Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) – a qualified, licensed health care professional who generally provides pre-hospital emergency medical care to the ill or injured patient.
Working in the field of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) can be a very rewarding and challenging experience for those individuals who are committed to the safety and well being of their family, friends, neighbors, and more often complete strangers in the communities they serve.
General Pre-qualifications for most States:
o Applicant to an Accredited EMT Program must be at least 18 years old.
o The applicant must possess a High School Diploma or Equivalent.
o Some EMT programs may require a placement exam, i.e. colleges that require an entrance exam for all students.
EMT Programs in most states consist of approximately 110 hours of classroom and practical training and at least 24 hours of “hands on” clinical experience, usually at a local hospital and EMS Provider. Classes can be completed in as little as 14 days, although most programs meet once or twice a week for 3 to 4 hours over a 5 or 6 month period.
During the classroom and practical training sessions of the EMT program a variety of topics concerning pre-hospital patient care will be discussed. These topics are generally broken down into six to eight modules as I’ve listed below. Please keep in mind that some programs may differ slightly in the way or order the information is presented, but you can at least get a very good idea of what you will learn and need to accomplish to successfully complete the EMT program you choose to attend.
Module I:
This module is generally considered the preparatory portion of the EMT program in which the EMT student learns and participates in the discussion of such subjects as, Introduction to Emergency Medical Care, Protection Methods for the EMT, Legal and Ethical Issues, General Patient Anatomy and Physiology, and Lifting and Moving Patients.
Module II:
The Patient Airway Management and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) module. In this portion of the course you will learn in addition to CPR, skills such as additional airway management techniques, using airway adjuncts, and oxygen administration.
Module III:
The Patient Assessment Module is perhaps the most challenging part of the EMT Program consisting of, sizing up the medical or trauma scene, the initial or primary patient assessment of the medical and trauma patient, how to obtain a pertinent patient history, obtaining vital signs, the ongoing or secondary patient assessment, communicating your findings and proper patient documentation. Keep in mind that although we speak of the patient in general terms we are covering various age groups, including, pediatrics (newborns, infants, and toddlers, and children), adolescents (teenagers), adults, and geriatric (elderly) patients.
» Read more: Emergency Medical Services – How to Become an Emergency Medical Technician
