Suggestions on ways to find a sponsor/affiliation in Washington State?

[Amie]

I was just recently NREMT certified at the beginning of the month and I need help on finding a sponsor or affiliation to become licensed with the state. I have applied for every EMT job available at this moment, but should I be doing something else or something more? Also, I have searched The Washington State Department of Health website, but I haven't found any solid information on how to find approved agencies.

Any suggestions on what I should do next, or how to go about finding a place to start gaining some hands-on experience? I am eager to get out there, but I feel like I am at a road block right now. Any information would be greatly appreciate! Thank-You

 

[NomadicMedic]

ambulance companies, volunteer fire departments, search and rescue... That's about it.

it's not impossible, but slightly difficult to get affiliated unless you are actually employed by an ambulance company. The good news is, most are almost always hiring.
Also, be aware it takes anywhere from 4 to 8 weeks to receive your certification once you are actually affiliated.

 

[RefriedEMT]

Depends on where you are in Washington state cuz in clark county AMR has a stranglehold over 911 ambulance jobs and they usually wont hire you w/o some kind of exp even if you ace their Exams and do well in the interview. I have seen a few consistant postings for emts in Olympia for emt basics although I do not know how stingy they are on their reqs. Your best bet is going to be like Demedic said at a volunteer department but depending on the dept will depend how long it takes to get that job cuz it took me 2 months to go through a hiring process with one volunteer department. If your desperate then you can apply at Metrowest but you will have to make the drive from Washington into the hell hole that is Oregon state, its traffic and its many bottlenecks in the freeways down there. To be honest I would make the drive 40mins to Longview before ever taking the route to Metrowest which would take you 45mins form anywhere in Vancouver if the traffic is really good.

 

[Amie]

Thank you for all the feedback.

I am actually from the Tacoma, WA area and I have been searching anywhere from Olympia to Seattle. Currently I am trying to get on with Olympia, but I have to study more for their protocol test, which I hear is a hard one. Then they require two practical evaluations, one is CPR and the other is a patient assessment. If that doesn't work out for one reason or another I will go the volunteer route. I have already passed the written fire fighting test, so if all else fails hopefully getting in somewhere to volunteer won't be too hard. Fingers crossed.

Thanks again for all the useful information, I appreciate it

 

[RefriedEMT]

Thank you for all the feedback.

I am actually from the Tacoma, WA area and I have been searching anywhere from Olympia to Seattle. Currently I am trying to get on with Olympia, but I have to study more for their protocol test, which I hear is a hard one. Then they require two practical evaluations, one is CPR and the other is a patient assessment. If that doesn't work out for one reason or another I will go the volunteer route. I have already passed the written fire fighting test, so if all else fails hopefully getting in somewhere to volunteer won't be too hard. Fingers crossed.

Thanks again for all the useful information, I appreciate it

I passed thurston county medic ones protocol test on the 2nd try, got 79% on first and 96% on 2nd so it is not as hard as people tend to say. The cpr tests are very easy if you review the basics of cpr and get a good rhythm to your cpr to get yourself between 100-110 compressions a minute for 2 minutes. I got a 199/200 near perfect compressions according to their test dummy. You have to get between 100-110 per minute for 2mins and do them at the right depth and placement, if your misplaced then the dummy will know and will count against you. So I would not be worried about passing these tests.

 

[NomadicMedic]

The Thurston county paramedic test is ridiculous though.

 

[triemal04]

The Thurston county paramedic test is ridiculous though.

How so? Is it just asking for the minutia of the protocols, or wanting clear answers for ambiguous scenarios?

 

[RefriedEMT]

Also I forgot to say that there is really TWO CPR tests and one PT assessment test, one of the CPR tests is simply to make sure you can get between 100-110 compressions a minute for two mins and the other is to see if you know what to do in CPR with more than one person to do it. Im pretty sure they still do this with their CPR but if not ask about whether they want you to do constant compressions W/O stopping for anything except the AED because when i was there it was county protocol to only stop during AED use, they dont want you to stop for breaths. The person doing breaths is suppose to watch your hands and give a breath as you begin to take your hands up essentially causing the breath to push them up the rest of the way. I was told they do this cuz it has increased their resuscitation rate in thurston county to i believe 48%? compared to national average of what 15%? You especially want to study their cardiac protocols and respiratory protocols cuz they allow emts to give NTG w/o medical direction and allow them to give as much as they want untill a PTs pain is gone unless they took other vasodilators. So there is no limit to NTG use other than a county protocol to stop use if BP drops below I believe 90 or 100.

 

[Amie]

Also I forgot to say that there is really TWO CPR tests and one PT assessment test, one of the CPR tests is simply to make sure you can get between 100-110 compressions a minute for two mins and the other is to see if you know what to do in CPR with more than one person to do it. Im pretty sure they still do this with their CPR but if not ask about whether they want you to do constant compressions W/O stopping for anything except the AED because when i was there it was county protocol to only stop during AED use, they dont want you to stop for breaths. The person doing breaths is suppose to watch your hands and give a breath as you begin to take your hands up essentially causing the breath to push them up the rest of the way. I was told they do this cuz it has increased their resuscitation rate in thurston county to i believe 48%? compared to national average of what 15%? You especially want to study their cardiac protocols and respiratory protocols cuz they allow emts to give NTG w/o medical direction and allow them to give as much as they want untill a PTs pain is gone unless they took other vasodilators. So there is no limit to NTG use other than a county protocol to stop use if BP drops below I believe 90 or 100.

All of this information is very helpful to me, thank you. I've downloaded the Thurston County Medic One app on my phone and I've been reviewing the material. So far it seems to be pretty straight forward, but I am glad you mentioned the use of NTG because now I won't forget that. I hope to be able to take the test next week. Is the protocol test a scenario based test like the NREMT? Also, if I don't pass the first time, how soon after can I attempt the test again? There doesn't seem to be a lot of information on the test on the medic one site.

 

[NomadicMedic]

How so? Is it just asking for the minutia of the protocols, or wanting clear answers for ambiguous scenarios?

Yes. Hahah. It's bad enough that they offer a "protocol review" for medics taking the test and they tell you upfront that you'll most likely fail. I took the test in 2010 with a group of about 10 other medics. None of us passed. And we all studied and quized each other. None of us were an academic slouch. The highest total score was a 74. It's just a poorly written and validated test and the protocols were very odd.

That was 5 years ago. Don't know if it's changed at all, but it was an infamous test from hell.

 

[RefriedEMT]

All of this information is very helpful to me, thank you. I've downloaded the Thurston County Medic One app on my phone and I've been reviewing the material. So far it seems to be pretty straight forward, but I am glad you mentioned the use of NTG because now I won't forget that. I hope to be able to take the test next week. Is the protocol test a scenario based test like the NREMT? Also, if I don't pass the first time, how soon after can I attempt the test again? There doesn't seem to be a lot of information on the test on the medic one site.

The protocol test from what I remember is mostly scenario based but some of it would also ask like 5 or so short answer questions pertaining to indications and contraindications for albuterol or aspirin or NTG. As for how often you can take it, I believe you can take it once a day but i could be wrong it may be 1ce a week. I am pretty sure though it was 1 try a day.