Are you interested in pursuing a career in a robust and recession-proof field? You may want to consider working to become an EMT or paramedic. It can be very satisfying to work as an EMS personnel. If you enjoy making a positive difference in the lives of others, enjoy tackling new challenges, look forward to working in a group setting and are physically fit, then you can really succeed as an EMS personnel. The fact that the aging baby boom generation will require tremendous medical attention over the coming years bodes well for the job security and job prospects for EMT personnel. One of the major elements of importance to aspiring EMTs and paramedics is the educational requirements of becoming a part of the EMS personnel. It is important to take a close look at what is required to enroll for a certified EMT training course.

A college degree is not required to work in EMS but a high school diploma or GED is necessary before beginning EMT training. It is absolutely important that you have solid reading, math and study skills in order to succeed as an EMT or paramedic. If you are currently a high school student or know someone in high school who is interested in pursuing a career as an EMS personnel, it is important to know that biology, chemistry, math, computer and technology courses should be focused on. After completing high school you can complete an EMT program, which typically lasts several months, at community colleges throughout the country. Upon completion of the EMT training program, you will be eligible to take a standardized State exam in order to earn licensure. Testing for State licensure does not require a college degree. You may want to consider pursuing a longer paramedic program, which will increase your earning potential. Testing for paramedic licensure also does not require a college degree.

Working as an EMT or paramedic can be an incredibly satisfying experience since you would be directly helping others in a variety of ways. As the baby boom generation continues to age and require extensive medical attention, the demand and job prospects for EMTs and paramedics will remain high. A college degree is not necessary to take required standardized state licensure exams to become an EMT or paramedic. It is necessary to earn a high school diploma or GED and complete post-high school training program in order to be eligible to take the licensure exams.

Are you interested in pursuing a career as an emergency medical technician (EMT)? An EMT is a vital part of emergency services, as lives depend on the rapid reaction and care provided by EMTs and paramedics. On your journey to becoming an EMT, you will have to successfully complete both classroom curriculum and clinical rotations during EMT training. If you are truly committed to pursuing a career as an EMT, it is important for you to understand what to expect during clinical rotations.

There are generally two types of clinical rotations that a student must complete, including the ambulance clinical rotation and Emergency Department clinical rotation. Ambulance clinical rotation provides the EMT student hands-on experience working as part of an ambulance crew. Under strict supervision, you will be able to apply your classroom education to real-life settings and scenarios. You will gain a greater understanding and appreciation for all the elements of working on an ambulance crew, including checking the ambulance during the beginning of your shift, providing patient care and handing the patient to the Emergency Department staff. The Emergency Department clinical rotation gives the EMT student the opportunity to witness how the ED operates and how a patient is assisted once the ambulance crew turns the patient over to the ED. As is the case with ambulance clinical rotations, ED clinical rotations will be done under strict supervision and will allow EMT students to apply classroom education to practical situations. Once clinical rotations are completed, your supervisor should complete a student evaluation form.

There are some important general rules that any EMT student should follow during clinical rotations. It is important that the EMT student is dressed properly and focused for the tasks to come. The EMT student should have identification ready to show at all times. It is also vital that the EMT student strictly follows all rules and regulations and has appropriate paperwork filled out after completion of rotations.

If you really want to pursue a career as an EMT, you must be prepared for both classroom learning and hands-on clinical rotations. The two types of clinical rotations that EMT students must typically complete include ambulance clinical rotations and Emergency Department clinical rotations. It is absolutely essential that you dress appropriately, have identification ready to present, follow all rules and regulations and have appropriate paperwork filled out at the end of your clinical rotation.

If you are interested in beginning the journey to becoming an emergency medical technician (EMT), you will be required to complete extensive coursework that will prepare you for the unique challenges you will encounter on the job. Do you lead an incredibly busy life? Do you have a family to support? Under these circumstances, you may be best served to complete online EMT training. This is a very convenient way to pursue a career as an EMT. In this article, we will briefly take a detailed look at benefits associated with enrolling in online training courses.

The biggest advantage of enrolling in online training programs is that it provides you with a greater degree of flexibility in comparison to attending traditional classroom courses. You have greater discretion in terms of creating your own study schedule. You can also study at your own pace as opposed to having to follow a classroom pace. If you are a fast learner, this can be very beneficial. Another significant benefit of enrolling in online EMT courses is that it cuts out lengthy travel time. If you are already working a job or completing an internship, this can be very beneficial to you. You can complete some coursework before your job or after depending on your preference. Additionally, online EMT courses tend to be cheaper than traditional classrooms, but you still obtain all the same benefits. It is commonly argued that only traditional classrooms offer real interaction among students and with instructors. However, online courses have come a long way in terms of the level of interaction provided. You can communicate with the entire class through your computer microphone and participate in message boards and live chats. If you enjoy a fast pace learning environment, online EMT courses can provide this. Answers are given immediately in real time and exams are scored faster.

If you are interested in pursuing a career as an EMT, you may want to look into enrolling in online courses. What do you gain from online EMT courses? You get greater flexibility, the opportunity to work at your own pace, the ability to save money while learning the same material as traditional classroom courses and a strong interactive experience.

Have you made the decision to pursue a career as an emergency medical technician (EMT)? The process involved in becoming an EMT is challenging and the work you will do as an EMT is even more grueling. However, working as an EMT is incredibly satisfying and rewarding. You will be called on to save and sustain lives. Before you have the opportunity to get the call, you must really prove yourself by successfully completing rigorous coursework. In order to be successful in EMT training, you should follow some important tips. Let’s take a close look at how you can thrive in training.

Many EMT students start school after having had a long hiatus in terms of academic exposure. It may be several months or years since you have been in the classroom to learn. It is absolutely critical that you are ready to being a student again. This means that you will have to meet strict deadlines, arrive to class on time and study regularly. You cannot afford to start slow and sluggishly and risk being behind in your coursework. It is also an excellent idea for you to do some independent research before starting class. With so many resources available on the Internet, read up on the material you will likely be exposed to in the classroom. This will allow you to feel very comfortable with the topics when your instructor introduces them to you. It is important that you familiarize yourself with the course schedule, requirements and expectations. Finally, it is important that you stay engaged in the course. You can do this by striving to maintain perfect attendance, taking good notes and asking your instructor questions. All your hard work and engagement will ultimately pay off.

If you have decided to pursue a career as an EMT, you will be required to complete rigorous coursework. In order to succeed in school, it is important that you are mentally prepared for the time and work commitment. If you have not been in school for some time, it is important that you are ready to dive back in. You must also be familiar with the expectations of the course and maintain a high level of enthusiasm throughout.

As we’ve discussed in numerous articles here at the EMT Training and Career Center, taking the time to lay out your career goals is a very important step in preparing for a profession as an EMT. You should think about how far you want to go with your training, what type of job you want, and how far you would like to advance in your career. If you’re a goal-oriented person and like to set your sights higher than the rest of the field, you might even want to consider taking it to the top: becoming a paramedic.

Life as a Paramedic

While the practicing EMT (either an EMT-Basic or an EMT-Intermediate) has serious job responsibilities, the outcome of a patient’s treatment ultimately very often lands on the shoulders of the paramedics on the scene of an emergency or trauma. Having a desire to stay current on the absolute best practices in emergency medicine, pharmacology, and advanced life-saving and cardiac stimulation techniques is a must for the paramedic.

You also need the ability to perform well under pressure and to be able to make critical decisions in dynamic environments. The problem-solving abilities possessed by paramedics are second to none, as being able to make an assessment and deliver treatment rapidly and effectively are key skills for the paramedic.

Paramedic Training

While EMT-B and EMT-I training will prepare candidates with many important skills for work in the field, such as airway management, patient assessment, spinal immobilization, and basic pharmacology, paramedic training takes all of this to a whole new level.

Paramedic school will prepare the EMT with advanced skills to administering medications used to treat overdoses and anaphylactic shock. It will give an EMT new skills in reading EKGs and providing appropriate electrical cardiac stimulation techniques that can save the life of a patient. It will also teach advanced topics in the ethical and legal responsibilities associated with providing emergency medical care and the documentation required to ensure that the best care possible was offered.

Again, if you’re serious about starting a career as an EMT, and want to take your training to the highest level, start doing your research on paramedic training and careers. It may just open up a whole new set of career opportunities that can lead to a fulfilling, challenging, and rewarding profession.

Welcome to the EMT Training and Career Center Fact of the Week video series. This week, we discuss the three general levels of EMT training as well as the topics that are covered in each level of training.

Attending an EMT training course will prepare you with the skills required for life in the field. You will learn the necessary emergency medical procedures and techniques to make you an effective responder when emergencies happen. However, at the culmination of your training, you will have one last hurdle to overcome before you are able to receive the certification you will need to be licensed to practice as an EMT in any state in the country: the certification exam.

As you may be aware, many states now use the standard EMT-Basic certification exam offered by the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians, or NREMT. Some states allow the candidate to take either a state exam or the NREMT exam, and a small handful of states require candidates to sit for state-approved exams only, although this number seems to be diminishing.

With the NREMT exam quickly becoming the national standard for EMT certification, this makes preparing for the test much easier for EMT candidates. With many states moving toward this standardized exam, you may now begin to prepare for the test itself well-ahead of actually taking it. One of the best methods to prepare you for success on the NREMT is through the use of practice exams.

There are many practice exam modules available online to choose from which will allow you to walk through actual practice questions from the test right from your computer. One of our favorites is the EMT-Basic exam preparation system offered by our friends at EMT National Training. Their practice module has some very useful features which we haven’t found in other exam preparation software, most notably very detailed progress tracking and simple practice exam setup.

In addition to helping you successfully prepare for certification at the conclusion of your training, practice tests can be an excellent way for individuals get a sense of what topics will be introduced during training that should be focal points for exam study later on. We would recommend beginning to use an NREMT practice exam system at the beginning of your training course as it will allow you to see how the topics covered in your training will be introduced and presented in the exam itself.

With proper preparation, you can successfully pass the exam at the conclusion of your EMT training.

If you are seriously considering undergoing EMT training and beginning a career in emergency medical services, then it’s very likely that you’re curious about the outlook for EMT jobs and employment prospects for the upcoming years. In this article, we’ll take a brief look at what the future trends will look like for jobs and employment numbers.

Overall Growth in Jobs

According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average growth in EMT jobs is expected to be around 9% through the year 2018. Currently, this is about the same as average job growth in most other sectors of the economy, but there are a few factors that may lead to additional growth in jobs which are not reflected in the current data.

Elderly Population Increase

One of the largest factors that could lead to a significant amount of growth in jobs is the aging of the “baby boomer” population. As you’re likely aware, this large segment of the population is beginning to reach post-retirement age and in the coming years, emergency calls are very likely to increase as this population requires emergency medical care. We also expect to see the same types of increase demand for employees throughout most segments of the health care industry.

Hospital and Emergency Facility Overcrowding

As the costs of health care and treatment increase, medical facilities such as hospitals are beginning to make an effort to treat more and more patients within a centralized facility and budget cuts have often led to closures of satellite facilities within certain hospital and emergency care provider systems. Due to this trend, many facilities have started getting to the point that they reach maximum capacities and are beginning to divert emergency service providers to alternate facilities as they are en route to a patient care facility. This leads to EMTs spending an increased amount of time on each call and as such, has started to increased the number of jobs and responders required to staff a given shift.

Retirement Factors

As with most career paths within the health care industry, a significant number of employees are reaching retirement age currently or over the next 5 to 10 years. Due to this trend, a large number of jobs may be left vacant as older employees depart either for retirement or to obtain positions in other areas of the health care industry based on their years of practical experience.

Lower Number of Volunteers

Due to the recent recession, we have seen a lower number of unpaid volunteers in positions within the emergency response fields. As employees are laid off or experience the elimination of paid jobs, they generally will either cut back or completely eliminate the amount of time that they spend in a volunteer position. These positions, such as volunteer firefighter and jobs, will have to be replaced with full-time paid employees.

All of these factors lead to a very positive outlook for EMT jobs and employment opportunities over the next decade. If you’re considering enrolling for EMT training to get started in this career, the time has never been better.

If you’re interested in becoming an EMT and making the investment in the time required to successfully complete your EMT training, then it’s understandable that you might want to know know what you can expect in terms of the EMT salary. In this article, we’ll briefly explore a few trends and statistics with respect to the EMT salary and how the various levels of training can influence pay figures.

EMT-B Certification

Obviously, the entry-level training associated with the EMT-Basic certification will merit a lower salary than those jobs associated with higher levels of training. According to Payscale.com, the wage range for individuals holding EMT-Basic certification is $8.47 to $15.05 per hour. This translates into an annual EMT salary range of between $18,701 and $37,375. These numbers do factor in an average amount of overtime pay across the national data points that were taken.

EMT-I Certification

As we progress up the training scale to the certification level of EMT-Intermediate, the numbers to tend to show some positive progression. For individuals who have completed intermediate level training as an emergency medical technician, the hourly range grows to $9.73 to $19.46 per hour and an annual salary range of between $21,297 and $52,394.

Paramedic Certification

As you would expect, individuals who hold Paramedic certification are the highest paid responders in the emergency medical services field. The median hourly wage for a certified Paramedic is currently $23.77 per hour, although some positions do pay upwards of this number for those who have a strong history of practical field experience. This can lead to annual salary numbers well over the $50,000 per year mark and some Paramedics have reported annual salary data of close the the $80,000 mark. If you are hoping to maximize your salary as an emergency medical services professional, you should give serious though to working toward Paramedic certification. However, be advised that this is no easy task. Paramedic training is incredibly intensive and will require a candidate to hold advanced training and certification as well as a great deal of hands-on experience.

Where Is the EMT Salary the Highest?

The salary can vary greatly by geographical location and the highest salary numbers tend to come from major U.S. metropolitan areas. Currently, the highest salary figures can be found in New York and California, although other states high on the list include Texas, Illinois, and North Carolina.

In summary, the alary is never going to be high enough to reward emergency medical professionals for their service to their communities. If you are interested in undertaking training and beginning a career as an emergency medical technician, then you will be making sacrifices for the safety and well-being of the citizens in your area. The rewards of this exciting career can often outweigh the long hours and the meager pay.

After successfully completing your EMT training to become an emergency medical technician, you will need to sit for a certification exam. This exam is the final step in your EMT training to ensure your readiness to complete the duties required as an EMT. Since this exam is a critical step in the process of training, it is helpful to review some fundamental preparation techniques to help you achieve the best score possible for your test.

The EMT certification exam is a tool to evaluate your ability to process and retain the knowledge which you have gained through the course of your training. As such, you should try to progressively increase the amount of time that you study for the test as you progress through the training modules. Due to the fact that courses tend to very often be condensed into short time frames, it is best to begin getting into the habit of dedicating a few hours per week to studying very early on in your training program. There is no benefit to waiting until the end of the course to study as you will only increase the amount of stress and it’s much easier to comprehend and retain the material as it is presented.

Study When You Are Most Awake and Alert

You’ve probably heard this rule before during your school years, however, it holds true for your EMT certification exam as well. When you are awake and alert, your mind processes and retains information at a much higher rate. This will vary for each individual, but find the time of day that works for you and stick with it.

Find the Best Location to Study

Another key to knowledge retention when you are preparing for your training exam is finding the right location to study. Research has proven that the best environments for mental function for the majority of individuals will be both quiet and cool. Find a place that won’t include distractions or noise (perhaps a local library) and that also won’t be so hot that it induces fatigue or sleepiness.

Eat a Proper Diet

Although many of us like to load up on caffeine when we study, too much caffeine can cause a lack of focus. Additionally, avoid eating snacks which are high in sugar as they will leave you fatigued and less likely to be able to focus for long periods. Don’t study when you’re hungry and eat healthful foods such as fruits and vegetables and you’ll be much more likely to stay focused for a long period of time.

Break Up Your Study Schedule

In addition to making sure that you aren’t cramming when you study for your training exam, don’t try to study for hours upon end with no breaks. Research has indicated that the ideal block of time for knowledge retention is 45 minutes at a time. During your studies, try to prepare for 45 minutes at a time then take a break and perhaps go for a short walk or move around a bit.

By making an effort to properly and effectively study for your certification exam, you will ensure that you complete this last step in your EMT training successfully.