What do you think is the minimum appropriate age to enter EMS?

[Lifeguards For Life]

What do you feel is the minimum age that it is appropriate for one to enter EMS? What age is too young? What qualities do you feel a person at this age posses that make them suitable for EMS?

As a 19 year old medic I often wish I had gone to college before paramedic school.

 

[TransportJockey]

I'd go with 18. I started EMT school right before I turned 20. Although at 18 you still have trouble finding jobs a lot of the time.

 

[medic417]

53 years old

 

[firecoins]

53 years old

I was going to say 80.

 

[MrBrown]

We find those who are abit older or done something else first make better ambos as they can interact with and manage people better/

I say 21.

 

[Pittsburgh77]

Personally, I think you should be a minimum of 18 to become an EMT, and 21 to become a paramedic.

I became an EMT at 17, and now I'm graduating paramedic school [Tuesday] right before I turn 21[January 14th]

 

[Lifeguards For Life]

Personally, I think you should be a minimum of 18 to become an EMT, and 21 to become a paramedic.

I became an EMT at 17, and now I'm graduating paramedic school [Tuesday] right before I turn 21[January 14th]

this brings up an interesting point. I should of specified Paramedic or EMT in the OP.

congrats on graduating paramedic school.

 

[CAO]

For unsupervised patient care, I voted for 21.

It's for two major reasons.

1) It gives the individual more of a chance to learn how to cope with people and the circumstances that life can and will throw at somebody.

2) It gives the individual more time to further their education.

I'm sorry, but if I'm bleeding in a ditch somewhere, I don't want to see some kid come up giggling about priapism. I'll be even less happy if I find how later he doesn't know the difference between his ileum and ilium.

 

[LucidResq]

As someone who teaches "advanced first responder" courses to teens in high school, I am glad to teach them the material prior to age 18. However, I wouldn't like to see any of them on an ambulance or providing any routine patient care til 18+.

 

[Shishkabob]

16.


If they are old enough to kill driving, they are old enough to kill giving Oxygen.





Why are we putting an age on it? Age =/= maturity. I know plenty of people in their 30's who I wouldn't trust with my life, and plenty of people in the teens / early 20's who I would.


I'm 22, got my medic at 21, and my EMT at 20. Anyone here want to argue I was too immature to do my job effectively because of my age?

 

[Seaglass]

I'm gonna go with 16 for EMT. Better to figure out what EMS actually is before you start planning your life around it. Meanwhile, the stuff they teach you about handling emergencies is just plain handy. I think young EMTs should be closely supervised until they're legal adults at 18, though, and no carrying gear off duty. For medic, I'll go with 21.

 

[Lifeguards For Life]

16.


Why are we putting an age on it? Age =/= maturity. I know plenty of people in their 30's who I wouldn't trust with my life, and plenty of people in the teens / early 20's who I would.


I'm 22, got my medic at 21, and my EMT at 20. Anyone here want to argue I was too immature to do my job effectively because of my age?

I thought about addressing age and maturity in the OP but decided against it. I don't know how to phrase it but i feel there is more than just maturity, a certain stigma about age. Maturity set aside, I think all of us would be a little irked if our partner for the day was 14.

I agree age does not equal maturity, but at a certain age is one more mentally capable of coping with some of the situations they may potentially encounter?

 

[Shishkabob]

If you go by science, that age would be 25, considering it shows that the "Oh crap maybe I shouldn't do that" part of the brain isn't fully developed until that age.


Which kind of kicks many of the medics on this website out right now, since many of us are under 25.

 

[bstone]

What do you feel is the minimum age that it is appropriate for one to enter EMS? What age is too young? What qualities do you feel a person at this age posses that make them suitable for EMS?

As a 19 year old medic I often wish I had gone to college before paramedic school.

You still got plenty of time to go to college!

 

[Aidey]

I have a hard time making a decision on this topic because I was young when I started. I began my EMT class at 17 and got my cert when I was 18, and I got my Medic at 20.

After working where I have for the last couple of years, I lean towards an 18/21 age minimum for EMT/Medic. However, I think that no matter what the age is all EMT classes and Paramedic schools should conduct interviews before admitting anyone along with the other checks they do.

Edit: I should also mention I went to college at 17, so I was a bit ahead of the curve anyway.

 

[adamjh3]

16.


If they are old enough to kill driving, they are old enough to kill giving Oxygen.





Why are we putting an age on it? Age =/= maturity. I know plenty of people in their 30's who I wouldn't trust with my life, and plenty of people in the teens / early 20's who I would.


I'm 22, got my medic at 21, and my EMT at 20. Anyone here want to argue I was too immature to do my job effectively because of my age?

I agree with this completely. I'm only 19, I had an EMT job at 18. I have a lot to learn about medicine and even life in general, but that doesn't mean I can't handle things in a mature manner.

I'm not blowing my own horn, just describing myself, but I've always felt a little bit separated from my age group. Most of my friends are a good 2-5 years older than me. Doesn't seem like much, but when your buddy's buying his first beer when you're taking your driver license test, it seems like quite a bit.

On top of that, I graduated in my junior year so I suppose I just never wanted to deal with the high school shenanigans. h34r:

Do I have my moments where I "act my age?" Of course. But not on duty. I take my job very seriously. When it's go time, I get going.

It is kind of frustrating that I can be responsible for the health and safety of my partner and the complete stranger on my gurney, but can't enjoy a beer with my burger at the Sunday BBQ.

However, I think 18 is a good age for someone to be providing routine patient care. At that age, one is legally responsible for the actions they take, and should bear that with due gravity. If they're not mature enough for the job, chances are they won't last long before they're booted out of the field. Though I suppose that's not always true. One can hope, right?

 

[CAOX3]

For unsupervised patient care, I voted for 21.

It's for two major reasons.

1) It gives the individual more of a chance to learn how to cope with people and the circumstances that life can and will throw at somebody.

2) It gives the individual more time to further their education.

I'm sorry, but if I'm bleeding in a ditch somewhere, I don't want to see some kid come up giggling about priapism. I'll be even less happy if I find how later he doesn't know the difference between his ileum and ilium.

If your bleeding in a ditch with a head injury and associated priapism Im not sure you will be seeing much but I agree 21 is a good age.

 

[CAO]

Haha, probably not, but I'll try my best.

 

[CAOX3]

I agree with this completely. I'm only 19, I had an EMT job at 18. I have a lot to learn about medicine and even life in general, but that doesn't mean I can't handle things in a mature manner.

I'm not blowing my own horn, just describing myself, but I've always felt a little bit separated from my age group. Most of my friends are a good 2-5 years older than me. Doesn't seem like much, but when your buddy's buying his first beer when you're taking your driver license test, it seems like quite a bit.

On top of that, I graduated in my junior year so I suppose I just never wanted to deal with the high school shenanigans. h34r:

Do I have my moments where I "act my age?" Of course. But not on duty. I take my job very seriously. When it's go time, I get going.

It is kind of frustrating that I can be responsible for the health and safety of my partner and the complete stranger on my gurney, but can't enjoy a beer with my burger at the Sunday BBQ.

However, I think 18 is a good age for someone to be providing routine patient care. At that age, one is legally responsible for the actions they take, and should bear that with due gravity. If they're not mature enough for the job, chances are they won't last long before they're booted out of the field. Though I suppose that's not always true. One can hope, right?

Im sure your quite able, but we dont institue rules based on the exceptions

 

[18G]

I think 16 is old enough to be an EMT and is a great thing for teenagers to accomplish. It's a great stepping stone to possibly set them on a path to Paramedic, Nursing school, or some other healthcare field.

Maybe I'm biased because I became an EMT at 16 but honestly I think 16 is an okay age. It's not like a minor will be allowed to provide primary care without senior supervision anyway.

For Paramedic... 18.