EMT Question

First of all, hi. I registered as FutureEMT but stupid Hotmail deleted my email so I had to re-register under this name. I could not find any way to re-send the email to a new address. Please forgive me.

Anyways, my questions: I am thinking of becoming an EMT. I currently drive a mini-bus and take people all over my area for the county transit agency. The vehicle I drive is larger than an ambulance. So I am not worried about the driving. I do have these concerns: (forgive me, I know I’m asking alot of questions here. Any info appriciated)

  1. What are the hours worked by an EMT typically?

1b. Is it possible to find a job somewhat easily without having to work graveyard often?

  1. Will I have to draw blood? (for some reason this is a werid thought to me, having to draw blood. Seeing blood does not bother me. Its the thought of having to stick a metal tube in someones vein)

2b. How hard is it to actually draw blood?

  1. I’ve noticed alot of places besides ambulance compaines hire EMTs. What are the best non-driving oppertunities?

3b. I’ve noticed that many places that hire EMTs lump them in with CNAs. How close are these two jobs related? (I know that many CNAs work in nursing homes)

3c. What exactly does an ER Clerk do? (many of these jobs, if not all of them, require EMT training)

  1. How do EMTs emotionally handle the many horrid things they must see on an almost daily basis? (I’m in this to save lives and help people but I imagine I’m gonna see some pretty scary stuff)

  2. What is the upward career path for an EMT? (advancement to what?)

  3. Finally, in comparision to becoming a police officer, a bus driver, a fireman, or any other type of job that requires specialized training with the potental to be “cut” from the class, how hard is the training?

You should have gotten more of these questions answered before registering as FutureEMT

Anyway, here are all of my frank opinions of getting an EMT cert. Getting an EMT cert by itself is no big deal. The course work isn’t that challenging, that long, that expensive, nor that rare. Perhaps second only to general aviation pilots is there any certificate field with so many douchebags so proud to have gotten their unframed piece of paper from a local community college. But, once you can get past the self described, “adrenaline junkies,” and the people that just have to put those silly little reflective blue Staff of Asclepius logos on their pick-up truck toppers, it’s alright. There are lot of genuinely cool people around that don’t come to every social occasion wearing navy blue BDU pants with a pair of bright orange trauma shears hanging clipped to their ass.

Actually working as an EMT is beyond simply getting your EMT-B cert, and working as an EMT isn’t what most would qualify as a dream job. You have to start out with some shitty penny-pinching service like AMR that will likely pay you the same going rate as the local McDonalds. No joke. $7.10-$8.00 an hour to start is typical. And yes you’ll have to work late.

Again, starting out with crappy positions and crappy shifts is a given, so if you really are dedicated to being an EMT on a long term basis, you will have to endure some not-so-fun parts.

Regarding blood draws: you’ll need a second cert in most states beyond the basic EMT-B, you’ll need to get your EMT-IV. This is around another 40 hour class with ~10-12 hours of lab to get ten “sticks.” Is it hard? It all depends on the patient. Some patients are extremely difficult and even the most skilled individuals will require two-three pokes on average to get an IV started or draw bloods. Also, to work commercially as an EMT, the IV cert is almost a certain requirement. If it seems weird now, I guess you’ll just have to get used to it. Given enough time, you can get used to most anything and it probably won’t weird you out, so just give it some time if you’re dedicated to becoming an EMT. I used to faint when IV’s were placed, but I’m well beyond that now. Don’t let your concern about blood stop you.

When you’re hired for an either/or EMT/CNA position, you probably won’t actually be functioning so much as an actual EMT, but as a type of medical assistant that has some basic skills in patient care. They just require the EMT cert to make sure that you have some basic introduction to ideas like patient confidentiality and other concepts that you need to get started in working in the medical field. That’s what I do right now in a primary care office and it isn’t as exciting as working on an ambulance, I suppose, but I think it’s very rewarding for certain personalities.

The term ER-clerk varies from place to place, but in the strictest sense you’re likely literally to be working as a clerk. You’re putting orders into the computer, answering the phones, and generally trying to keep the place running when people making five times your salary prove completely oblivious to some of the critical aspects of keeping things in order.

I’m going to skip the emotional issues question because I think that it requires a pretty lengthy response. But I’ll say this: I think that some people have very resistant personalities and others are easily affected by seeing bad things happen. I’m not sure that the latter group can necessarily learn to become the former, and I’m not sure that everyone is suited to being a health care provider. That isn’t said to knock people that are emotionally affected by seeing bad things happen to good people, but it’s just that everyone has different strengths and limitations and I think people need to recognize those. I guess it’s a bit like war in some ways. Some people return from Iraq and describe it as the happiest, most fulfilling period of their life and others suffer from PTSD. If you suspect you’re the latter, I wouldn’t recommend the profession.

Career advancement for EMT’s is limited. Basically it lies in getting other education and moving up in the health-care field, not in advancing as an EMT *per se[/I. So, paramedic school is the most closely related route, RN school, PA school, medical school, etc. are also other options.

Compared to becoming a professional firefighter (probably tougher than getting into medical school in terms of competitiveness), becoming an EMT is probably almost trivial. Probably similar to bus-driving, but frankly, I don’t know how hard it is to actually become a bus-driver. As far as I can tell, most bus drivers get paid more and operate with more autonomy than I do, so as far as anyone can say, becoming a bus-driver is more difficult.

This entire post is unedited for mistakes or offensive material. I hope I haven’t offended anyone, but I’m just trying to give you a feel for what it’s “actually” like to be an EMT. Nothing like television, that’s for sure.

Also, the average EMT for the average agency will see a lot more medical calls than trauma.

So, don’t get into it because you want to pull some 19 year old hottie out of the wreckage of a burning car, do it because you want to provide competent, reassuring care to your 76 year old grandmother who’s feeling pain in her chest or is dehydrated from 8 days of diarrhea before calling 911.

EX-Emt checks in.

You bus driving skills will come in handy, you are used to a big vehicle with crummy stopping distance.

Like any job, the low man on the totam pole gets the shit duty.

Its a skill like many other you will learn. Depending on your location this can fall into several different grades of certification. You do it alot, you get good at it.

Casinos and amusment parks, occasionally major event venues like arenas/fairgrounds have their own medical teams. Hospitals often use EMT’s as low level ER flunkies since their training is more focused on emergency care than a CNA.

In practice they have little to do with each other. Think of them as similar skill levels but different approaches, EMT=crisis intervention, CNA= chronic and long term care.

All of the clerk types I came across were just that, clerks, no medical training beyond a CPR card.

You will see bad stuff, daily basis, nah. The vast majority of your calls will be medical, difficulty breathing, heart problems, diabetic problems, people who let colds turn to pnuemonia, stuff like that. Generally speaking, the truly scary stuff is over long before you get there. The person you are working on may have just survived falling two stories, or having a car smash into them at high speed, compared to that, what you see is a cake walk. Emotionally, always remember, you’re making it better. No matter how bad things are, if you have a live patient on your gurney, 90%+ of the time you are helping and they will eventually get better. The other thing anyone in the biz has to accept is, you can’t fix everything, people will die, and its not your fault. I had the unbiased joy of ending up with a run of 3 low priority transfer/bedridden patient MD office visits end up coding and dying on me in 3 days. I was offically known as the angel of death for the next few weeks.

In general, its low pay, massive exposure to some of the most unhappy moments of peoples lives, and long hours.

I loved every minute of it.

Paramedic, RN. You can go to RN school without being a medic or EMT

Of your list, firefighting is the toughest to enter, then police, then bus driver, then EMT.

It depends. The company I work for does mostly 12-hour shifts. 12- and 24-hour shifts make up the bulk of ambulance shifts. Some places also do various other combinations including 8, 10, 14, and 16 hour shifts.

In most states, no. There’s a few states (Colorado & Wisconsin are the only ones I know of) that will allow EMT-Bs to start IVs/do blood draws, but that still requires extra training.

It’s usually not too bad, but it varies wildly from person to person. Also, blood draws and IVs are two different creatures.

A lot of ERs will hire EMT-Bs as ER techs. They’re generally higher on the EMT pay range.

They’re not very close. CNAs are more focused on assisting with long-term care, while EMTs are trained in short-term, acute care.

This will be almost entirely dependent on the hospital and how much they’re willing to let you do.

There’s really nothing too hard about EMT-B training. (There should be, but that’s a Pit rant). There’s nothing that hard about firefighter training, either.

In the end, if you want to do this, it needs to be something you love to do. There’s no glory, you won’t get lots of thanks, and the pay sucks.

St. Urho
Paramedic

Thanks for all the info. Since it was mentioned I will share what it takes to be a bus driver:

  1. Pass DMV written test for Class B license and passenger endorsement. (you have to do this before the bus company will train you)

1b. Pass DOT physical.

  1. Go to training class (at least two weeks usually) which is held in a classroom. Pass knowledge test.

  2. Pass pre-trip inspection. (This is a real bitch. For a 27 foot mini-bus there were over 100 items I had to memorize and be able to inspect and describe within 10 mins. In California and perhaps all over this memorization is the law to get the license)

  3. Pass obsticle course.

  4. Pass 24 hours of supervised on the road driving. You are being watched this whole time by an instructor who is riding with you. This is what is happening when you see buses that say “Training Bus” on the headsign. Hit two curbs, run a railroad crossing, etc and you could easily be “cut” from the class.

  5. Pass the DMV road test. Every single thing you do will be monitored and evaluated.

  6. Pass “Cadet” training where you are driving on a actual route but with someone aboard monitoring you.

  7. Pass your 90 days on your own and never, in your life, rear end anyone or cause an accident that is deemed to be preventable.

Pay range in Los Angeles: 10.00-22.00 per hour

The payoff for all of this is almost complete freedom from supervision once you are released from training and an office with a window. For me, it beats cubicle life. My intrest in becoming an EMT stems from a desire to work in the medical field on the “operations” side of things and save lives. Bus driving is fine, and I suppose I could do it forever, but I feel I have more to give.

So are you in the L.A. area, then? If so, you might actually have more opportunity to do some 911 work as an EMT. At least a few of the area fire departments contract to have a private ambulance company do their transports, rather than having their own ambulances.

ETA: So that means that the paramedics show up on a fire engine or Johnny & Roy style, or whatever. The ambulace is staffed with two EMT-Bs.

Well, I think that an EMT is a great way to start in the medical field and go onto another level of training. It sounds like becoming a paramedic might be a great job for you.

I worked both as a per diem EMT and a volunteer with the local town corps. I did 3 years as a driver only, then got my EMT card.

  1. What are the hours worked by an EMT typically?

Depends entirely on the company. Some allow highly flexible shifts with some people doing just a shift or two a week. Others insist that you plug into a schedule. I did a 12 at both volly and paid places. Of course, the volunteer corps had us all carrying radios so that we could answer up on calls if nobody was on for that shift.

1b. Is it possible to find a job somewhat easily without having to work graveyard often?

No way to say. Every paying provider is different.

  1. Will I have to draw blood? (for some reason this is a werid thought to me, having to draw blood. Seeing blood does not bother me. Its the thought of having to stick a metal tube in someones vein)

2b. How hard is it to actually draw blood?

No, in my experience no EMT or Paramedic draws blood. In New York State, only an EMT-I or Paramedic may push drugs but nobody in the field DRAWS blood. That’s what a phlebotomist is for.
3. I’ve noticed alot of places besides ambulance compaines hire EMTs. What are the best non-driving oppertunities?

No idea. A part of the draw for me was helping people in severe crisis, a part ( and if we are all honest, this IS a part of the draw ) of it is the adrenaline rush.

  1. How do EMTs emotionally handle the many horrid things they must see on an almost daily basis? (I’m in this to save lives and help people but I imagine I’m gonna see some pretty scary stuff)

Everyone deals differently. We are professional care-givers and so either you can manage the moment to moment flow of stress and trauma with cool clean detachment or you cannot cut it in this. I’m a pretty emotional and empathetic person by nature- and not the best suited to EMS work. Having said that, I never crumbled or turned away at the moment. Afterwards? Sometimes I was a mess. I responded directly on the morning of Sept. 11 and worked the 11th and 12th, then had to leave. That was a different kind of trauma because of the scale and the psychology of knowing what that attack meant.

One finds healthy outlets, one hopes. Crying, screaming, sharing with colleagues who endure similar events and so on. Some people smoke. Some drink. Some abuse themselves in other ways to numb out the events. We see the worst things, the things you read about in the paper and turn the page quickly so you do not have to risk visualizing them. We keep going back because an awful lot of the time our energy and dedication makes a difference in small and big ways to the lives of the people we encounter. The worst calls, for me, were pediatric calls followed closely by violent crime calls. A kid is hurt and EVERYONE is on edge, moving a bit faster, pushing a bit harder if that is even possible.

It is not like television. The blood is real, the fear and despair and terror and sickness are very real. You deal, and give good care and make sure you remember that there’s a person beneath the mess.

I find those who are so jaded, so burned out and tired of it that they become heartlessly clinical to be of no value to me. We are humans, treating humans. We are taking the responsibility of placing our hands on a stranger’s body in an effort to do good. That is a hell of a thing to want to do and you have to want it for the right reasons.

Some EMTs will go weeks and weeks without a cardiac call or a bad MVA ( motor vehicle accident ). Others will catch bad calls back to back. I did EMT for 3 years, never delivered a baby. A colleague on the volly corps delivered two in TWO MONTHS. As mentioned above, the great majority of the calls are for sick folks or folks who simply need transport.

I could write out a lot of war stories, but this isn’t the thread for that. I would ask you again to think very hard about WHY you want this career. If it’s for the best of reasons, and you can afford to live on what they will pay you, then you will find it to be just immensely rewarding.

  1. What is the upward career path for an EMT? (advancement to what?)

In NY it is, EMT, then EMT-I ( Intermediate, with added responsibility ), then Paramedic. Then, I guess, Nurse.

  1. Finally, in comparision to becoming a police officer, a bus driver, a fireman, or any other type of job that requires specialized training with the potental to be “cut” from the class, how hard is the training?

Pretty easy. It is a box class, pre-set and the same regiment everywhere in the state. It ran for 4 months, two evenings a week. You had to maintain a certain average PER section/test. You couldn’t bomb two section tests then do well on the State Exam and pass. You’d be flunked out of the class. Lives really are at stake.

Physically the training is fairly simple. Lift and carry techniques, extrication from crushed vehicles techniques, a couple of other things. Most of it is book work. In NYS, you had to pass the Class practical which is part of the State Exam, and also pass the class written exam. Then, you sat for the state exam. It is given in only a few locations every year. Passing in New York is a 70 out of 100. I scored an 85, which disappointed me. ( Heh- when I walked out after getting my score, I walked past a group of folks who had taken it, and I was on the cellular. I raised my voice and said, " I know, it is insane, I did SO well on that, I know I should be pleased with a 96 but gosh I just missed that ONE question !! " The group stared at me. Heh. )

I had to let my card go in 2004, because I broke my back in 2000. ( non-job related ). I miss doing Emergency Services work more than I can ever adequately communicate. It’s not a job, it’s a calling.

Cartooniverse, Ret. New York State E.M.T.

This bears repetition.

There is nothing hot about a 19 year old enduring a bad trauma, but there is something heartwarming about helping both the kid and the gramma. I stopped sharing stories with my wife and kids of using my cut-down shears to shred away clothing on female patients- it freaked them out.

Doing EMT work is without doubt the most asexual unerotic career out there. There is also a hightened sensitivity when you are dealing with a young woman who may or may not have ever HAD an adult touch them ANYWHERE but on the hand. One proceeds with respect and great care, but equally with merciless speed. As they say, pride goeth before the fall.

I’d like to add a couple things to Cartooniverse’s excellent post.

EMS varies not only from state to state, but from county to county and city to city as well. For example, in Colorado, EMT-Bs can become “IV authorized” (and then be an EMT-IV). These EMTs can then start IVs, draw blood, and administer D50 (50% Dextrose, given to diabetics). Paramedics and EMTs both do legal blood draws for law enforcement. In Minnesota, on the other hand, no EMTs can do IVs. Period. Here, we typically will draw a set of blood tubes for lab work when we start our IVs. There are lots of places where this doesn’t happen, either.

Also, in my experience, there’s little call for EMT-Is in urban areas. Around here, most of the EMT-Is work in the mountains, or out on the plains where they can’t afford to run full ALS with paramedics. We have a few EMT-Is that work for my company, but they practice at the basic level.

Sorry, perhaps this line wasn’t exactly clear. I wasn’t really referring to being a creep (although you shouldn’t be a creep either), I was talking about the fact that EMS work does attract a certain number of people more in love with the idea or vision or Hollywood portrayal of EMS than the actual practice of the field.

You watch Baywatch or ER, what’s going on? It’s young, attractive doctors saving young, attractive trauma patients in a dramatic fashion. The reality of the demographics of the patients is that a solid majority of patients are old sick people. So, I guess the point I was making is, do you want to be a stud, or do you want to be someone that helps people? I just found the population of EMT’s to be slightly skewed towards the former.

Oh. Um. Gosh. Sorry.

I agree with you, now that I understand what you meant !! :smack:

-slinks away grimacing-