Floridastudent

Thank you! It honestly was a huge help.

I got the job!!!! And thank you so much, everyone, for the virtual hand-holding and reassurance. They called me today to say I passed everything. I guess I'm not a 98 pound weakling after all. (Ha. I WISH I was a 98 pound weakling...not since junior high have I been in that ballpark.) I start training next week. Can't wait!!!!!

No, basically, the job offer was contingent on me passing the drug test and physical. I signed permission for them to do a background check, and that's all I recall signing. They have not yet called me back to ask for any other paperwork. When I was interviewed, I was asked to bring in EVOC certificate, driver's license, current EMT certificate, and current Red Cross CPR for healthcare providers card, they made copies of all that, then I filled out an application listing my work history and references and saying I had no criminal history, then I did the interview, then I took a knowledge test, and after all of that, they set up an appointment for me to to the drug testing/physical. I appreciate your optimism! I guess by next week I will know one way or the other.

Even if it is set to private, I would still be extremely cautious about posting anything that you would not want a prospective employer to see. That includes pictures AND posts. Nothing that's on the internet is guaranteed to be private and it would be awful to lose a potential job because you posted "I drank so much Jack and Coke last night that I barfed on my shoes!" Not saying you would post that - I'm just saying. As for the bad credit thing - I hear you. I HATE it that bad credit could keep someone from getting a job when the reality is, people are out of work for months, even years, now - and without an income, of course your credit will be bad!

It does make sense. The thing that worries me is the bad credit. Especially in this economy, a LOT of people have bad credit these days - and how does one fix bad credit if one can't get a job? Kind of a Catch-22 there. All of the other things I could see as being a dealbreaker, but I personally feel that bad credit, and even a bankruptcy, in this economy, is not that surprising and isn't necessarily relevant to an EMT job, especially if everything else checks out fine. It's not a financial advisor job, it's not a bank job, etc. But I'm not the HR person, so I don't get to make those decisions. I don't have a bankruptcy, lien, foreclosure, etc. - but I do have a lot of late payments because I'm working part time and living fairly hand-to-mouth at the moment. Do you think that's enough to keep someone from hiring me? As for the online stuff - I never post anything online that I wouldn't want my mother to read. I know that what you post on Twitter today can haunt you for eternity.

That is really great perspective, thank you. So, I'm curious - what kinds of things would give you pause on a background check? I mean, obviously if someone lied and it turned out they had previous arrests, DUIs, etc., that would be an issue, but is there anything else that you look for on background checks? Do you look at credit history?

You're all right. I am stressing out too early. I won't call till Monday. And I will only call once. I don't want to be the crazy girl who keeps calling and saying "Did you decide yet? Did you decide yet?" References - I am a CNA and the place where I work didn't check my references. They certainly should check references, but they didn't. So, there is the possibility that the ambulance company didn't call my references because somehow the physical didn't work out, and they don't plan to hire me...or there is the possibility that out of the 26 people they are hiring, with four references each, they are not calling references at all or are just calling some of them.

Thanks for the replies! I wouldn't normally freak out like this, but then again, I've never looked for a job in a job market that is this bad. I've applied for hospital ER tech and patient care tech jobs...they want experience. Other ambulance companies aren't hiring at the moment. I worry that my skills are getting rusty as time goes by. (Five months since I passed my NREMT.) As for the drug test - no, what I was saying is that is the thing I am NOT worried about at all, but I took it Monday, the guy said it took 24 to 48 hours to process it, so it should have been back by Wednesday at the latest...so I'm just wondering if there's anything else that could be wrong. As far as I can tell they didn't even call my references (I talked to two of them) - so it's not a bad reference issue. And I have glowing references from my CNA jobs. I know it's expensive for them to send dozens of people for physicals and drug tests - the physical took an hour! - so I'm assuming that if they approved me to take it, their intention was to hire me. It's just that during the interview, the interviewer stressed several times that they wanted to get people hired as soon as possible to work their busy times. So I thought I would have heard from them by now. I know, I know, I just need to take a chill pill and wait a couple of more days. Oh - I'm a "she", not a he. I should probably change my avatar.

So, I had an interview last week at a local company that is hiring a couple of dozen EMTs part time, it went really well, they immediately made me an offer and set up drug testing and a physical for Monday. I am one thousand percent sure I passed the drug test. The guy at the place I tested told me the drug test results take 24 to 48 hours. I THINK I passed the physical...but I haven't heard back from the ambulance company. I was able to do the treadmill for 12 minutes on increasingly steep incline and I wasn't even out of breath at the end of it. I lifted all of the appropriate weights, did all of the appropriate bending and flexing with no problem. My BP normally is around 117/80-something. I'm assuming I passed. I have no arrests, no points on my driving license, etc. My credit isn't great at this point but I don't have bankruptcies, tax liens, foreclosure, anything like that. So now I'm just sitting here waiting to hear back. Should I be concerned that I haven't heard anything yet? They said they want to get people started as soon as possible. They are supposed to call me and set up orientation IF I pass the drug test and physical. And if I don't hear from them, should I call back on Friday? And if they decide not to hire me, would they tell me why? As in, if I need to be in better shape physically it would help me to know that.

I didn't reply with contempt; with annoyance, certainly, because I feel that my original post was misinterpreted and a couple of people were unnecessarily nasty with their replies... for instance: "They are not tricky. People that say they are tricky probably have difficulty with reading comprehension. This is exactly why there should be a minimum standard for reading comprehension before these classes are taken." I could not POSSIBLY disagree more with that. I say the questions are tricky, plenty of my classmates say the questions are tricky, plenty of EMTs that I've met say the questions are tricky, and it has nothing to do with our reading comprehension abilities; it has to do with the way the test questions are designed. If I came on here and indicated that I didn't care less about patient safety, that would be another matter entirely; all I did was make a comment stating my opinion about the NREMT-B test questions. I don't think that really calls for people getting bent out of shape. Anyway, I passed the test, it's all water under the bridge now.

I didn't just start to panic, I spent all morning weeping and wailing about how I obviously failed, after all those weeks and weeks of studying, and all those study guides that I read, and I called up a classmate and was going on and on about how I failed and this was crazy and I NEVER fail tests and how could this be...and she was like "Where does it say you failed?" so I went on the NREMT.org website to check, and I said "Never mind then. Apparently I passed." She promised to whack me in the head next time she sees me.

I PASSED! It stopped at 70. Jiminy Cricket was that nerve-wracking. Okay, I passed and I STILL hate the frickin' NREMT-B questions!

THANK you! I appreciate it. I'll let everyone know on Monday whether I passed or not! (This should be a fun stress-free weekend. Not.) Muchas Gracias! I appreciate it.

All right, obviously I didn't explain myself well in this thread, so I'm just going to clarify something important here, and then I'm done with this thread: I absolutely know my stuff, and if I didn't, I wouldn't go into this field. That is an entirely different matter than trying to figure out obscurely designed questions on the NREMT test. I truly do not believe that the way many of the NREMT questions are worded are a test of one's knowledge; I do believe they're "multiple guess" questions. (I can only go by the questions from our classroom tests and the practice exam books, since I haven't taken the test yet. But I have been told the questions are similar to the NREMT test). Nowhere in this thread did I say or even imply that I would go into the field, look at a patient and say, "Gee, I guess a nasal cannula...nah, maybe a nonrebreather...what the heck, a BVM! Why not!" Or, "Hmm, I guess an infant's respirations should be 25-50 a minute - or was that an adult?" What I was asking about was the NREMT-B multiple choice scenario questions where there are almost always two answers that are correct. But again...clearly that's not how people are interpreting the question, so I shall just let it go.

I have ZERO problem with reading comprehension, and I am a straight A student. I got an A in Anatomy & Physiology, I got an A in Medical Terminology, and I am a former reporter. I test very well in general. One of the ways that I test well is to seek as much information about upcoming tests as possible - which is what I am doing here.

We did the practical at school as part of our program. And as for the "guessing" - the way the questions are designed, in many instances, two of the answers really are potentially correct. Even my teachers acknowledged that - it's a matter of picking which one is MORE right. I'm not talking about a question where right and wrong are obvious, such as, should you or shouldn't you assist a patient to take nitro if his systolic BP is below 100? I got an A in my EMT program, the practical, and the clinicals, so I am confident that I know the material. My opinion - which was shared by a lot of my fellow students - is that the way the test questions are worded is frequently tricky and not necessarily indicative of what we'll face on the street.

another repeat post.

still trying to delete extra posts.

oops. repeat post. Not sure how to delete.

I am taking the NREMT-B test on Friday morning. I've been reading study questions from the Jones Bartlett practice book and have spent the last couple weeks going over my textbook. Does anyone have any suggestions or tips for me? I already know that most of the questions have two obviously wrong and answers and two "right" answers and I have to guess which one is most right. Any other tips from those who have passed the test?

So, do you like it there? Just curious - considering all of my options.

Acadian Ambulance is one company I've heard of, I know they're in Texas and some other states. I don't know anything about them as a company. In Florida - I'm in class right now, not done yet, so I don't have any experience with these companies and I don't know if they are hiring, but - American Ambulance and Rural Metro are in Central Florida. I know American Ambulance is transport and I'm not sure about Rural Metro.

I've got to say I completely agree here - the questions on our tests in the EMT class feel like trick questions where there are generally two obviously wrong answers and then two right answers and I have to guess and pick the most right one and hope I guessed right! I can't cry too much because have a 91 in the class and I'm no. 2 at the moment - but I'm studying just as hard for this class as I did for A&P I and Medical Terminology and I ACED those classes. My understanding is that the questions that we get for the tests in this class are similar to the NREMTB. As for your friend - possibly retaking the class with a different instructor at a different school will help? I KNOW that's a lot to ask - but even though my current class is incredibly hard - I do feel like I am getting good preparation for the national registry. Perhaps a different course of instruction would help her. And then there is always the possibility, as was mentioned in this thread, that EMT just isn't for her. But if she's really interested in it as a field I'd say don't give up yet.

Yes, that is an issue, most of FL being fire based. I may end up having to relocate out of the state - especially where there are a limited number of EMS agencies here that do 911, and the economy is terrible so they may not be hiring any time soon. SOmeone else on here had mentioned Lee County. Daytona, which is near me, was also mentioned to me.

So what can the individual paramedic/emt do to protect themselves in a situation like that?