Hello Surf40!
Thank you for your interest. The interview was actually required as part of the application just to get into the school. I guess that serves as an example of how the system in Hawaii works as far as licensing EMTs. The school (and EMS leaders) selects 15-20 candidates for the class, which is 360 hours. The national minimum is 110 hours. This is all completed in one semester. Upon completion of the class and NREMT, you are pretty much guaranteed a job as an EMT Intermediate. To get the job you have to go through this school, which is held at a community college. The less populated islands surrounding Oahu practices a similar structure, only they only conduct the school every 3 to 4 years (I think) rather than every semester. I think it goes without saying that becoming an EMT in Hawaii is very competitive and challenging.
Also keep in mind that on Oahu, we have 30 ambulances in service for 1.2 million people during any given time. 17 ambulances of which are city and county, the remaining 13 are AMR, a private company that serves as primarily transport from hospital to hospital (they also serve as back up)
Once you have a minimum of 300 hours experience working calls (not just cumulative shift time) you can apply for Paramedic school, but there are several more prerequisite classes you must take before applying.
EMT in Hawaii pays around $30,000/year and Paramedic pays around $40,000 per year.
It's like it was meant to be!