Life outside of EMS (yet still being an EMT)

[jordanfstop]

What other things can you do with an EMT-B cert besides 911/EMS and transport companies? (Given you get your certification in that as well.)

Paid or vollie?

Things such as DMAC, S&R, HazMat... What other things?

 

[JJR512]

Let me assume, for a moment, that your question is more about what you can do with an EMT-B cert besides riding an ambulance. Because there are other things you can do with the cert at 911/EMS and transport companies besides ride an ambulance. In the company I work for, the turnout supervisors (those who hand out keys and equipment, who assign and re-assign shifts based on call-outs and unexpected problems, who do performance reviews on the road crews, etc.) are required to be at least -B.

With both private companies I've worked for, dispatchers were also required to be at least -B.

Consider amusement parks. Six Flags hires EMT-Bs for on-site first response to emergencies. Usually they are glorified Band-Aid hander-outers, but I'm sure they see some action now and again. Similarly, consider any type of fixed facility that attracts large crowds and is opened daily; for example, zoos. I throw in the "opened daily" part because (in my experience, although your area may be differenet) stadiums and arenas usually hire a private ambulance company to do event stand-by EMS duty.

Safety officers at industrial facilities may also be -Bs, but they probably have some other kind of degree as well.

I'm sure any law enforcement agency, security guard company, or corrections department wouldn't mind its officers being a -B, too.

 

[JJR512]

This thread that I started almost two years ago may have some other answers for you, because I asked basically the same question at that time: http://www.emtlife.com/showthread.php?t=2372

 

[VentMedic]

Also, you may be able to get an entry level job at a hospital in the ED, lab or OR because you have EMT-B training. You will not be called EMT-B and your scope of practice as an EMT-B will not apply. However, your scope, skills and knowledge may actually increase greatly with additional training and certification offered by the hospital as well as the possibility of having some tuition paid for by the hospital along with other good benefits.

When people go to a hospital to apply for a job as an EMT-B or Paramedic, they miss alot of good opportunities because they are looking to apply as an EMT-B or Paramedic. These job titles may not be used at all inside the hospital in many state due to the wording of statutes for "prehospital care only". Read the other job requirements and you might come across a similiar opportunity or another different career opportunity might jump out at you. Nursing is not the only other option out there for EMTs to advance.

Late Edit: Hyperbaric Medicine also offers some opportunities for EMTs, but you may need 40 - 100 hours of additional class room and clinical training as well as the OJT.

 

[ffemt8978]

Sometimes you can work in Industrial EMS (ask Chimpie about this), or on a riverboat casinos (or casinos in general), etc...

 

[firetender]

Something I used to do after I left the field was make sure I included the way I trained myself to think as a paramedic in my resumes, applications or interviews.

People may not grasp the pertinence of BLS to the position but most interviewers respond to statements like "cool under pressure" "able to quickly, if not instantaneously size-up a situation" "accustomed to making life-or death decisions" "being able to reduce complicated scenarios into a step-by-step battle plan" "clear-headed driving under emergency situations" "improvisation" "sensitivity to others" and so forth.

Right now my paramedic experience (20 something years later) was integral in getting me jobs driving tour vans in Hawaii. Now that's suffering!

 

[Arkymedic]

I have used my EMT-B and now my EMT-P constantly for working horse racing tracks, auto racing tracks, industrial (ie chicken plants, oil refinerys, etc) as well as for medical reserve corps, cert, presently for attaching to DMAT. The work also has helped in relation to my emergency management studies and while seeking employment as a leo in the past.

 

[BossyCow]

I teach several first aid courses, also do standby on lots of events like rodeo's, Downhill bike races, motorcycle hill climbs, the local race track.... Some of the local EMT's work as in home caregivers. Hopefully getting on the college roster for a wilderness first aid course on an annual basis. Also, proctoring tests, doing evaluations with the local EMT classes.

 

[medicdan]

I work at Tanglewood, a classical music venue that theoretically can draw up to 20,000 people a night during the summer...
I have a good friend who is a DEMT-- A Diving EMT-- he is trained in Hyperbaric medicine and administers hyperbaric treatments with a hyperbaric tech, but also could work (but does not) on large dive boats as a first responder for decompression injuries (illnesses). He was trained by Divers Alert Network (DAN).
I am also a Rescue Diver (PADI)-- although that does not fit in so well with being an EMT.
I believe Fire Departments want Rescue Divers/Search and Recovery Divers/LEO Divers to be EMTs or Paramedics in order to render care as soon as possible.