Hello everyone, JT here. I am from Manchester, NH.
I am switching careers from the IT Industry to become an EMT. About five years ago, I was laid off from Lucent Technologies and decided to take some time off and travel the world a bit while I did some much needed soul searching. In between traveling, I worked for myself as a consultant. I've decided to become an EMT for a few reasons; I can't see myself going back to a cubical world and I want to give back to the community. I'm also the type of person who needs to be constantly challenged.
I pretty much only have two local schools in my immediate area to choose from. My choices appear to be NH CPR and New England EMS Institute (NEEMSI). Both have their next classes starting at the same time in the beginning of January. I am leaning towards NEEMSI for several reasons; they are plastered all over the State of NH's EMS website, they have been around longer, and they have an internship program as part of your training. NEEMSI is also approved by BOTH New Hampshire and Massachusetts. In the meantime, I will be taking my BLS class through my local hospital on November 2nd.
I have not given much thought as to whether I'd like to work for a hospital or private service at this time. Hospitals here appear to use EMT's quite frequently in their emergency rooms. One of the local hospitals I checked last week has openings for 14 EMT positions (mostly EMT-I's but a few EMT-B's as well). However, as an outdoor enthusiast, I'd one day like to have the opportunity to do some wilderness rescue work. I see myself eventually becoming a Paramedic but I am in no rush to do so. I want to move up relatively slowly so I can gain as much real world experience as I can.
However, all of this is dependent upon what type of response I receive back from a letter I wrote yesterday to NREMT Executive Director, Bill Brown. Certification here in New Hampshire is exclusively performed by NREMT and I have something from my past, 12 years ago, that may not be acceptable to NREMT. It is a felony issue but not a substance abuse, DUI, violence, or patient/person abuse matter and not related to health care in any way and no jail time was imposed (served nor suspended) so I will likely be ok. However, NREMT expects full disclosure and I want to make sure there won't be any issues preventing me from obtaining NREMT certification before I invest the money into training. I am familiar with NREMT's Felony Policy but some of it is vague to me. My issue would fall under their "Discretionary Denial" section. I've discussed this issue with the Director of EMS here in NH and she informed me that the state has no statutes regarding this and that the ultimate licensure decisions are made mutually by her and Mr. Brown. She was very nice and understanding of my situation though and was the one who suggested I write to Mr. Brown.
If I get a positive response from Mr. Brown, I will register for class immediately. I am pretty much at the mercy of NREMT right now.
Thanks for reading and it is nice to meet all of you.
- JT
I am switching careers from the IT Industry to become an EMT. About five years ago, I was laid off from Lucent Technologies and decided to take some time off and travel the world a bit while I did some much needed soul searching. In between traveling, I worked for myself as a consultant. I've decided to become an EMT for a few reasons; I can't see myself going back to a cubical world and I want to give back to the community. I'm also the type of person who needs to be constantly challenged.
I pretty much only have two local schools in my immediate area to choose from. My choices appear to be NH CPR and New England EMS Institute (NEEMSI). Both have their next classes starting at the same time in the beginning of January. I am leaning towards NEEMSI for several reasons; they are plastered all over the State of NH's EMS website, they have been around longer, and they have an internship program as part of your training. NEEMSI is also approved by BOTH New Hampshire and Massachusetts. In the meantime, I will be taking my BLS class through my local hospital on November 2nd.
I have not given much thought as to whether I'd like to work for a hospital or private service at this time. Hospitals here appear to use EMT's quite frequently in their emergency rooms. One of the local hospitals I checked last week has openings for 14 EMT positions (mostly EMT-I's but a few EMT-B's as well). However, as an outdoor enthusiast, I'd one day like to have the opportunity to do some wilderness rescue work. I see myself eventually becoming a Paramedic but I am in no rush to do so. I want to move up relatively slowly so I can gain as much real world experience as I can.
However, all of this is dependent upon what type of response I receive back from a letter I wrote yesterday to NREMT Executive Director, Bill Brown. Certification here in New Hampshire is exclusively performed by NREMT and I have something from my past, 12 years ago, that may not be acceptable to NREMT. It is a felony issue but not a substance abuse, DUI, violence, or patient/person abuse matter and not related to health care in any way and no jail time was imposed (served nor suspended) so I will likely be ok. However, NREMT expects full disclosure and I want to make sure there won't be any issues preventing me from obtaining NREMT certification before I invest the money into training. I am familiar with NREMT's Felony Policy but some of it is vague to me. My issue would fall under their "Discretionary Denial" section. I've discussed this issue with the Director of EMS here in NH and she informed me that the state has no statutes regarding this and that the ultimate licensure decisions are made mutually by her and Mr. Brown. She was very nice and understanding of my situation though and was the one who suggested I write to Mr. Brown.
If I get a positive response from Mr. Brown, I will register for class immediately. I am pretty much at the mercy of NREMT right now.
Thanks for reading and it is nice to meet all of you.
- JT