Emt????

[iiismkiii]

Hi, I recently decided on med school as my course and is just in this hectic race. Of all the things it takes, I find getting experience possibly the hardest task and want to get as much hands-on XP as possible. And I was wondering about becoming an EMT-1. Can anyone who's done it tell me how long it would generally take to become one and most of all, what the duties and experience are like? (Is there a lot of CPR? blood? broken bones? dangerous?) I also want to know if it's a little too late to do it (I'm a full-time college sophomore) and if it necessarily gives you the better clinical experience than say, shadowing a doctor. Thank you. :eek:

[emt036]

While definitely the most fun way to get experience (IMHO), becoming an EMT is not the fastest. I assume by EMT-1 you mean EMT-Basic? In that case, it's a 120-140 hour course that can last 1-4 months, depending on how the classes are scheduled. Duties are detailed here (http://www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/ems/policy/00-10.htm), but to summarize - "they call, you haul."

Experience will vary wildly, depending on what type of agency you join. If you work for a transfer only service, all you'll be doing is "shucking gomers" (giving taxi rides to elderly persons between the nursing home and hospital for no apparent medical reason, other than the LPN has no clue). If you work for an urban 911 service, then you'll get a few more gunshot wounds. Personally, I do 911 - but it's not all blood and guts. Most calls are of a cardiac/respiratory nature, and only maybe 5% of them are true emergencies (i.e. we drive lights and sirens to the hospital). You might be cleaning blood out of the back of the ambulance on every call, depending on how good your medic is starting IV's. :-) It is slightly dangerous (from combative patients/family members, stupid drivers either running into your ambulance or you when you are working in the middle of a highway), but nothing too bad.

Depending on call volume of the ambulance corps you join (i.e. 1 call a week vs. 14 calls in 12 hours), it may take a while to get a significant amount of experience. What are you thinking about going in to? Emergency Medicine? You might want to think about getting hired as a patient care tech in an Emergency Department. Benefits: 1) They pay you. 2) Usually only a few days of in-house training before they set you loose (vs. the months it takes to become an EMT). 3) Constant stream of patients = more experience. 4) More interaction with ED MD's - perhaps they could write you a nice LOR.

With that being said, the EMT thing is definitely more fun. :-)