WEMT best way to get EMT-B while on leave

[Kthanid]

Hi guys I am a Brit contractor in Afghanistan and want to get an EMT-B cert during a month or so leave in the US.

Was thinking a WEMT course would be a good idea as

A. Can do it all in 1 month
B. Residential aspect(food and lodgings) makes things easy for a foreigner.

The actual wilderness aspect is not that important to me, just a means to an ends(aka NREMTB )

Have a couple of noob questions hoped someone could help with.
1. Are RMI(remote medical international) as good as SOLO, NOLS etc for WEMT training?
2. Does all the wilderness stuff floating around your head by the end of the course tend to interfere with passing the NR exam?
3. Is my reasoning in A and B sound, or have I missed something.

Thanks for any replies
K

 

[usafmedic45]

Any condensed EMS training program for initial training is a bad idea.

 

[bstone]

1 month training is about 2 month less than ideal and about 6 months less than it ought to be.

The consensus here will be that any condensed program is one to avoid.

 

[nemedic]

I agree that the condensed programs aren't a great idea, but if that is your plan, go for the straight EMT-B in a month course.

 

[Mountain Res-Q]

Condensed = Bad

WEMT with no plan to use the Wilderness = Bad

WEMT Course and you want to be a Regular EMT = Really Bad

A full Wilderness EMT course, while also providing the required NREMT curriculum, is gonna focus on providing BLS (plus some) care in the wilderness environment and not on street EMT. A good course is gonna give you the knowledge and skills that you need to get your NREMT and your WEMT, but it will not give you a "leg up" on working in a Street Environment. The mentality with which a wilderness course is taught is 100% differant than a standard EMT course (in the wilderness environment we have to think differently than on an ambulance). Plus, chances are that you will not keep the WEMT current and certified past the first years… so why pay the huge amount that most wilderness EMS courses seek (especially if you are talking lodging and the like as part of the course).

Just MHO…

 

[Kthanid]

Doh the short course bashers arrived first. Just kidding I am one as well. But my situation is this is not initial training for me. I just want the US equivalents of what I already do, which is a reasonable thing to pursue(your NREMT even gives us a fake SS number to test with). Hell it beats spending a month in Thailand wasting money on hookers this leave.

So is there a residential EMT-B course then for a month?

 

[Kthanid]

Condensed = Bad

WEMT with no plan to use the Wilderness = Bad

WEMT Course and you want to be a Regular EMT = Really Bad

I don't think you understand my position.

I don't want or need to be a regular EMT. I am a foreign contractor in a warzone who just wants the EMT-B cert, to have it.

I have a month or so to get it.

And I have enough money and I am lazy so a residential course is what I am after
I fly in, stay a month, meet a few nice people and fly out with the cert.

Is there a residential EMT-B standard course any company runs? if not WEMT

A full Wilderness EMT course, while also providing the required NREMT curriculum, is gonna focus on providing BLS (plus some) care in the wilderness environment and not on street EMT. A good course is gonna give you the knowledge and skills that you need to get your NREMT and your WEMT, but it will not give you a "leg up" on working in a Street Environment.

You obviously know your stuff but once again I don't need a leg up anywhere. Already employed as a NATO contractor. Just would like the US cert.

so why pay the huge amount that most wilderness EMS courses seek (especially if you are talking lodging and the like as part of the course).

Just MHO…

Well because I will sound like a blowhard here but there's not much else I can say except its basically not a huge amount for me. I am after the convenience of a live-in course I can fit into leave.

And as you surmise the Wilderness aspect will expire, and I won't care.

However these are probably not important points anyway guys. More differences in our lifestyles.

Can anyone help with my other questions?

Opinion on RMI, and passing the NR successfully after WEMT courses?

Thanks,
K

 

[usafmedic45]

Hell it beats spending a month in Thailand wasting money on hookers this leave

You spent way too much time in the opium fields my friend. :lol:

passing the NR successfully after WEMT courses

If you have any supratentorial function at all, you should be able to pass the NREMT exam even if you just drink a few beers, snack on some lead paint chips and read the book. Seriously, it's written at a fourth grade reading level.

I am a foreign contractor in a warzone who just wants the EMT-B cert, to have it.

If you have the British equivalent, then you might be able to just test. I would talk to the NREMT. Honestly US EMT training is not going to do a whole lot for someone looking at working in a combat environment. You would get a lot more out of one of the US military combat casualty care programs.

 

[Kthanid]

lol Thanks usafmedic that's good news about the NR I was worried about the lead paint especially as I have been sniffing it to beat my opium addiction

As to quals mine are all expired, been here so long.There is a corporate push now for people to see more on paper. Fact is the standard US NREMT quals look good(real good) to a HR department even when applying to British contractor firms. So I might as well do the US sytem instead-maybe even to EMT-I .Also avoids the tax issue of spending too much time back in the UK.

Really thanks for answering that question, was hoping some operators would weigh in.

Last one is whether anyone thinks RMI is a good group?

Thanks,
K

 

[Mountain Res-Q]

Well, okay then...

If all you are looking for is the piece of paper adding a few more letters to the eye chart that people think must follow your name and a comma... go for it. If your current education/training/experience trumps Americans NREMT-B (and it probably does) and all you need/want is the certifications (as many as possible) you can:

1. Check with NR to see if you need to take a course or can be allowed to test without the class. Dunno how that works with differing certifications from other countries...

2. If you really want the Wilderness Cert, have the deep pockets, and really want to spend a month in American "on leave" in classes... do it. I've made it clear in previous threads that, while I highly regard the training and abilities of wilderness medicine (particularly the mindset you have to have), I think an official Wilderness EMT/FR Certification is a joke. In most places in America the certification holds no power or stature and local EMSA's do not even have the protocols for wilderness medicine. However, you see to have a use for it. Does that need justify the ridiculous cost (in my mind) of the wilderness certification. Not for me... but that is your call...

Currently on my Team I have 3 people that got their Wilderness EMT. 2 of them got it in a full course that provided them their Street EMT and the Wilderness EMT. Both of them soon realized that EMSA’s only recognize the EMT and only provide certifications for EMT-1 (EMT-B), plus they were technically not allowed to use anything they learned in the wilderness portions (past knowledge). They admit that that the knowledge was good to have, but they haven’t and won’t recert the Wilderness when they do their EMT. The other person has been an EMT for 35 years and just got his wilderness cert 5 years ago in an add-on class. He recerts the wilderness for reasons unknown.

As far as RMI goes, I have no first hand knowledge of them. Out here the only wilderness classes I am familiar with are offered by WMI or NOLS. I have heard some mixed things about RMI, but nothing that would sway me to promote them or boo-hoo them. Try a search for past threads on wilderness certs, I believe a few people here have better info on them.

 

[zmedic]

I'm going to disagree with most of the above. I did the condensed WEMT, 1 month with SOLO and loved it. I think you actually learn a lot more doing it day in and day out. Doing scenarios every day really gets your skills wired down, rather than doing an EMT class two nights a week for months at a time. You eat, sleep and breath medicine for a month.

Go for it.

 

[usafmedic45]

I did the condensed WEMT, 1 month with SOLO and loved it.

Loving it and coming away well trained are very different things. I am all for intensive classes and honestly believe the EMT curriculum is light enough on substance to really be able to be covered in a classroom setting in about a month (another reason we desperately need to raise the standards more than a few notches), but don't think this is really a good approach.

 

[Wild_Weasel]

K,

I’m a civilian contractor stationed at Bagram, Afghanistan. I have maintained an NR EMT Certification in the past, long since lapsed, but am currently certified as a Combat Lifesaver. After the umpteenth rocket attack here I decided to get recertified as an NREMT-B. The base education office is offering a 10 week EMT-B course through Central Texas College which I’m currently enrolled in. So far it has been a great review and always fun to be with like minded people. Under the arm of the military EMT-Bs can perform procedures that would make most in civilian EMS cringe, IV therapy, use of non visualized combitubes, thoracic decoration with a 14GA catheter, etc.

Cheers,
W-W

 

[usafmedic45]

Under the arm of the military EMT-Bs can perform procedures that would make most in civilian EMS cringe, IV therapy, use of non visualized combitubes, thoracic decoration with a 14GA catheter, etc.

I would not say most of those would make civilian EMS cringe. Those are all pretty standard. Now a visualized Combitube, that would be something to see. Speaking as someone who served, the things you see would make a lot of people cringe. I still occasionally have nightmares.

 

[Kthanid]

M-resq, thanks. Sounds like what I figured anway. A real qualification/extra fluff deal where the fluff is good training but doesn't mean you can get a job with it.

Weasel, yes we have that college on the southern afghan bases as well, though its for serving NATO mil members or US civilian/DOD card holders. I am none of the above unfortunately.

Speaking of cringing what if I next ask if anyone knows of a condensed EMT-Intermediate course?....h34r:

K