imouto

I like my eggs scrambled or poached on toast

Fried eggs would go well with my fried noggin but ew, fried eggs taste nasty

I love fried eggs, especially with rice. Might be a culture thing, though.

Thanks, everyone, for the informative posts. It looks like neither the regular nor the intensive courses coming up are going to be held due to an insufficient amount of applicants, so I'll be waiting it out anyway.

Whether you are able to get a job or not is going to be dependent on your area and how far away you are willing to travel.

In New York State the requirement for lifting is being able to lift 125 lbs. alone, 250 lbs. combined with another person. You should look at what your state says in their job description as an EMT. A company will hire you regardless of whether you look like you can lift it or not, but be ready to lift it because in all likelihood they will test that ability. They will also ask where you went to EMT school, and because the EMT school should have made sure you could lift that amount the school will then earn a reputation for graduating sub-par EMTs.

Finally, as far as a background check goes, it really depends on where you go. Most schools around here work the background check into the registration fee. They don't want you handing them a forged background check, so they perform their own. I would seriously question any job or school that allows you to do it yourself and hand it to them. While that may be legal, security wise it does not preferred method.

EMTs have a positive career outlook and is considered a growing field forecasted with positive job growth. Part of that is due to an actual increase in demand, and part of it is because of the extremely high attrition. Ultimately, companies that hire new EMTs are looking for some sort of customer service experience since that seems to be the part all EMT programs are complacent in training.

Thanks for the information.

And I was under the impression that I could get the State Bureau of Identification to directly mail them a sealed copy of my background check, but maybe that isn't something that can do. The program I was really hoping to take part in does include the background check in the fee, but the other program specifically mentioned that it didn't.

Again, thanks so much for the information. I do have years of customer service experience, so I guess that's good!

Well, I already did have my background check to work in a SNF, and I did tell them about my jaywalking ticket. Like someone else in the thread guessed, they did laugh...

Supposedly background checks for SNFs are one of the most thorough aside from those going into the FBI or something? At least that's what I was told.

Does anyone know if you can use the same background check for your application to the EMT B class? I just got it done late December, and it arrived about a week ago. It does cost $70ish, if I recall. My work paid for mine, but I know EMT B classes do not. Are they valid for a certain amount of time, or must you get one for each company that asks, no matter the time period between?

I assume the drug screening doesn't get carried over, either.

At my community college, we apparenty only need 5 to hold the class with a maximum of either 12 or 20. Sadly, the class that is starting in 2 weeks has no one signed up for it, last I heard, so I'm going to have to wait.

The fire school requires anywhere from 10-12 minimum, I believe. The accelerated class that I mentioned in another thread requires 20 to hold the class.

As I said above: In this state and several others I've worked in, a person with a diagnosis of Epilepsy or a seizure disorder cannot hold a driver license . Can't hold a commercial drivers license either.

PS I don't make the laws

What?

You can definitely have a license if you are epileptic. I would know, because I am epileptic and have a license. In my state, you must be seizure free for 1 year and usually medicated (unless doctors have determined you "grew out of it" and only had them in childhood). They had me get my doctor to sign off that I'm seizure free and safe to drive. I got my license when I was 16 -- 1.5 years after I had my last seizure. Do you know how many people would be unable to drive if what you stated was true?

You received a jaywalking ticket in another country? I don't know of any service that does a background check to include infractions in another country.

Yeah. I went to college abroad. I have no idea if background checks do include another country, but thanks for the info!

If I was ever to lift 125 pounds, my service would be quite irritated. That is risking injury.

we call firemen for lift assist if it is going to average more than say 50 lbs per person off the ground. That's not including draw sheet transfers or anything. However, my squad is made up of almost all women. Most weighing under 150 lbs themselves. We are city run volunteers as are fire so they just constantly reassure us to call them anytime, for any reason.

I had to be able to lift 50 lbs dead weight.

50 lbs dead weight is no problem unless they want 20 consecutive reps out of me. I might struggle then...

I guess it depends on how the program adds up their hours.

If I added in the CPR, the ABUSE classes and mandatory reporting. The days of module testing and the additional hours of review, I would figure our class to be a good 250 hours. However, our program outline just stated lecture and skills hours with additional days for module testing, review and other necessary pertinent classes.

Don't forget time for clinical hours, ride along times etc.

Even with a college degree, it depends on a lot of things. How about your job? Are you married? Have kids?

I still have to get up at 4:00 am. Get ready, make sure kids are set for their day. Go to work. Work 9 or 10 hours. Get home, clean up the house. Oh there is a basketball game an hour away? Well throw something in the crock pot for tomorrows supper. Feed the kid who has to run out the door. Ho to game.

Come home, feed the family and remember laundry you started.

Crap, im on call tonight. Pager went off. Luckily no transport to city. Back home, exhausted but will study an hour before bed.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

I only work 14 hours a week, which is nothing. I'm actually thinking of working at McDonald's or something until I can start my EMT class, just because I want to do something with my time and at least make a little bit of money. I'm not married and in fact in a LDR so no need to worry about neglecting my boyfriend, no kids, and no pressing every day chores since I still live with my parents.

The US DOT mandates that an EMT course be no less than 110 hours long. Unfortunately, no matter how you break it down, that's just not enough time for quality.

And then this brings up the silliness of the DOT continuing to oversee the content of EMS training.

I'm going to add to this a little more. While normally I agree with ArcticKat that no self respecting EMS-er looks kindly upon an accelerated course, I think that might be more for a total novice. You have a college degree. You've demonstrated that you can dedicate yourself to the task of studying and doing the work that needs to be done.

To be totally fair, I don't like accelerated programs. However, if anyone can do it and get as much out of it as needs to be gotten out of it, someone with a college degree stands a far better chance of doing that than someone without the college experience.

Overall, though, it's just a lot of information to cram into such a short amount of time and reasonably expect someone to remember it. Even if the course is measured in mere hours. If you can take the longer course, do it. But if that's not reasonable, with your college background you might do ok in an accelerated course.

Yeah, I feel like I can handle it, but now I'm questioning how my future possible employers will perceive an accelerated certification. Thanks for the input, though. I'm going to call the college back on Monday and see if enough people have signed up for the course that begins in February.

I can be a forum addict too, especially in my field of interest.

I am also a student. Over halfway through a 9 month program.

One month could be hard. There is a lot to absorb. I take a lot of notes.

We started out as once a week, went to twice a week. A few extra days have been put in as Iowa Scope of practice is changing. Course was described as 150 hours of lecture and skills plus days of module tests and review, but if I counted right, we will easily hit 200 . Which is fine with me, I love my classes.

Welcome to the board and consider your options. Fast track is fast, but I wouldn't go that route.

Yeah, I figured it would be pretty dense and a lot to take on in just a month.

I want to feel like I can handle that load, since I was able to work 6 days a week while taking 5 AP classes in high school (including AP chem and calc) but I burned out reeeeeally quickly and did significantly less... impressive when I was in college. Obviously not trying to brag, since it ended up hurting my academic career in the long run.

One hundred fifty plus hours is quite long?

Is this the wrong time to bring up the ridiculousness of measuring, in hours, the class length required for an EMT? Is it the wrong time to bring up the ridiculousness that an EMT class is merely hours long?

No, it's certainly not. I know it's always quality over quantity, but if there's a definitely significantly low of hours, that probably doesn't correlate to a sufficient or thorough education. Since I'm looking around for classes right now, I figured I'd ask some actual EMTs and paramedics. The only ones I know work for companies like Lifestar who simply transport LTC patients literally across the street to the hopsital.

If I said the EMT class I wanted to sign up for only amounted to 60 hours, I'm pretty sure everyone would discourage me and assume it's not very credible/educational.

In the end, I'm just trying to be cautious. I also don't have access to which textbooks each class is using OR the syllabus/exact curriculum right now. I've been wondering since late Friday, but of course I won't be able to call until Monday.

at first I hated all the physiology part of our program, but Arctic Cat has a great point.

Never give nitro to someone whose BP is low, good thing we know CPR but let's not have to use it because of a stupid mistake.

I learned the "why and why nots " are just as important as to just doing it.

Our classroom is 150+ lecture and skills this does not include days of module tests or review.

Oh and my program is 3 hours a night, two nights a week. It is almost 9 months long.

We also had two 4 hour nights that were healthcare provider CPR prior to beginning, and a 3 hour class of recognizing child and elder abuse that was on a different day, but in addition to our so called hours.

Hm, that's quite long -- an additional 3+ months -- but I guess the 7 hour Saturday sessions make up for that (since there are 11 of them). Since I already work at a SNF, I have to get a CPR for healthcare provider certification as well as an the abuse information, though I think it's only for the elderly. In fact, I should already have it, but our educator has been really busy, especially because a decent amount of our building had the flu.

Not if it lasts less than a month like what you initially posted.

Nah, the community college class runs from the beginning of February to mid or late June. That's almost 5 full months. I'm pretty sure that's a normal time frame?

183 is assuming 9 hours a day with no lunch breaks for an entire four weeks. The OP said the class is not quite a month. I'm also guessing that there is an hour for lunch which would drop the time to less than163 which is still ridiculously low for an entry level position.

I read the course description for course at my community college. It says 120 hours of classroom time, 60 hours of practical, and (11 8-4 Saturday classes, again assuming a 1 hour lunch break) 77 hours weekend class. That's 257 hours. Does that sound a lot more credible?

Welcome to the City.

Many hospitals hire Paramedics to be ER technicians in the northeast.

Thank you!

Welcome to the city. I see you've jumped right in. Well done.

Haha, thanks. I'm a bit addicted to posting on forums in general. And a bit loquacious as well.

183 hours seems on par from what I've seen of a typical EMT-B course.

You will likely find that the self respecting professionals on this site do not endorse the accelerated EMT training. To make a curriculum that short there are typically many corners cut in the education process that leave the resultant practitioner's competence in question.

So do you think it's better to have a drawn out class?

Classes are from 8-5, and I'll assume there's a lunch break of an hour or combined breaks of about an hour just to be safe. That makes 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, so 40 hours a week for 3 weeks = 120 hours plus the weekend day of about 3 hours. They state on the website that it's a 150 hours course.

For the regular class I wanted to take at the community college, the classes last 3 hours twice a week. They state 120 hours of classroom instruction plus 60 hours of practical sessions and some additional weekend time. It's well over 180 hours. I'm willing to spend the extra $1000 on it if it's really much better than the accelerated course. The place that offers the accelerated course also has a regular course which costs $700. Extra fees now included still only bring it up to about $1000, whereas the other place is $2200+.

I have been comparing it to other states, and the amount of hours seems the same.

They won't hire based on your physical fitness just by looking at you, you will probably have to actually be evaluated doing a fitness test. You'll have to be more descriptive regarding the lift requirement. Does it have to be over your head? Up to your waist? Moved in a wheelbarrow? Many companies have different tests, and there is no standard.

Don't be worried about the jaywalking ticket. I don't even think that qualifies as a misdemeanour, does it? EMS services will often provide you an opportunity to ride with them if you're interested in learning more about the job. It can be trying at times, and more stressful than CNA. Sometimes dangerous with long hours. Often on 24 hour call.

That's good to know. I assume companies hiring for EMS services are much more professional, but I've had people turn me away from even applying places, because I'm too young, probably because of my statue (and they didn't even ask my age). I doubt 21 is too young to work in retail!

Jaywalking is usually an infraction, but it's sometimes considered a misdemeanour depending on where you live. I believe it was a misdemeanour where I received it, but I can't seem to find information on it specifically in my state -- I'm guessing that means it's an infraction.

Haha, I used to lived in Canada for 4 years after having grown up where 1 inch of snow is a state of emergency.

Girls would go out wearing t-shirts and sitting at the terrace/patio of restuarants at 40F! What got me even more was the fact that snow up to your knees didn't stop girls from wearing high heel boots. They would wear 4" heels while going up and down those wet metro stairs and walking through the snow/ice. I've seen tons of girls wearing strapless clubbing dresses to avoid coat check in below freezing temperatures.

It depends on where you live I guess. Where I am, there are about 10 companies in my area that hire EMT's so it shouldn't be that hard to find an entry level EMT job. 125 pounds with someone else, right? Not alone...

Oh wow, I typo'd that, too. It shouldn't be life 125 lbs but lift 125 lbs obviously.

The job description asks to lift 125 lbs alone and 250 lbs with one person assisting you.

Does anyone have any experience with accelerated EMT-b certification programs? How did you find it?

The program I want to sign up for lasts a little less than a month. Classes are 8AM-5PM Mondays through Fridays with one Saturday class that lasts 3 hours. I wanted to sign up for a program that starts next week and lasts five months, but it seems like there aren't enough students to hold the class.

I'm just wondering how people's experiences were taking an intensive course.

I'm most certain that you can as long as you are on medication and haven't had any problems within the last 6 months or a year -- I'm not sure on the seizure-free time period. You can just get your doctor (probably your neurologist) to sign off saying that you are fine, just like you have to do to get your driver's license.

If you are not seizure free, then you probably cannot become an EMT.

The link you posted seems to imply that the student was asked to drop the class because her seizure was disruptive and not because EMTs cannot be epileptic. I've been seizure free for 5 or so years, and it hasn't been a problem for me getting my driver's license renewed or applying for jobs at health care facilities. Just be prepared to have a doctor or neurologist sign off that you're okay if anything.

Hello. Just for a bit of background, I just graduated from university with a BA in linguistics. I also took several psych classes beyond general psych. I had hoped to go straight for my masters in SLP, but I did poorly outside of my major and psych classes, so I'm not ready to take the GREs and end up wasting money on applying.

Anyway, in the meantime, I'm taking some classes at the local community college to aquire more prerequisites and hopefully prove that I am capable of having a much higher GPA. I'm also working at a SNF as a receptionist and secretary in the admin office helping with billing and such for barely over minimum wage. I definitely don't get enough hours and want more clinical experience, and I've really been drawn to the idea of being an EMT for a few years. Though I'd like to work as an ER tech specifically, any EMT job sounds exciting. If I like it enough, maybe I'll just become a paramedic!

The next available course is an intensive one month program that I'll hopefully complete this May.

So I look forward to reading a lot more on here and getting to know you guys!

So, about a month ago, I started getting really into the idea of getting an EMT-b certification, because becoming an ER tech or clinical support technician sounds ideal. This is only a job I plan on having for 3-5 years, as I’m working on prerequisites for my masters and will be applying within 1-3 years (I already finished my BA), and want a job more relevant than customer service and secretary work. I have read a lot about people who are mentioning becoming EMT-bs as well, and a lot of people are saying is difficult to get a job unless you’re a med student/future med student which I am not, since I want to work as an OT or SLP. And no, no aide positions available.

I’m seeing people hiring for 6 positions in my area for EMT-bs stating previous experience is preferred but not necessary. Is this enough evidence, so to speak, that in six months when I get certified, I’ll be able to find a job? I’ve been trying to research other options online, and other forums are suggesting becoming a pharmacy tech or phlembotomy tech. I see literally one job for each in the same range as EMTs, so I’m not sure what these people are talking about. Becoming a CNA is another option, with the ability to become a clinical support tech or unit secretary, but I’m afraid of getting stuck with long-term patient care aka changing diapers. There are 30+ job openings for CNAs around here, but becoming an EMT sounds much more interesting to me. Should I take the chance becoming an EMT or just go and be a CNA? It’s my plan for only a couple of years and not a career for me.

Also, it seems actual ambulance companies want me to be able to life 125lbs. I weigh 100lb and can lift my body weight and probably more with a few more months at the gym – but I’m sure I’m going to stay as small as I am now. Do you think they’ll not hire me just because I probably look like I can’t lift much? The pay isn’t a factor as long as it’s more than you’d make at McDonald’s. I still live with my parents, free of charge, and my community college tuition is not that high.

One more question: I know having a criminal background is no good, but I received a jay-walking ticket (and in another country). Applications are asking for me to include misdemeanors, so I figured I'd ask you guys. Thanks!