Soon to be an EMT-B

[Seth Barthe]

Hey, I'm new here on this forum..... My name is, Seth, and I'm a Senior in High School. I graduate in June of 2017, and I was recently accepted to my local Community College (Which is Tarrant County College), for the EMT class during Summer of 2017. I plan on getting my EMT cert., and doing that for a while. I eventually want to do Nursing, but I screwed up in previous years, so colleges would most likely laugh in my face, If I applied to them. My plan is to go to EMT School, move up the levels as an EMT, then bridge over from Paramedic to RN. My end plan is to be a CRNA. Can anyone give me any tips, words of advice, or anything like that? It will be greatly appreciated..... Another question I also have is, is it easy to find a job after course completion, being that I won't have any experience as an EMT? I have work experience but not anything relevant to EMS... Also how hard is the NREMT? I was told by my mom who was an EMT, in the 90's, that the test made her want to pull her hair out.

 

[NomadicMedic]

@Remi This is all you...

 

[Handsome Robb]

I'm not a nurse or CRNA but I heavily considered it. From my research and understanding you will have a very difficult if not impossible time getting into CRNA school if you go through a bridge program.

Most schools will look at past transgressions on a case by case basis depending on what type of charges you have. Usually sexual or violent crimes and many felony crimes are a no-go. Most EMS certifying bodies won't certify you with these types of crimes either. Not to say it's impossible.


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[NysEms2117]

Especially if you plan on working for a City EMS/fire system, any "major crimes" are generally no-go's.

 

[Handsome Robb]

Re-reading your post I kind of jumped to the conclusion you were talking about a criminal record.

If your grades in HS sucked you can go to a community college for the first two years to get your pre-reqs and transfer to a four year university. You could even do an associates in nursing then do an RN-to-BSN bridge and then you can work as an RN while finishing your BSN.

If nursing is your goal work towards that, don't take a roundabout way through EMS. A lot of state nursing boards don't recognize bridge programs and even if they do most hospitals won't hire you for ER or ICU spots with a degree from a bridge program and no CRNA school will even look at you without at bare minimum 1 year of decent acuity ICU experience.


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[Carlos Danger]

Hi Seth, welcome to EMTLife.

The reason DEmedic tagged me is because I took a path very similar to what you have outlined, although in my case, it wasn't planned at all, it's just the direction my career ended up taking.

First thing I would say about your career planning is, just because you "screwed up" in previous years doesn't mean you can't start working towards your goals. Even if you can't get accepted into a nursing program right away (which many people can't - two year nursing programs, surprisingly, tend to be quite competitive) that doesn't mean you can't start working towards that goal right away when you graduate high school.

If I were in your shoes, knowing what I know now, and I really wanted to work in both nursing and EMS, here is what I would do:

• Take the EMT course the summer you graduate, like you already plan to. Then find a job as an EMT that you can do while going to school.

• Get accepted into a community college general studies or liberal arts program, starting the fall after you graduate high school. Sign up for the basic gen ed courses, with a focus on biology and chemistry (just look at what 4-year nursing programs require; the counselors should be able to help you with this).

• After a year or two at the community college getting decent grades, transfer to a 4-year nursing program. You'll already have 25%, maybe almost 50% of it done.

• Once you have graduated nursing school and are working as an RN, find a way to bridge from RN to paramedic. Most states have some way to do that, and it is generally much easier to do that than the other way around.

As far as CRNA school, that is a whole other ball of wax. Frankly I'd put any thought of grad school to the side right now and focus implementing the first few steps of your plan. Make a plan and work hard at it, but enjoy life and every role your find yourself in along the way. And stay open to other opportunities that you'll learn about, too. There's lots to do out there besides CRNA.

 

[Nick Holstein]

To answer your question about the NREMT, I did not find it too difficult. You just have to be confident in your knowledge. It is an adaptive test, so you WILL come out of that testing center feeling like you failed. This how myself and everyone in my EMT class felt. However, 90% of us passed first try. I went to an amazing EMT school and I feel like they really prepared me for the NREMT. Another word of advice, schedule your NREMT ASAP. The longer you wait, the harder it is to pass. After I passed that national, I applied for my state card, took my ADC test, and now I have an interview on the 4th with Care! Good luck to you and just remember to stay focused!!

 

[MateoMateo]

Like Nick said, try to take the NREMT right after your class, I did that and passed, if you take time to take it youll start forgetting small things or will start questioning yourself during the test, just study and know the terms and why of things and youll do all right, and dont stress too much!

 

[hometownmedic5]

With the exception of getting hired by a civil service fire department in Ma(and possibly other places), medic is a crappy path to anywhere but medic. IMNSHO, if you want to be a nurse, go to nursing school, not medic school. You wouldn't go to pipe fitting school if you wanted to be an electrician, right?

I can't speak for all areas, but in mine the community college based RN programs will take anybody who can read and pay if they have at least a GED. You might have to wait on a list or take some college prep classes if you took non college prep type classes in high school, but I have trouble imagining a community college that wont take your money. Don't assume, apply. It's really easy to talk yourself out of doing something that will be hard by presupposing you won't succeed at it. Not to get too deep, but you can end up at the end of your life never having accomplished anything not because you tried and failed, but because you never tried at all....

As to the employment questions, this is another regional question. Generally, since EMT is an entry level job, you don't need experience to get hired. Your first job will most likely be IFT medical transport work, not 911, but it pays and gets you moving up the ladder.