NEWLY CERTIFIED EMT BASIC!

[Dustdevil]

Ok firs off, It is a scary job because your life can become endangered,

I think Mike pretty well covered this. Taxi drivers and 7-11 clerks have a more dangerous job than EMTs, unless you're doing something seriously wrong.

and I do consider it a career because I have someones life in my hand...

Again, Mike covered this well. So long as you don't drive like a maniac or drop somebody, you don't have anybody's life in your hands anymore than a 16 year old lifeguard at the YMCA. Don't get too full of yourself.

and I had to go to school for a long time so about the 120 hours...I dont get that.....If you knew me, youd know that it took me almost a year to get my EMT B.......

Dang! How many times did you take the course? You must have failed once or twice for it to take a year. So go ahead and brag to us. Just how many contact hours was your EMT course? I've known a few quality EMT courses to take upwards of 250 hours, but those are the very rare exception. And even that calculates to two hours a month to come to one year in length. Obviously, you did something, VERY, VERY wrong for the last year. You need some serious career guidance, not just back-slapping congratulations from the EMT cheerleaders. If you decide to stick with this attitude of yours, rather than listen to the advice from elders that you supposedly came here looking for, then I predict complete failure and disappointment for you in short order.

But thanks to eveyone else with the positive coments

If you're smart, you'll realise that the comments you didn't like were the most positive comments you received.

[batjka104]

Well, my EMT course was 200 hours. That's in New York City. And then I also took the 80-hour Israeli MADA course that was a complete bullshit. But the 80-hour course still allowed me volunteer :-)

Their 200-hour course also allows you to start IV lines. There's very little theory. Just practice.

[somedic]

Dust: Im so proud of you brother! You posted everything I would have wanted to say.

Batkja104: Your profile is distinctly lacking in any content. Are you in Israel or in America?

Again, dont get full of yourself because emt basics never have any patient's life in their hands unless you wreck the ambulance.

If you feel the call to EMS then go and find a paramedic class and hit the books.

[cwilliams17]

Congratulations! Be proud of your accomplishments, and good luck with everything you do.

[speedygodzilla]

First off welcome to EMS. Congrats, and as many have said don't stop your education, continue it in whatever you are interested in. Doesn't have to be right away. I recommend working as an EMT-B for 6 months to a year or two getting some experience before you start paramedic or other classes (except any chance at continuing education, one day refreshers). This experience will give you a lot of insight on what paramedics do and how you can really have someones life in your hands. I believe it takes more than a year or a semester of education and experience to receive a career or be expected to be seen as a professional.

Take the national. It is simple as long as you payed attention. If you had a year of EMT-B classes you should be prepared.

"is it a hard job?" I wouldn't call it particularly hard. It depends on the service. Some services you will be waiting on calls and others you will go from one to another. Give most people a week or so of the shifts and you should be good.

"scary job?" If it is you and somebody else is doing something wrong. BSI, Scene safe? and so on. Don't forget your scene size up and you will be fine. Dispatch should dispatch police if the scene is unsafe. If you find your crew in unsafe scene, leave/stage call dispatch and follow orders.

[Just Plain Ruff]

Ok firs off, It is a scary job because your life can become endangered, and I do consider it a career because I have someones life in my hand and I had to go to school for a long time so about the 120 hours...I dont get that.....If you knew me, youd know that it took me almost a year to get my EMT B.......But thanks to eveyone else with the positive coments

Ok this begs clarification from this guy.

Scary job because your life can become endagered = made a stupid error in judgement and got the crap scared out of me.

Career - what kind of a career can you have as an EMT???? Firefighter EMT sure. EMT = nada

had to go to school for a long time so about the 120 hours - 120 hours is long that's working full time for three weeks longtime. 120 hours is nothing but it took this person nearly a year to get his emt-b???????????????????????????????????????????????????????? I don't understand this.

how many emt classes did you take? did you take some time off between the class and taking your test???

The whole post is written like someone just out of high school who didn't pay attention in English class.

dude, if your life gets endangered then you made a stupid error or went into a scene that was completely out of control. I always tell my students that before they go in any scene that they should take 3 deep breaths and then look at the scene again. If it looks hinky or strange then maybe your intuition is correct.

Don't think that you have someone's life in your hands. Your hands are the last thing you should be thinking of. It is not your place to determine if their life is in your hands. If they are going to die then they WILL Die, nothing you can do about it.

Please don't make too big a deal out of becoming an EMT and passing your state test. everyone on this site has been there and done that. The big deal is knowing when you are at the minimum of your career which is the EMT level. If you want to just slip by and go with the flow then by all means stay an emt. If you want to make something more of yourself and be able to help more people in many more ways then continue your education.

A 120 hour emt course does not a good provider make.

***** disclaimer "my apologies to those career emt's out there if you took offense. ********

[Leener77]

First of all, Congrats on getting your EMT-B!

Second, the National Registry is NOT hard as long as you know your stuff......I took it and had no problem passing it. Some of the questions are worded strangely I guess, but as long as you don't read to much into them, you'll be fine. If one thinks it's that hard, or doesn't pass it.....maybe they should look into a different job .

Third, is the job hard??? Nope, not at all....again, as long as you know your skills and class info, it's not hard at all. Shouldn't be scary either.......it can be a little at first i guess, because you aren't sure of what exactly to expect, but you become more comfortable/confident as you gain experience.

Can it be a career?? I suppose if you wanna work like 80+ hr a week and have no life and wanna get burnt out REAL quick. It simply doesn't pay enough to make it a career. I would suggest you further your education and go on to either Medic school, or nursing....as the others suggested. But I also think you should work as an EMT for a while until you can feel comfortable/confident in your skills and be able to determine if this is something you wish to continue doing. Some people change their minds once they get out on the street. I happen to know a couple people that did.

I don't know if i'd necessarily say you have peoples' lives in your hand, but the decisions & actions you make as far as Pt care are very important.

I'm an EMT-B as well, and enjoy doing it part time. It is not my career. I do plan on going back to school for either Nursing or Medic but haven't decided yet because it's not something i need to decide till my kids are a little older and I have more time to devote to school. I've been an EMT for about 6 years but only on the streets for 2 and there is still so much I haven't seen or experienced especially only doing it part time/per diem.

Take it or leave it, but enjoy the learning experiences and use them as a stepping stone onto bigger and better things :wink:

[cosgrojo]

Ok firs off, It is a scary job because your life can become endangered, and I do consider it a career because I have someones life in my hand and I had to go to school for a long time so about the 120 hours...I dont get that.....If you knew me, youd know that it took me almost a year to get my EMT B.......But thanks to eveyone else with the positive coments

OK...... I'm letting this post just wash over me for a minute................... I feel...confused... angry... slightly violent...

Duuude... if it took you a year to finish your EMT-B (3-4 month class) then I think that maybe your career path should include lead trainer at the self check-out line at the supermarket. This industry will let anybody in!!! I mean I don't need Rhodes scholars, but some basic sentence structure please! Stay in school buddy, go get a better education, and find a job that doesn't allow you to take people's lives in your hands.

[whit72]

Umm......Not every EMT class is 120 hours. That is whats mandated, the class can be more in depth and run much longer then 120 hours. My EMT class was almost four hundred hours, with A&P as a pre-reqs it was longer. The EMT in the state I took my class is comparable to an EMT I. They administer medications and can place airways ETT tubes and such.

As far as it being dangerous, at times it can be. Some situations are uncontrollable and the actions of others can not be controlled nor can they be predicted. I know many providers who have been injured, assaulted, shot at, run over. To assume they were injured through fault of their own is asinine, and insulting.

As far as not being able to make a living, thats arguable. Many of my co-workers live comfortably. Their not driving Bentleys but their families don't go with out. By the way a top step EMT where I work makes about four-dollars more an hour then a fairly new medic. Medics make only 2.50 an hour more when their both topped out. Their are many career EMTs in my service, we run tiered systems, and no medic truck is more important to the system then the BLS units. These are seasoned providers both ALS and BLS. We both play important roles that keep us very busy. We work together and provide excellent care to the residents of our communities.

[Dustdevil]

Whit, you could have just simply said, "my system sucks," and saved yourself three paragraphs of typing. :wink:

Points for noting that, no matter what precautions you take, the job remains dangerous. Although, that applies to life in general too.