Interested in becoming a paramedic.

[K7JDD]

Hello everyone. Thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to read this and many thanks to anyone with advice.

I am really interested in taking the path to becoming a paramedic in Portland, OR. I have been a waiter, cook, restaurant manager, truck driver and AAA emergency services responder. I have also completed the Neighborhood Emergency Team (same as CERT but that's what we call our police SWAT teams) training here in Portland. Part of the training was first aid/ disaster triage. In that training, I realized I would really enjoy helping people in emergency situations. I have good people skills and enjoy helping people.

With that said, I also have around 40 credits from Portland Community College. Mostly general education stuff to fulfill the requirements for an AAS degree. I took off a few semesters to help my wife through pregnancy and to stay home full time with my daughter but now I am ready to start back again. Does anyone know about PCC's EMT/Paramedic course? Should I start off with the rest of the requirements for an AAS and take some anatomy classes than start the EMT program? I know the paramedic program is hard to get in to.

I am also kind of worried I might be to old (will be 33 this year) to compete with the young guys for jobs and getting into the paramedic program. Would my age/experience help or hinder me?

Any advice anyone may have would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Jon

 

[joshrunkle35]

Hello everyone. Thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to read this and many thanks to anyone with advice.

I am really interested in taking the path to becoming a paramedic in Portland, OR. I have been a waiter, cook, restaurant manager, truck driver and AAA emergency services responder. I have also completed the Neighborhood Emergency Team (same as CERT but that's what we call our police SWAT teams) training here in Portland. Part of the training was first aid/ disaster triage. In that training, I realized I would really enjoy helping people in emergency situations. I have good people skills and enjoy helping people.

With that said, I also have around 40 credits from Portland Community College. Mostly general education stuff to fulfill the requirements for an AAS degree. I took off a few semesters to help my wife through pregnancy and to stay home full time with my daughter but now I am ready to start back again. Does anyone know about PCC's EMT/Paramedic course? Should I start off with the rest of the requirements for an AAS and take some anatomy classes than start the EMT program? I know the paramedic program is hard to get in to.

I am also kind of worried I might be to old (will be 33 this year) to compete with the young guys for jobs and getting into the paramedic program. Would my age/experience help or hinder me?

Any advice anyone may have would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Jon

Don't worry about being too old to be a paramedic. I just finished medic school in June. The majority of people who started were around 21-24. The majority that actually finished were over 30.

Do a few ride alongs to determine if this is what you actually want to do. If so, pursue it.

 

[Happycoop]

I'm in a similar boat...33 and just starting EMT school before heading to Paramedic and/or Fire. As I returned to school a couple years ago after several years in the workforce, I can definitely say I am a better student now than I was previously. The maturity level can be a major advantage as you move through a program.
Best of luck!

 

[NomadicMedic]

I am also kind of worried I might be to old (will be 33 this year) to compete with the young guys for jobs and getting into the paramedic program. Would my age/experience help or hinder me?

Any advice anyone may have would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Jon

I became a medic on my 40th birthday. You're not too old.

 

[happyrockssmile]

Sort of off topic...but still there...

Hey there everyone!
I'm currently a junior in high school, and I'm working on my EMT-B license. I know I love the life of EMT and fire. I'm currently at the part of my life where I'm thinking about what I want to do with my life. I've been stuck on the idea of being a paramedic since I've been in Middle School, and I'm still really attached to that idea. I'm aware of the low salary in my state, but I'm still driven towards it. My real question is, would I be able to do anything different as a paramedic if I also went to school for Respiratory Therapy, as I've been thinking about combining the two.

 

[NomadicMedic]

Life Star in Hartford CT used to fly with a medic/RT. Don't know if they still do.

Any additional education helps. You'll be doing many of the same prerequisites for nursing. It never hurts to stack the deck in your direction.

 

[happyrockssmile]

I'm pretty sure they still do. They came to my school a few years ago and I asked about being a flight medic and they said they were highly selective, as there's only one or two helicopters for the state. I've considered being a flight RT, but I don't want that to be the only thing I have to fall on if I decide to go this direction.

 

[Carlos Danger]

I'm pretty sure they still do. They came to my school a few years ago and I asked about being a flight medic and they said they were highly selective, as there's only one or two helicopters for the state. I've considered being a flight RT, but I don't want that to be the only thing I have to fall on if I decide to go this direction.

Well, you'll need several years of paramedic or critical care RRT experience before even being eligible to apply for a flight job, and because of the competitive nature of the jobs there is no guarantee you'll get one.

The point is, while it's great to have HEMS as a goal, don't become an RRT or a paramedic unless you are confident you'll be happy doing the job on the ground.

 

[Akulahawk]

Hello everyone. Thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to read this and many thanks to anyone with advice.

I am really interested in taking the path to becoming a paramedic in Portland, OR. I have been a waiter, cook, restaurant manager, truck driver and AAA emergency services responder. I have also completed the Neighborhood Emergency Team (same as CERT but that's what we call our police SWAT teams) training here in Portland. Part of the training was first aid/ disaster triage. In that training, I realized I would really enjoy helping people in emergency situations. I have good people skills and enjoy helping people.

With that said, I also have around 40 credits from Portland Community College. Mostly general education stuff to fulfill the requirements for an AAS degree. I took off a few semesters to help my wife through pregnancy and to stay home full time with my daughter but now I am ready to start back again. Does anyone know about PCC's EMT/Paramedic course? Should I start off with the rest of the requirements for an AAS and take some anatomy classes than start the EMT program? I know the paramedic program is hard to get in to.

I am also kind of worried I might be to old (will be 33 this year) to compete with the young guys for jobs and getting into the paramedic program. Would my age/experience help or hinder me?

Any advice anyone may have would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Jon

Jon, you're not too old to become a Paramedic. If anything, you have some life experience that should allow you to better discuss stuff with patients - you know, engage in small-talk about things. The reason I bring this up is because while you're talking with your patients, you're continuously assessing their level of consciousness/mentation. If something's about to go askew, the brain's often going to have a glitch... and it'll show if it does.

Also, because you have some life experience, you're less likely to charge right into a situation and put yourself into danger. Also as a student of slightly advanced age (you're in your 30's) you've probably figured out how you study best. While P-school is relatively short, you get a bunch of information shoved at you, and for some people, that's just too difficult to deal with. It's just a lot of volume. From what I've seen, for some reason, healthcare education just LOVES to present information at you in fire hose fashion - and require you to drink from the stream.

If you're ready for that, go for it.

 

[Akulahawk]

Hey there everyone!
I'm currently a junior in high school, and I'm working on my EMT-B license. I know I love the life of EMT and fire. I'm currently at the part of my life where I'm thinking about what I want to do with my life. I've been stuck on the idea of being a paramedic since I've been in Middle School, and I'm still really attached to that idea. I'm aware of the low salary in my state, but I'm still driven towards it. My real question is, would I be able to do anything different as a paramedic if I also went to school for Respiratory Therapy, as I've been thinking about combining the two.

Basically, as a Paramedic, there's not much more room for advancement once you get the license/cert. Being an RT will probably give you a lot more education about dealing with respiratory issues and some airway management than you'd ever learn while being "just" a Paramedic. After you get some (quite a bit probably) experience as both a Paramedic and an RT or RN or something similar doing critical care, you may be looked at as a qualified candidate for critical care transport/flight transport type of programs. However, the role you may end up with could very well be related to your "specialty" role as an RT or RN instead of Paramedic. If your service ends up doing "scene calls" and not just IFTs, Paramedic will be useful because of your experience being in the field. In other words, you know about scene hazards and operations because you've done that for a long time.

Basically, you're looking at a potentially long road with little to no guarantee that you'll end up ever working for a flight program. I'm definitely not saying you shouldn't pursue the job, but that you should be prepared to educate yourself well, beyond the needs of the job. I would hope that most of us here wake up in the morning (or whenever) and usually can't wait to go to work instead of dreading it because we find it fun. We leave the job because of injury, other life responsibilities creep in, or we just no longer find it fun.

There really is a reason why "work" is a four letter word. Work usually isn't fun. Find a job you love and you'll never work a day in your life.