Answering the Call of Duty: EMTs

By Joe Pringle
Joe.pringle@medicalhealthcarecareerschools.com
Medical Health Care Career Schools Columnist

When lives are on the line, it's often the job of emergency medical technicians (EMTs) to come through and save them.

When Duty Calls

As an emergency medical technician (EMT), there's a lot of responsibility on your shoulders. The innocent bystander bleeding from five different places from gunshot wounds due to a drug war in the streets… it's your job to save him, or at least keep him alive until a doctor can help him. The woman who was hit by a drunk driver and crushed under her car, pulled from the flaming debris by brave police officers or firefighters…guess what? It's your job to save her. The pressure is on. You will have to use every bit of EMT training you have. Can you handle it?

Do You Have What it Takes?

Clearly, hospitals aren't going to put just anybody into these EMT jobs. They are going to want someone who has attended EMT school and obtained their EMT training and certification. Getting your EMT training can take anywhere from just three months to a full four years. The reason for this great variance in EMT training time is there are different levels of EMT training that can be reached. You can get EMT-Basic training, EMT-Intermediate training, or the highest level, EMT-paramedic training. Once you obtain certification, you will be required to continue your education throughout your career to stay up on the latest advances in medical technology and techniques.

Summary

As an EMT, you may have to work odd hours, respond to calls in the middle of the night, and constantly have the awareness and presence of mind to know exactly what to do in an emergency situation. Can you handle it?

Sources:

US Bureau of Labor Statistics

About the Author

Joe Pringle is a full-time student at Seattle Pacific University, where he spends his weekdays going to class and doing freelance writing, and his weekends looking into the intricacies of social and abnormal psychological processes.

Posted on: January 19, 2006