dreaminrabbit88

Point taken. Thanks for the heads up, but I know what I'm getting into. No, I don't know everything, but everything that's been mentioned about the down sides, I've had drilled into me by EMS/FF in my area in person. Thanks for all the tips, though, as a lot of them have been helpful.

I'm not counting on anything. The fire department is just a possibility that I'm hoping for. The whole, lack of money thing is just going to slow me down, not stop me.

Dustdevil: First of all, thank you for your opinion, as that is what I did ask for. That being said, if you're comments were meant to try to scare me out of getting into this career or hit me over the head with a dose of reality, I'm sorry to say you've failed. The issue of a lack of money is only temporary, and the issue of lack of time that you seem to have thought that I mentioned does not exist. I wouldn't call the lack of money a huge problem either, just a minor set back. At the moment, I am working together with my local fire department to possibly be able to enter into their cadet program, in which, not only would they send me to the fire academy, but also provide EMT-B training, along with continuing education so that I can eventually become a paramedic, all at the fire department's expense. All I do is come to work for them after the completion of the academy, which is part of what I want in the first place. As far as my knowledge of potential job outlooks, competition, availablity, ect., I have already researched and gained information pertaining to these areas. The bit about having a low-paying non-EMS job is where I am right now, so I'm not concerned about that, because, while I'm not exactly thrilled about it, it isn't horrible and it works for the time being. If you think that this is a whim, you are sadly mistaken. The process of deciding to enter into a career of EMS/Firefighting has been going on for the better part of the last two years. I've had time to back out, to weigh the bad with the good, to go over how I might handle different road blocks, and yet I am still completely decided that this path is the one that is right for me. I know that this will be anything but easy and I understand your point of view, but this is what I'm doing. Thank you again for your comments, as they have only given more fuel to my drive to pursue this career path.

Thanks for all the great tips everybody. There's two colleges in the area so we have a lot of study aids in the bookstore I work at so I think I'll cash in on my discount and get a few A&P and drug books and get to reading and making flash cards.

Hello, I'm looking for some advice/guidance/helpful hints/polite criticism/etc. as to what I can be doing to better prepare myself for becoming an EMT and eventually paramedic. Right now, aside from paying the bills with my job at a bookstore, I'm broke. I've researched what my area's criteria is as far as what is needed to become an EMT/Medic. The local community college has a great program, including internship, and all the prerequisites are easily laid out and understandable. What I meant about "what can I do now" is; is there something I can be doing/reading/etc. that doesn't involve school, aside from getting more physically fit and CPR certified (which is going to have to be held off for a little bit until I can get the funds for it)? I've considered the option of applying for a student loan, but two things are holding me back from that; one being that I'm not big on the way banks operate and don't like owning people money, and most importantly, two, I want to be able to be completely focused becoming an EMT. I know that you never stop learning in this profession, but I figure that making a whole hearted effort at the beginning is a good way to start out.