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Paramedic Training: Life-Saving Tips for Finding the Right Program
Paramedic Training:
Life-Saving Tips for Finding the Right Program
If you’re looking into paramedic training, you’re already a special kind of person. Delivering immediate medical attention to the sick or injured is not just noble; it’s vital to society. To train as a paramedic is to ready yourself for a career as one of the thousands of heroes who enter stressful situations daily—including life-or-death ones—and calmly, but confidently, attend to people in desperate need of help. But before you can be on the scene as an emergency medical technician (EMT) or paramedic, you need to find the best school and program to help you learn and practice what you’ll need to know.
Choose the State in Which You Want to Live and Work
Picking the place you want to live before beginning your training can save you many headaches down the road. That’s because every state requires EMTs and paramedics to be licensed—but each state has its own requirements. That means knowing where you want to work now can help you avoid the hassle of completing your training and getting licensed, moving to another state, and then finding out that you must meet different requirements (which could involve additional schooling and testing).
Be Aware of the Emergency Medical Services Hierarchy
An EMT is not necessarily the same thing as a paramedic. Within the field of on-scene emergency medical services, there are different levels, each one requiring progressively more training. Paramedics represent the highest level. The three most common levels are:
- EMT-Basic: At this level, you learn emergency skills that enable you to assess a patient’s condition and carry out procedures related to respiratory, cardiac and trauma emergencies. Training usually involves formal coursework and can include time in an ambulance or emergency department.
- EMT-Intermediate: This level includes everything from EMT-Basic, but adds additional skills that can include using advanced airway devices and administering intravenous fluids and some medications.
- Paramedic: At this most advanced level, you generally must complete additional coursework in anatomy, physiology and advanced medical skills. In addition, clinical and field experience is often part of the required training.
Understand the Certification Process
No matter which state you end up in, you will have to pass an official examination, usually with both written and practical components. Most states require you to be certified by the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT), which administers its own examination. Some states require you to pass a state exam, while others provide the option of taking either the state exam or the one from NREMT.
Identify the Right Paramedic Training Program
There are many schools that offer paramedic training. Schools with programs in emergency medical services usually offer credentials in the form of diplomas and certificates, but some also offer associate’s degrees. But, perhaps the biggest considerations in choosing the right school and program are:
- Location: Can you train in the state you wish to be licensed in?
- Exam preparation: Will the program successfully prepare you to pass the NREMT or state examination so you can become certified?
- Track record: Does the school have a good history of its graduates passing the certification exams and finding employment?
It’s also important to be aware that most programs will require you to have at least a high school diploma.
Get Started
If you’re emotionally stable, in good physical condition, and think you’ve got what it takes to be an EMT or paramedic, the simplest way to begin is by reviewing the paramedic schools in your area. You could soon be helping to save lives!
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