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This subject has come up before.. and the replies seem to all go the same direction. Anyone who took the Community College version of the EMT program thinks it cannot possibly be taught effectively in the 14 days. My local CC teaches it in 3 months for a total of 110 hours- plus the required 8 hours of ride time (clinical). On the other hand, anyone who took their EMT training thru their local FD says it can easily be taught in less than 14 days since they work much longer days. Unitek gives 160 hours of instruction, 12 hours of ride time and tons of simulations. Knowledge is tested daily and students can and do flunk out of the program. Speaking from experience: I took the Unitek 14 day Bootcamp back in 2006 and i did a 12 hour ride along with King American in San Francisco. At the end of my 14 days of training-(each day in a classroom from 7am till 8pm and with 4 hours of hands on and 1 hour of testing each day) I then took the National Registry exams. Guess what? I pass with scores in the high 90's. After returning to my home state, I applied for reciprocity and took my state practicals and written exam- guess what? I passed with a 98%. Since then I have taken the SOLO Wilderness EMT program and over 300 hours of other continuing education. Bottom line- No one is fully prepared for every possible situation they could encounter with only 14 days (160 hours) of education in a field completely new to them. So, did 14 days prepare me for a career as an EMT?- it gave me the baseline of needed information and it made me feel confident enough to work with a partner who had more field time. But just as a side note- my first ambulance company job (I worked for a different company FT for 1.5 years) paired me with 2 partners (different shifts)- 1 who had his CC trained state license for 12 months and knew nothing- no even how to palpate vitals. And the 2nd who has just completed her medic license 3 days before leaving the military and did not have our state license yet- She also knew no where near enough to pass our state exam. But hey, neither of them did their training in 14 days! How well you know information and can take it and use it in the field has more to do with the person and how they learn/retain information than it does how many days it was given. And since know one has noticed yet.. The former Director of Education for Unitek is the same man who started the Paramedic Bootcamp program in Iowa. He taught the EMT Bootcamp for 2 years before leaving to start his own company. But i am sure this debate will continue....

I love training in any fashion possible, so let me add my two cents... I took the tradional EMT-B and I programs. Then for continuing ed hours I have done the Wilderness First Responder and SOLO's Wilderness EMT add on module (for those who are already EMT's). I had a blast- even though the EMT module was in January- mostly outdoor-in the cold, the wet, the muddy... LOL it was a blast! I work both ambulance and as an on-site medic in heavy manufacturing plant where I spend my nights filled with amputations, avulsions, impalements and 2-3* burns. Wilderness training gave me a whole new set of tools and ways to think outside the traditional box to care for my patients. A fully stocked ambulance is one thing, my on-site job requires a lot of creativity under stress to really help the patient. I may be with them without (trained or transport)help for up to 20 minutes which in EMS can be a lifetime to someone injured. Bottom line in my mind- take all the training you can get- it will never hurt and it can be tons of fun! Wilderness Medical Institute, SOLO, Your local Ski Patrol are all great places to find more training. I also do lots of online CE classes just to keep up with terminology and trends.