunately I don't know anything about NC's EMS system/prospects.

 

[infmascot]

Where are you at as job prospects and licensing requirements vary by location? In general, further schooling to get a job as an EMT (which is, in all honesty, "a job." Career? Look towards being a paramedic, which is more schooling).

An EMT course (160 hours now, give or take. Taking it over 3 months is pretty standard) is the right way to get the education required to become licensed as an EMT. You'll be required to be CPR certified at some point, the question is does the EMT course provide the CPR certification, or do you need to do it before you start?

I realize an EMT is more of a job, thanks for pointing that out though. My thought process is basically that I can get some experience as an EMT without a huge time investment, and if I'm decent at it and enjoy it I could look into becoming a paramedic as a career like you said.

I just checked on the college's website. It doesn't say I need CPR certification beforehand, but it doesn't tell me if it's covered in the course. I'll try asking tomorrow. In three months I feel like it would be covered, but I won't even pretend to know what's going to be covered so I'll definitely ask.

Thanks for the response!

 

[rails]

<snip>
I just checked on the college's website. It doesn't say I need CPR certification beforehand, but it doesn't tell me if it's covered in the course. I'll try asking tomorrow. In three months I feel like it would be covered, but I won't even pretend to know what's going to be covered so I'll definitely ask.
<snip>

Definitely ask the college. My course required an AHA Healthcare Provider card before I could begin clinicals. I ended up taking the AHA course at a local hospital.

 

[Christopher]

I realize an EMT is more of a job, thanks for pointing that out though. My thought process is basically that I can get some experience as an EMT without a huge time investment, and if I'm decent at it and enjoy it I could look into becoming a paramedic as a career like you said.

I just checked on the college's website. It doesn't say I need CPR certification beforehand, but it doesn't tell me if it's covered in the course. I'll try asking tomorrow. In three months I feel like it would be covered, but I won't even pretend to know what's going to be covered so I'll definitely ask.

Thanks for the response!

I teach in SE North Carolina, but it is basically the same throughout the State.

No prerequisites for EMT at most community colleges. Some will require you to take an "Introduction to EMS" course to ensure they won't lose you to attrition. Because Fire/EMS education is subsidized in NC, it is very cheap and you get a ton of people in classes who have no business in this career.

You will take AHA's BLS CPR during the class, or at least this is the case in every program I'm aware of, and should not worry about prior experience.

Typical requirements:
1. Buy the book
2. Show up on time
3. Pay $5-6 for a CPR card when the time comes
4. Buy a stethoscope and optionally a BP cuff
5. Optionally, get insurance if you do clinicals
6. Optionally, get vaccinated if you do clinicals
7. Optionally, buy a T-shirt/BDU pants/boots if you do clinicals

If you've got specific questions about EMS in NC let me know and I'll try and knock them out.

 

[infmascot]

Thank you both for the information. I'm going to have to wait till tomorrow to go to the college now which actually worked out since you guys gave me more specific questions to ask.

I think I can meet all of those requirements! I don't really know of a specific question to ask about EMS in NC, is there anything you think I should know?

Again, thank you both, this has helped me a lot.

 

[Christopher]

Thank you both for the information. I'm going to have to wait till tomorrow to go to the college now which actually worked out since you guys gave me more specific questions to ask.

I think I can meet all of those requirements! I don't really know of a specific question to ask about EMS in NC, is there anything you think I should know?

Again, thank you both, this has helped me a lot.

See if the CC you're taking the class at has an Associates program for EMS. You may be able to go from EMT through to Paramedic while getting your AS (ignore the inevitable haters on straight B->P), which is preferable in terms of (future) job prospects. If at all possible, grab a BA/BS as well and enjoy the extra college courses in biology, chemistry, and A&P.

 

[infmascot]

See if the CC you're taking the class at has an Associates program for EMS. You may be able to go from EMT through to Paramedic while getting your AS (ignore the inevitable haters on straight B->P), which is preferable in terms of (future) job prospects. If at all possible, grab a BA/BS as well and enjoy the extra college courses in biology, chemistry, and A&P.

I'll ask them about that. I know it would be a lot better if I could go ahead and get my BA/BS. The extra courses would be good too. The only thing I'm not sure about is going straight to Paramedic. Besides the inevitable haters, I do think I should get some more experience before I continue on. I just hope I can get a job to get the experience as an EMT-B.

 

[Altitudes]

Welcome to the forum...


Where are you at as job prospects and licensing requirements vary by location? In general, further schooling to get a job as an EMT (which is, in all honesty, "a job." Career? Look towards being a paramedic, which is more schooling).



An EMT course (160 hours now, give or take. Taking it over 3 months is pretty standard) is the right way to get the education required to become licensed as an EMT. You'll be required to be CPR certified at some point, the question is does the EMT course provide the CPR certification, or do you need to do it before you start?

American Heart Association "BLS for the Health Care Provider" is generally the preferred course since AHA ultimately does the guidelines and it is a 2 year certification. American Red Cross "CPR for the Professional Rescuer" is generally also accepted, but is a 1 year course. It might sound petty to suggest the 2 year course because you won't have to renew as often, but CPR is easy ONCE YOU'VE DONE IT on actual patients and renewals generally don't add much use short of when the guidelines change.




Anyone from NC here? Unfortunately I don't know anything about NC's EMS system/prospects.

I think I just read somewhere last week that they recently changed or are going to change to renewal every 2 years. I may be wrong though.

 

[Christopher]

I'll ask them about that. I know it would be a lot better if I could go ahead and get my BA/BS. The extra courses would be good too. The only thing I'm not sure about is going straight to Paramedic. Besides the inevitable haters, I do think I should get some more experience before I continue on. I just hope I can get a job to get the experience as an EMT-B.

No experience is truly required, but some programs rely on it to make up for their lower educational standards. Regardless, you'd need good experience in order for it to really help in P school, and that's hard to find

There is work in NC for EMT's, and a number of counties even have them on 911 units. Good opportunities are possible!

 

[Rin]

Does the

 

[Rin]

(^Sorry, my phone doesn't let me edit posts.)

Does North Carolina use the National Registry test for certification? And once certified, are there any special drivers license requirements?

 

[Christopher]

(^Sorry, my phone doesn't let me edit posts.)

Does North Carolina use the National Registry test for certification? And once certified, are there any special drivers license requirements?

No NR requirement in this State. Our current standards are beyond the NRP standards (the transition class I took was kind of silly, considering it told us what we already did...).

No "ambulance driver" requirements in this State either. Individual departments typically require Emergency Vehicle Driver (EVD) or Emergency Vehicle Operator's Course (EVOC), a clean driving record x3-5 years, and potentially a Class B license.

 

[adwr070621]

Christopher is right. There are a lot of opportunities here in NC for EMT-B. I recently moved from Utah, got my reciprocity rather easily and quite fast. Still unemployed at the moment but every day I'm applying to new jobs that need EMTs.

Good luck to ya

 

[infmascot]

Thank you guys all so much for the advice. I'll be starting my course in less than two weeks. If I enjoy it and handle everything well I might try to go ahead and start a course to become a paramedic afterwards like you recommended Christopher. Right now I'm very excited about starting the process, I really think I'll enjoy the job.

 

[Harris0404]

I recently finished my emt course and my next step is the NREMT

 

[bunyan830]

Nice to read through this thread

 

[MackTheKnife]

See if the CC you're taking the class at has an Associates program for EMS. You may be able to go from EMT through to Paramedic while getting your AS (ignore the inevitable haters on straight B->P), which is preferable in terms of (future) job prospects. If at all possible, grab a BA/BS as well and enjoy the extra college courses in biology, chemistry, and A&P.

Couldn't agree more.