Jump to content

Tips on becoming an EMT


Recommended Posts

The kid is graduating in a few months and is taking a gap year before med school.  He says it's a common move to be an EMT in the gap year.  He says there's a 6-month online course for $1500 that he wants to start now so he'll have more time to work.

Does this sound like a good plan?  I'm a little skeptical given the short time to work (assuming he can't be hired until he has the cert).  Is this EMT cert method the normal route?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A google search tells me there is a 14-day (straight, no weekends off) to earn an EMT certificate in Corpus: https://www.texasemsacademy.com/emt.php I have no idea what you can and can't do with this certificate. 

Can you really get a solid EMT job with this low level of training? And does EMT mean really dealing with emergencies or just transporting old people to the ER when they fall?

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A number of points in no particular order:

  • Not all people are disciplined enough (or wired right) to do a longer online class. You know you kid and if he could follow through. 
  • That seems a little high cost wise and is a quite a bit long; but maybe that's the trade off for an online class.
  • I had a son do EMT training and for him, having a live instructor to ask for clarifications and explanation as well as having answers to deeper questions was invaluable. 
  • Whatever ever class he takes, he would still have to pass a (national? state?) certification test.  Make sure he understands that you expect him to take that...that's basically like a final grade to show he actually learned something.  
  • The in person classes also have you do ride-along with ambulances. With the ride along, they usually have a requirement of 'at least X transports to a hospital'. So you don't know exactly how many rides that might take, but you start to see some things.   

 

Here's one highly rated one that's $1100, but there are a lot of good ones:

https://www.schertz.com/421/EMT-Training-Academy

Quote

The Academy is a 16-week course that consists of 176 hours of classroom lectures and skills training.  Classroom training is complemented with an internship including 40 hours of practical experience aboard our ambulances and 24 hours of clinical experience with the Emergency Department at Northeast Methodist Hospital.

Note - of that 16 weeks, probably 4 weeks is set aside for scheduling and doing the ride alongs. the class instruction itself is probably about 3 months of 3 days a week classes. 

I'm not sure who all needs the EMT Cert, but I know All firefighters have to have it in Texas. 

Edited by 0xdeadbeef
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some interesting Google results.  Acadiana in Austin will hire you while you take their course.  You need to commit to two years with them, though.

That 14-day one seems legit but scary.  14 days later - alright, let's catch some calls!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a friend who was an EMT. He quit to become a set medic here in Austin on film and TV productions. He's banking. Owns two homes in Austin and one in Asheville, NC.

All for passing out band-aids and Advil.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...