DirtyBlackSocks

I understand where you're coming from. Uniforms aren't very comfortable, either. Just giving my point of view on how they can be beneficial. Not everyone thinks with the maturity that you do about how things should be. Team work is very important in this field of work.

You'll have to forgive me if my reasoning seems a bit off because I'm on percocet right now for my hand. If everyone had a mature mind set and dedicated grasp as to what they're doing to do with their lives then I suppose dressing however you'd like in a class wouldn't be an issue. Unfortunately a lot of people going through an EMT-B course at a Community College are going to be young and by association somewhat lacking in terms of maturity. That's not to say everyone who's young is immature and I hope I'm not coming off like some one who thinks his age dictates his wisdom. But for example, while to me shining my boots and wearing a uniform to school/work every day is a non-issue as it's something I did in the military for a long period of time. It might help the guy who's never been away from home and hasn't had much independence in their life gain some of that maturity and self confidence needed to work in a field like this. While it's not going to have some huge behavioral alterations to a person. Having that uniformity helps establish common ground amoung the class and give that mind set that everyone there is your peer. As well as giving that extra responsibility. It also takes the guess work out for instructors, eliminating the temptation less mature minds might have to dress in a way that might be disruptive.

https://ncti-national.securegw.com/cgi-bin/...nfo.cgi?info=43 I just got off the phone with Heidi Coon to confirm as well, there are courses held in Riverside. It's somewhat confusing as on the page it lists it as an Entrance Exam. So I could see where you got mixed up. Edit: In terms of the uniform fees and everything else. I personally think it's productive to have everyone conform to the same outfits ect. to help build the team work setting that's important in this field of work. Although $600 does seem a bit steep, that's more then half the fee for the EMT-B course they offer. I was more disheartened in other aspects of how RCC has conducted themselves in my eyes. Mr. Fontaine, who is the head instructor, seems like a fairly intelligent guy but he taught my AHA CPR course last month. He blew through the entire thing and missed a lot of key elements important to it then passed everyone in groups rather then individually. During our skills testing portion he was grading written rather then watching what we did ect. I understand that it's just CPR and even a monkey could do it. But if I'm getting all of my training for free I'd like to go with the most professional course I can possibly find. I've spoken with Dr. Nollette once months ago when I was first looking into taking the EMT-B Winter Intercession as a refresher course and he told me I'd be allowed to skip all of the skills work since I'm already EMT-B certified. When I relayed that information to Mr. Fontaine he seemed like he didn't want some one with EMT-B experience in his course and blew me off to the Riverside EMS Office telling me I needed to take a challenge course. It all just seemed a little strange, didn't sit right with me. That course seems like it might be better suited to guys looking to go into Fire Fighting or PA students who just need to get the EMT-B out of the way to continue their schooling.

Erm, there are courses held in Riverside. It's a nation wide training program, supposedly the largest EMT-P program in the U.S. Small classes, too. The Riverside course only accepts 30 students per session. Which I like. It's also a sister company of AMR, somewhere on there it mentions that AMR looks favorably towards a degree through this program over others. Seems like a good course to me, anyway. I've just gotten the Riverside instructor's contact information so I'm going to try and set up a time to talk to him about the course. I get a lot more of an impression based around the instructor's then I do reading over what the course consists of, if that makes sense.

^^^ I've tried with RCC but to be honest their lack of communication and the manner in which one of the head instructors taught a CPR course I took with them has turned me off from wanting to invest my time there. Basically I was told "I don't know" by the lead instructor and told to contact the Department head, who has not returned multiple phone calls. After a month of trying to get in touch with him I found out I was referred to one of the training assistants who didn't know the answer either. One giant run around with no results and I've been pretty adimant about getting an answer without trying to be overly rude.

I suppose I could harass the National Guard for a while about it and I'm sure getting the letter will happen sooner or later, it's just a matter of time constraints. I've already been prohibited from training or working for close to a year now, which is enough to drive a man insane. Once you're out of the military getting anything out of them takes forever and a day. The NCTI's EMT-P program was actually recommended to me by my County EMS Office when I was inquiring about local certification fee's and procedures. I'm under Vocational Rehabilitation, which means the government pays for up to 2 years of full time college/training including paying my living expenses. Provided I can put all of the training to work and support myself after that 2 years is up. So I'm in a unique position to take advantage of pretty much any training I'd like. This particular course runs around 12 grand when all is said and done and takes around 13 months to complete. If you've got the time I'd appreciate you having a look at it and giving me your opinion here: http://www.ncti-online.com/westcoastregion/about_ncti.shtml If you've got other recommendations in the Riverside/San Bernardino County area I'm all ears. Currently I'm going to be taking: Anatomy and Physiology Specialized Psychology Medical Terminology Math Spanish For a semester while I work out issue's that are preventing me from enlisting in the EMT-P course (I need to get county certified, immunization charts taken care of ect.). All of the courses are being taken with the intentions of them making me a more proficient Paramedic in the long run. This is definitely what I plan on doing with the rest of my life, though. ALS and field work are one of the few things I've found that I'm very good at and passionate about. So I'd like to make sure I get the best training I possibly can. Thanks.

Not sure how many of you are familiar with this specific institution and it's training, but for those that are I'd appreciate any feedback on how well they operate and the quality of the course/instructor's. Most of the credible courses I can find out here (Southern California, Riverside County) have a 6 month to 1 year EMT-B experience requirement before training for EMT-P. Unfortunately my experience in the military makes it hard to verify that I was putting my EMT-B to use for the duration of my service (although it's common sense) and letters stating such are very hard if not impossible to get. If anyone has other recommendations for courses I could look into out here I'd appreciate it. Sorry if this is in the wrong forum.

Day to day challenges. A real sense of accomplishment that's hard to find. It's one of the only things I'm actually passionate about and good at...