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Working as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)
or Paramedic will prove to be an extremely rewarding career for
individuals that enjoy working outdoors, meeting and interacting
with people of all ages, color, sex, origin and education. The job
is challenging and requires the ability to think and reason quickly
in stressful situations. Due to the nature of EMS, working conditions
employees may be exposed to inclement weather, potential hazardous
conditions, diseases and other illnesses. Frequent interruptions,
work pressure and irregularities in work schedule can be expected.
Working hours can be long and may require working holidays, nights
and weekends. EMTs and Paramedics are continuously faced with a
number of situations considered to be high priority. They must be
able to maintain composure under pressure and handle stressful/emotional
situations during times of crisis. EMTs and Paramedics are occasionally
required to travel and attend regular and unscheduled meetings,
some of which take place outside of regular working hours. Due to
the changing health care environment, EMTs and Paramedics are required
to take continuing education and training throughout the year in
order to retain state certification.
A career in Emergency Services is life changing. It will change
your life and ultimately will mean the difference in the life of
a complete stranger. It’s a great feeling to know a person,
someone’s mom or dad, son or daughter, sister or brother,
grandmother or grandfather, friend, aunt, uncle or cousin is alive
today because you responded to their call for help. It is a career
of personal sacrifice, teamwork and selflessness. EMS is life changing.
The question is, do you have what it takes and are you ready for
it? Below we’ve outlined more specific information regarding
EMS, the levels of training and certifications required and where
to find schools that train EMTs and Paramedics. |
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Nature of Work:
People’s lives often depend on the quick reaction and competent
care of Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) and Paramedics. Incidents
as varied as automobile accidents, heart attacks, drowning, childbirth
and gunshot wounds all require immediate medical care. EMT’s
and Paramedics provide this vital attention as they care for and
transport the sick or injured to a medical facility. Depending on
the nature of the emergency, EMT's and paramedics typically are
dispatched to the scene by a 911 operator and often work with police
and fire department personnel. Once they arrive, they determine
the nature and extent of the patient’s condition while trying
to ascertain whether the patient has pre-existing medical problems.
Following strict rules and guidelines, they give appropriate emergency
care and, when necessary, transport the patient. Some paramedics
are trained to treat patients with minor injuries on the scene of
an accident or at their home without transporting them to a medical
facility. Usually, one EMT or paramedic drives while the other monitors
the patient’s vital signs and provides additional care as
needed. Paramedics may also be assigned to work as part of a flight
crew of helicopters that transport critically ill or injured patients
to hospital trauma centers.
At the medical facility, EMTs and Paramedics help transfer patients
to the emergency department, report their observations and actions
to staff, and may provide additional emergency treatment. After
each call, EMTs and paramedics replace used supplies and check equipment.
If a transported patient had a contagious disease, EMTs and paramedics
decontaminate the interior of the ambulance and report cases to
the proper authorities.
Another important service that ambulance companies provide is inter-hospital
transfers. Many patients require specialized services not available
at the hospital they are admitted to. Ambulance units are utilized
to transfer these patients between these facilities. These transfers
will sometimes comprise of 50 percent of the day's work. During
these transfers, EMTs and Paramedics must continually conduct patient
assessments; monitor cardiac function and blood pressure in order
to ensure a patient’s condition does not worsen while being
transferred between facilities. Beyond these general duties, the
specific responsibilities of EMTs and paramedics depend on their
level of qualification, certification and training.
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Levels of Certification
The National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT) registers
emergency medical service (EMS) providers at four levels: First
Responder, EMT-Basic, EMT-Intermediate, and EMT-Paramedic. Georgia
will only allow an EMT-Intermediate or an EMT-Paramedic to work
on an ambulance.
EMT-Basic
The entry level First Responders, are trained to provide basic emergency
medical care because they tend to be the first persons to arrive
at the scene of an incident. Many firefighters, police officers
and other emergency workers have this level of training. The EMT-Basic
represents the first component of the emergency medical technician
system. An EMT-B is trained to care for patients on accident scenes,
but in Georgia, he or she cannot transport a patient and does not
meet the minimum qualifications to work on an ambulance unit. The
EMT-B has the emergency skills to assess a patient’s condition
and manage respiratory, cardiac and trauma emergencies.
EMT-Intermediate
The EMT-Intermediate has more advanced training that allows administration
of intravenous fluids, use of automated defibrillators to give lifesaving
shocks to a stopped heart and use of basic airway techniques and
equipment to assist patients experiencing respiratory emergencies.
EMT-Paramedic
EMT-Paramedics provide the most extensive pre-hospital care. In
addition to the procedures already described, Paramedics may administer
drugs orally and intravenously, interpret electrocardiograms (EKGs),
perform manual defibrillation and synchronized cardioversion, perform
endotracheal intubations, perform chest decompression and use complex
equipment.
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Education Requirements:
Formal training is required to become an EMT or Paramedic.
All applicants must possess a High School Diploma or equivalent
GED. In order to become an EMT, one must complete an EMT course,
which includes classroom and clinical time. To become a Paramedic,
one must already be certified as an EMT and must complete a formal
paramedic program.
Here is a list of some of the local schools that offer EMT and paramedic
training programs:
Emergency Medical Technician Programs :
 Dekalb
Technical College
 Gwinnett
Technical College
 West
Georgia Technical College
 Medix
School
 Appalachian
Technical College
Jim Weaver, EMT Instructor
100 Campus Dr
Jasper, GA 30143
(706) 253-4500
 Chattahoochee
Technical College - Paulding Campus
Tim King, EMT Instructor
400 Nathan Dean Blvd
Dallas, GA 30132
(770) 443-3600
 Coosa
Valley Technical College
Glen Downes & Phillip Tucker, EMT Instructors
1 Maurice Culberson Dr
Rome, GA 30161
(706) 295-6963
 Dalton
State College
David Trammell, EMT & Paramedic Instructor
213 N College Dr
Dalton, GA 30720
(706) 272-4436
 North
Metro Technical College
Don Servais, EMT & Paramedic Instructor
5198 Ross Rd
Acworth, GA 30102
(770) 975-4000
Northwestern Technical College http://www.nwtcollege.org/
David Huskey, EMT Instructor
265 Bicentennial Trail
Rock Spring, GA 30739
(706) 764-3510
Paramedic Programs
 Clayton
State College
Medix
School
Chattahoochee
Technical College
Dekalb
Technical College
West
Georgia Technical College
Coosa
Valley Technical College
Larry Vandegriff, Paramedic Instructor
1 Maurice Culberson Dr
Rome, GA 30161
(706) 295-6963
Dalton
State College
David Trammell, Paramedic Instructor
213 N College Dr
Dalton, GA 30720
(706) 272-4436
North Metro Technical College http://www.northmetro.tec.ga.us/
Don Servais, Paramedic Instructor
5198 Ross Rd
Acworth, GA 30102
(770) 975-4000
Advancement beyond the EMT-Paramedic level usually means leaving
fieldwork. An EMT-Paramedic can become a supervisor, operations
manager, administrative director, or executive director of emergency
services. Some EMT's and paramedics become instructors, dispatchers,
or while others move into sales or marketing of emergency medical
equipment. A number of people become EMT's and paramedics and then
decide to continue their education and become registered nurses,
physicians, hospital administrators, or other health workers.
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Certification:
Certification is needed to become an EMT or paramedic. All 50 states
possess a certification procedure. In 38 states and the District
of Columbia, registration with the National Registry of Emergency
Medical Technicians (NREMT) is required at some or all levels of
certification. Other states administer their own certification examination
or provide the option of taking the NREMT examination.
Georgia requires registration with NREMT prior to certification
by the State of Georgia. Individuals must pass the NREMT-administered
EMT-Intermediate (1985) or EMT-Paramedic examination before he or
she will be granted a certificate/license by the State of Georgia.
The following is required to become certified as an EMT-Basic, EMT-Intermediate
or EMT-Paramedic by the State of Georgia:
EMT-Basic
- Attend a formal EMT-Basic course that includes 120 hours of
classroom time
- No formal clinical training is required
- This certification does NOT allow one to staff an ambulance
EMT-Intermediate:
- Attend a 377-hour EMT course offered at an available school
(includes 345 hours of classroom time and 32 hours of clinical
rotations)
- Pass the NREMT-Intermediate (1985) exam
- Apply for certification by the State of Georgia using the results
of your NREMT-Intermediate exam
EMT-Paramedic:
- Be a certified EMT-Intermediate with at least six (6) months
of work experience
- Attend a formalized paramedic course that includes a minimum
of 934 hours of instruction time (634 hours of this in a classroom)
- Perform 300 hours of clinical time to include rotations in the
emergency department, intensive care unit/critical care unit,
operating room, labor and delivery, psychiatric institutions,
pre-hospital, and other areas
- Pass the NREMT-Paramedic exam
- Apply for certification by the State of Georgia using the results
of your NREMT-Paramedic exam
To maintain certification, EMTs and paramedics must earn continuing
education units (CEU's) and must recertify every two years.
In order to maintain state certification, an EMT must earn 24
hours of CEU's and be certified in CPR. Paramedics and cardiac
technicians must earn 40 hours of CEUs and be certified in CPR
and Aadvanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS). Individual EMS agencies
may require more training and continuing education requirements
before their EMTs or Paramedics are allowed to practice under
the license of their medical director.
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Work Schedules
EMTs and Paramedics may choose from a variety of work shifts.
24-48 Hour Shift
A regular shift that is 24 hours on-duty followed by 48 hours off-duty
is typical. Employees working these type shifts are provided with
sleeping quarters. However, emergency call volume dictates whether
they get to sleep during their 24-hour shift. The typical work week
is two 24 hour shifts (48 hours total), but every third week the
employee will work 72 hours. This is because the shifts fall on
Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday. The advantage of working three 24-hour
shifts in one week is the 32 hours of overtime. The advantage of
not needing to work your third shift is that you will get a 5-day
vacation every third week. Each has its own benefits. Those who
work the 72-hour workweek will average 56 hours per week (when all
weeks are figured). Those that do not work the 72-hour work week
will only average 48 hours per week.
8 & 9-Hour Shifts
A regular shift that is 8 or 9 hours a day 5-days a week. Days of
the week may vary depending on coverage requirements based on historical
call volume trends.
12 & 14-Hour Shifts
A regular shift that is 12 or 14 hours a day 4 days a week. Day
of the week may vary depending on coverage requirements based on
historical call volume trends.
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Employment Outlook:
There is currently a national shortage of EMTs and
Paramedics and the needs are expected to continue to increase into
the near future. Population increases throughout the Southeastern
United States will increase the coverage requirements of Fire and
EMS Agencies, therefore increasing the need for more EMTs and Paramedics.
A national shortage of nurses has also increased job opportunities
for EMTs and Paramedics to work in Hospital Emergency Departments
and satellite health care clinics.
If you are interested in becoming an EMT or Paramedic, contact one
of the schools above for more information. We invite you to come
by and see us at MetroAtlanta Ambulance. We will be glad to show
you our equipment and facilities and answer any questions you may
have.
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