How would I become an EMT?

Difference between EMT, and Paramedics? and how to become one?

• What are the differences between Paramedics and EMT's? like where they work? what they do? what opportunities do they have? Can someone also explain how to become an EMT or ...show more

• Answer:

  EMT's are considered "Basic Life Support" IE; Learning how to assess and manage basic pre-hospital medical and trauma emergencies. CPR, Controlling bleeding, Oxygen Administration, Using basic airway adjunct's (opa,npa,lma), Airway suctioning, Some "Basic advanced" airway in certain area's Combitube, King Lt's, Spinal Immobilization, taking basic vital sign's (Blood pressure, Oxygen saturation ,Pulse, Temperatures ect) Limited assisting pt administration take their prescribed medications (NTG,Albuterol breathing treatments), how and when to use a epi-pen, Learning how to deliver a baby, A some more basic life support task's a EMT may encounter in the field. Average is about a 6 month course, And a very basic human anatomy and physiology section in the beginning of the class. Depending on the system a EMT work's in. His job may be on a Advanced life support Ambulance assisting the Paramedic with what they need, Other systems may run two or more EMT's on a Basic life support Ambulance providing basic life support to their assigned area. EMT training is aimed towards an entry level position in sole treatment as a Pre-hospital care provider. You must be a minimal emt-basic before you can become a paramedic (NREMT Requirement states). Paramedic's are considered "Advanced Life Support". Paramedic's are trained on all the above task's and then go into more depth knowledge of the human body. In my area, A Paramedic student must have a minimal college level human anatomy and physiology course prior to starting the Paramedic program. Most school's offer the A&P course prior to the start of the Paramedic portion. Math and science with be essential as to have a good knowledge of what someone will be learning in the course. You will start from the basic's you learned in emt-basic as a foundation and learn more extensive procedures to treat your pt's IE; Advanced airway techniques (Endotracheal Intubation, Nasotracheal Intubation, Cricothyrotomy, Needle chest decompression, chest tubes in some area's, Nasogastric suction ect). You must have sharp skills in math because you will learn a significant amount of drug's that you will be required to use in your career as a paramedic. you must be able to know how to draw up the proper amount of a drug in a certain concentration, mix certain drug's, calculate a certain drug dependent on a pt's weight in kilograms, infuse certain drugs over a precise period of time. and then you will need to know what drugs to use and not use use in conjunction with each other, And then what drug's to use if you've given to much or somehow given the wrong drug. A lot of Ambulances supply charts with prewritten dosages on certain drug, Or have a calculator. Never the less you need to know how to do the long math on paper if all else fail's so you are not to do more harm to your pt and face legal consequences. Science will be essential as well because the human body is a science. Just a small example, Dependent on the area you will be working in. There may be a situation where you have to do what is call a rapid sequence induction/intubation (RSI). In plain english you will be sedating and paralyzing a person to establish a airway. Knowing the science behind what you're doing to that persons body is essential to correctly performing your procedure and correcting any problems you would encounter in the process. That's just a small example. Other thing's you will learn is different levels of different body systems. Just to name a very few- PH level's, ETCO2 levels, Intracranial pressures, Enzyme and Electrolyte levels, ect and how to treat those systems when something goes wrong. You may also after time go into a aeromedical ambulance service where you will learn how everything changes (Pt and treatments) in different altitudes. You will have to know how to recognize and treat heart dysrhythmias, More extensive respiratory, endocrine, GI, renal, neurological and ect system emergencies. Trauma emergency care changes slightly with some more extensive knowledge of injuries and advanced treatment's. And then you'll learn everything again in advanced care of pediatrics. different drug dosages, more knowledge base ect. and just ton's and ton's of different information and treatment's for other emergencies you will encounter in the field. As a Paramedic you will be a team leader in 99% of pre-hospital emergency care. It's not to be taken lightly, There are a lot of advanced procedures you will learn that if not preformed safely and correctly, You can kill your pt or other's. Paramedic program's have changed from what they used to be. It used to be a 2 year program, Now they have compressed it down to the shortest i've seen is 4 months at a school where you go to class 6 day's a week, 8-10 hours a day. This is just a quick run down of this interesting field. You can always expand into different field as a Paramedic. There is a ton more of information all over the internet for anything else you woul