Questions about becoming an EMT

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tallone

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Hi all,

I was thinking about taking an EMT Basic Course for a possible career change. Could someone walk me through the requirements? I am aware that in my state (Mass) there are courses offered everywhere to prepare you for the state exam. After the class and successful completion of the exam, could I begin applying at private/municpal ambulance companies? What other educational requirements is there?

Also, what are the physical requirements? What does the pre-employment physical involve? Thanks
 
The prerequisites will vary depending on the school. Some will require that you have CPR prior to class, some will train you during class but that's usually the only prereq for EMT-B. After you take the course you take your national registry exam and state exam then you get a fancy little card in the mail that says you're a certified EMT-B. Take that, your CPR card and 2 forms of ID to whichever ambulance service you choose and fill out an application.

Physical requirements, work long long days with no sleep and no food and lift patients big and small into and out of an ambulance all day. Pre-employment physical will depend on the company but usually they're just like any other physical you get to make you're you won't die while driving down the interstate.
 
wow, thanks for the quick reply.
 
tallone said:
Hi all,

I was thinking about taking an EMT Basic Course for a possible career change. Could someone walk me through the requirements? I am aware that in my state (Mass) there are courses offered everywhere to prepare you for the state exam. After the class and successful completion of the exam, could I begin applying at private/municpal ambulance companies? What other educational requirements is there?

Also, what are the physical requirements? What does the pre-employment physical involve? Thanks
Click to expand...

There are many courses offered in MA-- they tend to start on the same cycle (courses began last week), but differ in environment, length, level of intensity, etc. Knowing where in MA you live and your schedule makes it easier to find a course. For a list of all companies that offer the course, check
http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=eohhs2t...ices_p_emt_training_institutions&csid=Eeohhs2

In many ways, MA EMS, specifically in Boston is different than anywhere else in the country. We have several large, prestigious academic medical centers and many tertiary medical facilities supported by rehabs, nursing homes, dialysis clinics, etc. The market for private (non-emergency) ambulance service is large-- so there are several companies to look at when looking for a job. A contribution to this is a fairly large pool of EMTs looking for job at these companies, so they have been know to hire and fire on a whim. The hiring process has been simplified by some to include 2 pre-requisites (a pulse and a ticket). Jobs are not hard to come by.

Basicly, all the training you need to start is MA EMT-B and CPR. There are rarely pre-employment physicals, and rarely physical requirements.

See below for more information, as well as search this forum for "Boston" "MA", "Mass", etc, as there is much information already posted about MA EMS.
http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=eohhs2t...services_p_training_course_basic&csid=Eeohhs2


Good luck with your endeavors, and I am happy to answer any other questions.
 
Unadvertised Requirements:

-Strong stomach
-High BS tolerance
-Ability to work many hours without sleep or food
-Ability to let nursing home staff believe they know more than you
-Being able to simultanously report to dispatch and dodge flying patient fists
-Knowledge of proper window smashing techniques
-Proper usage of "Blue Canaries" (PD)
-Proper "Paramedic butt-saving" protocols

Our job rocks ^_^

Good luck and have fun B)
 
Words of advice being from the area.

DON'T take the Starfire EMS course, it was offered in Lowell but I believe is now offered at Haverill community college. She is a horrible program director, reads from an old text and teaches next to nothing regarding A&P and protocols.

Northeastern has a basic and medic program; their basic program is worth the extra $300 (compared to community college). However their medic program isn't close to its over-priced $12K --- they sell it like candy and convince lots and lots of EMT's to go straight to medic school... no experience required. My company has two cocky EMT's from North Eastern who will go off to NYC for their ride time in a week... and they barely know what to bring to a minor car accident. Their medic program may have once been prestigous enough to have double the tuition... but that's been over and gone for 2+ years now. Sorry for the rant.
 
Another question- with private companies, do they tend to prefer to hire full time staff over part time staff?
 
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