My son wants to be a paramedic...what kind of things should he take

[lori in tx]

I told him in Tx Spanish is the key to getting more money , in TX bilingual means more pay. But what else? Anatomy but using what? Any ideas?

He really wants to become a paramedic and then when he turns 21yo become a police officer with a goal of becoming a SWAT paramedic. They had a news thing on about this and it was the coolest thing:001_huh: at least for him.
thanks for any help!
lori

[Ailaena]

Before leaving high school, he should have a very good grasp on chemistry, critical reading skills and algebra manipulations. An intro to A&P class would be good, because he will be required to take A&P as part of the program. They actually sell intro to A&P textbooks for college (usually called Essentials of A&P) and I think Apologia or Abeka or someone has one.

He should be CPR/first aid certified and if/when he is old enough, he may want to consider volunteering time in a nursing home or hospital. Any experience he gets with associating with random people would be great, as well. Oh! You could begin looking at case studies (http://cme.medscape.com/index/list_3286_0), those are always fun.

In every state I can think of, you have to be an EMT-B for a period of time before you can begin the paramedic courses. He could conceivably begin that coursework as a senior, depending on the rules of the college/hospital.

Hope that helps, somewhat!

[Laurie4b]

Do you have the option of dual enrollment in Texas? Our community college offers a paramedic certificate, and kids can take those courses during high school. A friend's high school student had completed her certified medical assistant certificate by her junior year in high school.

[Lori D.]

1. Our local fire department also has a high school student volunteer program; definitely check into both your local fire and police/SWAT departments to see what "junior firefighter" or "student volunteer" programs they have available and participate as much as possible.

2. Take your EMT coursework thru the local community college so soon as you are eligible to do so. It's a big plus if you are already EMT certified by the time you finish high school.

3. Have realistic expectations: be aware that most fire departments actually prefer to recruit slightly older people -- ages 21-35 -- as these people have a little more life experience and maturity. See it from the emergency services' point of view: they are going to invest a LOT of money into training personnel -- they just can't afford to have a lot of people fail, drop out, or change their minds.

4. Our local community college offers a lot of fire and police coursework that is similar to the training academies for both fire and police departments. Once you graduate from high school, start taking courses thru your community college in those areas and earn your Associate's Degree in Fire Science or Police Training, which will definitely raise your changes of being more seriously considered for hiring.

5. Any ethnicity in the family background (whole, 1/2 or 1/4 of any minority group) also increases chances of being looked at more seriously -- emergency services are often a prime target of gender/racial/ethnic lawsuits, so they are very proactive in trying to hire minorities.


Most importantly:
Pick which is the ultimate goal (fire dept. or police swat team) you REALLY want, and go straight for that.

Realize that the fire department does not look kindly on being used as a "stepping stone" to Police Dept. SWAT team (or vice versa). Unless your police and fire departments are set up different than ours, they are separate entities and train their personnel with the hope/expectation of 20+ year careers out of you. Again, see it from their point of view: they don't want to spend huge $$ training you as a paramedic, only to have you switch over to the police dept. after 3-5 years.

Also, another realistic expectation: even if your police and fire departments are more entwined than ours and going thru one to get to the other IS the way it works in your town, realize it will take more than 3 years to achieve paramedic status. On our local fire dept.:

year 1 = training academy; probationary firefighter
year 2 = probationary firefighter
year 3 = swing firefighter
year 4 = first year you may apply for paramedic training
year 5 = IF accepted, paramedic training (usually you AREN'T accepted the first time you apply); probationary paramedic
year 6 = finish probationary paramedic time


And finally, realize that every single town and city has their own fire dept. You will be working for whatever town or city for your whole career -- these are NOT transferable positions. My DH is a captain with 20+ years of service on our fire dept. To transfer to another city even within our state, he would start over from scratch. So make sure:

1. You are applying in the town/city you really want to live/work in for the next 20+ years.
2. You apply for the dept. you really want to work for over the next 20+ years (fire or police).


Volunteering will certainly help you narrow down what you really are interested in doing! BEST of luck, and it's an awesome job -- you'll be joining a real "brotherhood" of courageous men and women who put their lives on the line to help others -- it's a very rewarding field! : ) Warmest regards, Lori D.

[Ailaena]

Also, another realistic expectation: even if your police and fire departments are more entwined than ours and going thru one to get to the other IS the way it works in your town, realize it will take more than 3 years to achieve paramedic status.



Lori, your information was invaluable! You have done a really great job showing everyone that "being a firefighter" is NOT as easy as it sounds.

I would just like to clarify that it is not always necessary to be part of the fire department to be a paramedic. I know that in some states, you need only be an EMT-B for one year to be accepted into the paramedic program, although some of them may fill up faster than others.

[Lori D.]

Yes, that's true. What I outlined was the route to paramedic through a fire dept. As you pointed out, if he wants to be on the police dept and be a paramedic, he doesn't have to -- and probably shouldn't -- start in the fire dept. Thanks! : ) Warmest regards, Lori

[Kareni]

Another subject your son might consider pursuing (in his copious spare time) is sign language. My nephew who works as an EMT has found ASL to be very helpful in his work.

Regards,
Kareni

[chelsea in TN]

Yeah... I know I started back with the dinosaurs. Back when wearing gloves was sort of a new idea, Life pack 10 was so coool, ACLS, BTLS (etc.) was in its infancy and one-man cots were rare (as were women).

Anyway...

I Strongly encourage him to get the biology and chemistry down. Consider a course in anatomy and physiology. Strong Algebra skills are a must. Anything that increases his abilty to critically think through problems will help him no matter which path he takes.The ability to "think out side of the box" is always a plus in the field.

At his age I would look into first responder courses, first aide courses, CPR, exploreer programs through the fire department and Police Department to see if this is REALLY something he wants to do.

Volunteering is a way to get your feet wet as well but you usually need to be 18 years old.

I almost forgot - get in and remain in top physical shape. He needs to start a life long mind set of physical fitness and a program to stay that way. I say thins as my back aches from years of lifting patients and multiple injuries on the job - and not taking my own advice :001_smile:

I do think that you do have to be an EMT- B for a certain amount of time before you can attend paramedic school now. For me I got my EMT - B, A month later I got my EMT-IV and we were so short paramedics I went directly into the next paramedic class - I was 18 years old.

I do not recommend this. I was 19 when I got out of paramedic school. My first call as a full fledged paramedic was a girl I graduated with. She shot herself in the head because her boy friend would not smoke pot with her. She did not survive. It was a lot to take in at 19. I worked outside of Dayton OH. And it seemed like we had one bad call after another. We had a fire in which 2 fire fighters - friends - died. My mother said I was like a war vet by the time I was 21.

My advice would be to finish high school. Then go to college - don't rush through and try to dual enroll. Yes, he can do the course work, but is he emotionally ready to be a paramedic? I had a 4.0 in the class room. You have to be emotionally ready for everything that is going to happen out on the street. An 18 -19 year old generally is not there yet.

Foe Example: my husband was one of the paramedics who responded to Steven Curtis Chapman's daughter's accident at their home. How would yourson deal with a 5 year old who has just been accidentally run over by her brother?? My husband has been a paramedic for over 20 years and it took him days to talk about it.....

Being a paramedic is one of the most rewarding things you can do with your life. I have been witness to some wonderful miracles but also some horible tragedies. 21 seems like a good age to be on your own as a paramedic. Before then maybe spend a few years as an EMT. Generally EMT's work with a parmedic. You can learn so much from working with a paramedic. That way the life or death decissions are not left up to you at such a young age. Believe me being 19 and being expected to have all the answers as a paramedic is a little too stressful at times :)

I also would not worry too much about making sure the place you start working is the place you want to work for the next 20 years unless you are interested in rank advancement. My husband has been with the same EMS service for years - 17 to be exact and has been offered numerous rank adavancements. He turns them down because they will take him away from his frist love - patients. He still gets pay raises. This is different than a fire department based service because it is a hopsital based service.

Both of us work in the Emergency Department as RN's. I work only one day a week (none on the Ambulance). In our area people in EMS , Fire and Police end up working two jobs to make ends meet.

I hope this was not too long and that you can get a little out of what I had to say.
Good luck :001_smile:

Chelsea
RN/ EMT-P

[lori in tx]

Thank you girls. I am going to print these out for future reference. I will have him learn some sign language also, my dd is very good in sign language but I don't this one learned it. OHH and Lori D I am in the process of proving that our kids are a 1/4 cherokee (my dh is 1/2 just no one signed up on the Indian Roles:glare:)

Chelsea one question we are have a hard time getting the bottom line with is what is the difference between a EMT and EMS. EMT does what?

thanks again girls ya'll have been great!
blessings
lori

[chelsea in TN]

EMT- Emergency Medical Technician

First Responder - Usually just first aide and maybe a little more. Varies from State to State.

EMT - B = Emergency Medical Technician Basic (Basically a step above first responder)- In TN I think they can give maybe Epinepherine for allergic reactions? Not really used too much anymore.

EMT -IV (or Intermediate) - EMT-B + IV skills. Again may have other skills. Varies from state to state.

EMT-P (Paramedic) -This is what everyone think of when they think ambulance. They can do the Iv's, medications for cardiac and medical problems, they are trained to take care of emergencies ranging from splinters in fingers (yes I was actually called at 2 am for a splinter in a finger- ambulance with a paramedic cost - $800 in our area)- to cardiac arrest. Paramedics deal with medical emergencies such as abdomial pain, vomiting diarreah, etc..., Trauma - amputations, car wrecks, any kind of injury you can imagine., Cardiac problems : heart attacks and other heart related, respiratory: asthma, and more and child birth, etc. You really get a bit of everything.
Paramedics are generally in "charge" of the scene medically. There may be an incident comander in charge of the scene in general but the paramedic calls the shots where the patient is concerned. paramedics are overseen by medical control - in our area a doctor at the local emergency emergency department.

EMS- Emergency Medical Services

HTH,
Chelsea

[mcconnellboys]

Chemistry; perhaps psychology; forensic science; CPR certification as soon as possible in each of the different areas would be helpful; other first aid training through Red Cross, etc., would be helpful; volunteering with the Red Cross or in a hospital would be helpful; lifeguard training might be helpful, too.

[chelsea in TN]

Computer skills would be a plus as many services are going to computerized record keeping, training and such....

[jamnkats]

1. Our local fire department also has a high school student volunteer program; definitely check into both your local fire and police/SWAT departments to see what "junior firefighter" or "student volunteer" programs they have available and participate as much as possible.

2. Take your EMT coursework thru the local community college so soon as you are eligible to do so. It's a big plus if you are already EMT certified by the time you finish high school.

3. Have realistic expectations: be aware that most fire departments actually prefer to recruit slightly older people -- ages 21-35 -- as these people have a little more life experience and maturity. See it from the emergency services' point of view: they are going to invest a LOT of money into training personnel -- they just can't afford to have a lot of people fail, drop out, or change their minds.

4. Our local community college offers a lot of fire and police coursework that is similar to the training academies for both fire and police departments. Once you graduate from high school, start taking courses thru your community college in those areas and earn your Associate's Degree in Fire Science or Police Training, which will definitely raise your changes of being more seriously considered for hiring.

5. Any ethnicity in the family background (whole, 1/2 or 1/4 of any minority group) also increases chances of being looked at more seriously -- emergency services are often a prime target of gender/racial/ethnic lawsuits, so they are very proactive in trying to hire minorities.


Most importantly:
Pick which is the ultimate goal (fire dept. or police swat team) you REALLY want, and go straight for that.

Realize that the fire department does not look kindly on being used as a "stepping stone" to Police Dept. SWAT team (or vice versa). Unless your police and fire departments are set up different than ours, they are separate entities and train their personnel with the hope/expectation of 20+ year careers out of you. Again, see it from their point of view: they don't want to spend huge $$ training you as a paramedic, only to have you switch over to the police dept. after 3-5 years.

Also, another realistic expectation: even if your police and fire departments are more entwined than ours and going thru one to get to the other IS the way it works in your town, realize it will take more than 3 years to achieve paramedic status. On our local fire dept.:

year 1 = training academy; probationary firefighter
year 2 = probationary firefighter
year 3 = swing firefighter
year 4 = first year you may apply for paramedic training
year 5 = IF accepted, paramedic training (usually you AREN'T accepted the first time you apply); probationary paramedic
year 6 = finish probationary paramedic time


And finally, realize that every single town and city has their own fire dept. You will be working for whatever town or city for your whole career -- these are NOT transferable positions. My DH is a captain with 20+ years of service on our fire dept. To transfer to another city even within our state, he would start over from scratch. So make sure:

1. You are applying in the town/city you really want to live/work in for the next 20+ years.
2. You apply for the dept. you really want to work for over the next 20+ years (fire or police).


Volunteering will certainly help you narrow down what you really are interested in doing! BEST of luck, and it's an awesome job -- you'll be joining a real "brotherhood" of courageous men and women who put their lives on the line to help others -- it's a very rewarding field! : ) Warmest regards, Lori D.

THis is excellent advice. My BIL is a firefighter in California and his career echos your post. He recently left one station (city) to work at another. He had TWENTY years of experience and had to start with the grunts and go to school. He also spent many years (I don't know exactly how many) before he qualified for EMT training. He is now an Engineer (in the new city).

[lori in tx]

Thanks girls! He does like the advice of being an EMT first for a while then being a paramdic. It is required that way in TX and it is also required to be 18yo. He is also looking into an explorer program, although they don't see to have one in a major TX city that begins with a D! Hmmm strange I am still searching though!
blessings
lori

[Melissa in CA]

I have no advice to give but to say that my oldest is taking EMT classes this fall at our community college. He really wants to be an LVN or RN, but is waiting t be accepted into the program here (waiting list) so decided to get his feet wet as an EMT while also taking his LVN prerequisites.

I don't know about other states, but EMT's make next to nothing here! Ten dollars an hour if they are lucky... pathetic for what they do, and Paramedics don't make a whole lot more. :001_huh: