I just finished an EMT-B course last month. Out of a class of 30 students there were 5 of us not directly afiliated with a fire dept. 2 of them were volunteers from a SAR group with conections to an EMS/Fire agency, myself and one other from my SAR team and one non-affiliated.
With some of the FFers there was a clearly I'm doing this because I have to attitude. I admit I was supprised by thier attitude and a bit put off by it. It also makes me not so sure I would want a FF in general working on me or a family member. One thing for sure there are certain fellow students I would not allow to touch me or a family member based on what I saw in class.
Less than a third of the class placed above 90%. Because I was there because I wanted to be I did very well. I had a final written score of 95%, a class overall of 95% and passed all of my state practical exams. I'm also proud to say that my teammate was also in the top of the class. I think becasue we wanted to be there and payed our own way that we were more highly motivated to do well.
In fact I had so much fun in class and enjoyed it so much I decided to enroll in the local community college and start working on my pre-regs so I can get into the Nursing Program. My end goal is a BSN and eventually becoming a flight nurse.