RHarding Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Hello, My job is paying me to become an EMT but they are only allowing me to take off one month from work. They have offered to pay for a hotel and travel expenses. I have found these two programs on the internet and was hoping that somebody could give me any suggestions as to which of the two is better. http://www.18dayemt.com http://www.unitekeducation.com/ Thank you all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spenac Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Go for it. It is just slightly more training than a boy scout gets for helping people. It will not count towards college. As soon as done find a college degree level Paramedic program and get some real education. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bball160 Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 lol wow 18 day program? thats crazy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VentMedic Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 lol wow 18 day program? thats crazy You're right... That is a little long for only 110 hours of training. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bball160 Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Idk how effective that can really be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustdevil Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Unfortunately, you're probably not going to find anyone here who would admit attending either one of those, even if they did. They'd be too embarrassed. That kind of limits the feedback you're likely to get on these specific schools. However, the consensus is that both of them simply train you to pass the test, without any real education involved. Those I have talked to who attended Unitek felt completely unprepared for practice. That said, as already mentioned, EMT is nothing more than 120 hours of first aid training taught below the grade 8 level. The test is nothing to sweat unless your intelligence is below that level. But even courses lasting four times that long tend to leave you woefully unprepared for actual practice. What is your job? Do you need it for your job, or are they just being cool about you pursuing it? If all you are looking for is a first aid course for use with your hunting buddies, and this is the best that you can do, by all means, it's better than nothing. But if you are expected to be a professional rescuer on any level, then more is better, and you would be MUCH better off taking a full-length, part time night class, spread over several months, where you have time to actually digest the information presented. After all, it's human lives we're talking about here, not auto mechanics. If you have significant education and experience as some other sort of health care professional in your background (military medic or corpsman, nurse, respiratory or physical therapist, or a biology degree), as well as excellent commitment and study habits, then you can make a cram course work minimally decent for you. Otherwise, only those who profit from it would recommend it. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwiology Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 I agree with Rob. Maybe you can find the local community college program (they are usually 1-2 nights a week and a Saturday of rotations thrown in every month) for a semester, quite cheap, couple hundred bucks probably. Let me make a comparison- I am a certified computer techie, it was two or three days a week for six months; we got time to do stuff, to pull bits apart and rewire them, to break it, remake it and learn from it. We could have done it eight hours a day for a couple weeks and gotten the same cert but we'd never have learnt anything. We're not talking about computers here, we are talking about human lives. Do you have any prior medical background? Do you understand that people's lives will be in your hands potentially after you finish this course? I am not saying don't do it but I am not saying do it either. We can train you to pass a test; but that's rather superficial and very poor. If you're trained to pass a test and follow a set of guidelines you are simply a what we term a "cook book" provider (not to say I am better than you or that I know everything, because I do not nor am I better than you). It's enough to pass the test knowing "do A if B and if not, do C" but it's far better if you can say "do A because of B, B won't work if C, if C is present, do D instead" -- let me give you an example of just what I am talking about. When I very first started out in EMS we had an anaphylaxis patient who crashed and the medic drew up some epinephrine and administered it; it was like this guy's lightblub got switched back on the effect was (for a newcomer) just what was desired but I thought this medic was the greatest thing in the world. I then promptly memorized 0.5mg epi IM ("A") or if that didn't work 1mg:1000cc NS TKO ("B") or 0.01mg IVP PRN ("C") so; see what I mean, I had the "recipe" for treating anaphylaxis - do A, if no result, do B, instead of B can do C. Then I wondered "hey, why do we do that?" and it really wasn't until I began my college A&P that I figured out ... - the body has things called vessels that carry blood, these can dialate (vasodialation) - when that happens there is more suface area for the blood to fill, so blood pressure drops - if blood pressure drops too much the body won't get enough oxygen and nutrients, things start dying and you pass out - the body (the very small airways of the lungs in particular) have smooth muscle which can constract - when that happens its called bronchoconstriction and it's very hard to breathe - breathing is important - the body has things called mast cells which release histamine and these are triggered by an allergy (bee, nuts etc) - histamine triggers histamine (H1) receptors which are found on the smooth muscle of the lungs and resp tract - when that happens your blood vessels dialate, your throat and lungs close up, you pass out and stop breathing which can lead to brain death and cardiac arrest - we give epinephrine because it is a vasoconstrictor (A1 receptor), bronchodailator and antihistamine (B2 receptor) so it 1) increaes blood pressure 2) stops histamine being produced and 3) makes it easier for you to breathe - hey, because epineprhine acts on the A1 receptor that's also responsible for increasing the heart rate and stroke volume, if this guy just had major bypass surgery we might need to reduce the dose a bit! See what I mean, I'm not trying to be a know-all smart bastard but you see the difference? I'm not saying you won't learn that on an 18 day course (but ten bucks says you wont!) and if you do, will you remember it?? It's one thing to know TO do something, its another entirely to know WHY to do it, why and when NOT to do it and WHAT will happen if you do it. Best of luck mate. Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katiebug Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 To be honest, those quick classes like that are insulting to me. I spent a year going to night school to get my EMT license. I studied and learned all I could. Then I spent another year and a half going to school on the weekends to get a paramedic license. Not to mention all the clinical hours (thousands) spent away from my wife and kids just so I could do this job. Now someone wants to offer an EMT license with just 18 hours of class. How the hell are we supposed to be taken seriously in the medical community with crap like that? We're trying to raise standards, public perception, status and pay. This crap is nothing but a roadblock to us. Shame, shame, shame on them. That's what I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott33 Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 (edited) Now someone wants to offer an EMT license with just 18 hours of class. I think you have misread something somewhere. It is neither 18 hours, nor does it give a license at the end of it. Not that I am advocating taking these courses Edited March 15, 2009 by scott33 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiznat Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 (edited) I understand all the things you guys are saying, but did you realize that this training program comes with A NIGHT ON THE TOWN IN NYC???? Talk about sweetening the deal!! In addition, as a reward for your hard work,we include a night on the town in the heart of Manhattan. Visit Times Square, take in a show, eat dinner in historic Chinatown, and experience the legendary NYC nightlife; all while earning your EMT certification. LOL in all seriousness this program will probably teach you the very basics, but the time really is just too compressed for you to be able to process it and retain it in any useful manner. On the other hand, this is an EMT certification. It's not like you're trying to learn how to do brain surgery out there. Perhaps the material really is just that easy. Edited March 15, 2009 by fiznat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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