Navy Corpsman Vs Paramedic

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jwilbz03

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Anyone have any advice at what route to go? I am trying to decide what life I want to persue either the civillian or the military. I feel I would get a whole lot more emergency experience being a corpsman. What do you do you guys think?
 
You may even consider going to college and studying something completely irrelevant to EMS. It wouldn't hurt to have something to fall back on incase you discover EMS isn't for you.
 
jwilbz03 said:
Anyone have any advice at what route to go? I am trying to decide what life I want to persue either the civillian or the military. I feel I would get a whole lot more emergency experience being a corpsman. What do you do you guys think?
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I have heard that navy corpsman are similar to EMT-B, I can be wrong though. Talk to your superiors and see if you can get a chance to go to an NREMT-Paramedic school.
 
I'm at a college in florida which will certify me in the National registry. I am doing EMT-B right now and am trying to figure out if I want to persue paramedic or corpsman after. I love EMT B and can't stop researching and studying to gain more knowledge.
 
clibb said:
I have heard that navy corpsman are similar to EMT-B, I can be wrong though. Talk to your superiors and see if you can get a chance to go to an NREMT-Paramedic school.
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From what I've heard, all medics in all services are trained to the EMT-B (NREMT) level. Even if they practice advanced skills, in the civilian world, they will still only hold a basic cert. The only service men that are paramedics in the civilian sense are the Air Force's PJs
 
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rwik123 said:
From what I've heard, all medics in all services are trained to the EMT-B (NREMT) level. Even if they practice advanced skills, in the civilian world, they will still only hold a basic cert. The only service men that are paramedics in the civilian sense are the Air Force's PJs
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And Ranger medics, and 18D Army SF medics, I believe SEAL and Recon corpsmen as well. Basically the special ops community medics AFAIK, maybe some of our veteran members can illuminate. I entertained the idea of the military paying for my P-card, but I was about to get married and the training pipelines for most spec ops is long and very intense.
 
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jgmedic said:
And Ranger medics, and 18D Army SF medics, I believe SEAL and Recon corpsmen as well. Basically the special ops community medics AFAIK, maybe some of our veteran members can illuminate. I entertained the idea of the military paying for my P-card, but I was about to get married and the training pipelines for most spec ops is long and very intense.
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+1

That's what I was about to say. I'm pretty sure that all of the SF medics hold an NREMT-P card.
 
A friend of mine is a corpsman in the navy and told me he was trained to the LVN level, but focused on emergency response.
 
carbonated said:
A friend of mine is a corpsman in the navy and told me he was trained to the LVN level, but focused on emergency response.
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My brother-in-law is a corpsman and I asked him, at I believe E-4 they can challenge LVN with a certain number of hosp-based hours and approval from their command, so it's not a sure thing but can be done. He said for P-card, you have to be SEAL, Recon or a ship based rescue medic off a chopper.
 
jgmedic said:
My brother-in-law is a corpsman and I asked him, at I believe E-4 they can challenge LVN with a certain number of hosp-based hours and approval from their command, so it's not a sure thing but can be done. He said for P-card, you have to be SEAL, Recon or a ship based rescue medic off a chopper.
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Ahh ok that makes sense. He's an E-5, must've challenged. Thanks for clarifying.
 
I assume you are a younger person...

Work 25 years and get a pension with the military. After that work for another company and get SSI and a 401 if you are smart.

Work 45 years and get SSI, and if you were smart a 401.

Your choice. :unsure:
 
Yeah I am 21 years old, so my options are open to pretty much anything, but in class I heard someone state that corpsman were doing emergency craniotomies to alleviate skull pressure in severe trauma out in the field. I suppose this is untrue? I was under the impression the corpsman had a lot more flexibility to medical procedures than paramedics but I must be way out of line because I have yet to see anyone mention this.
 
A VERY good friend of mine is a Navy Corpsman. In the civilian world, he's trained to the EMT-B level. He can challenge the LVN now, if he wants to and has the appropriate hospital/clinical time.
 
jgmedic said:
And Ranger medics, and 18D Army SF medics, I believe SEAL and Recon corpsmen as well. Basically the special ops community medics AFAIK, maybe some of our veteran members can illuminate. I entertained the idea of the military paying for my P-card, but I was about to get married and the training pipelines for most spec ops is long and very intense.
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Hmm, I was told the SEAL medics are trained at a Physician Assistant level.
 
clibb said:
Hmm, I was told the SEAL medics are trained at a Physician Assistant level.
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The SEAL medics go to the armies 18D school. From what I've dug up from some quick google searches, the 18D course will get you within a few classes of getting into PA school...not qualifying you as a PA. It gives you good practical knowledge on become a PA, but lacks the educational component required of being a true PA.. But in the army, an 18D can essentially act as a PA would in the civilian world.
 
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clibb said:
Hmm, I was told the SEAL medics are trained at a Physician Assistant level.
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From what I can find, they're only trained to the 18D level. PA seems a bit of overkill...
 
For what the SF folks do, PA would be overkill... 18D would fit perfectly. Paramedic with a LOT of extra training.
 
A navy corspman and 68w are combat or hospital based medics they will have similar duties and abilities. They both receive a NREMT-b level civilian cert although their skills in device can be much greater. It can be quite frustrating if you end up transitioning to the medical world.

"Special Forces" medic is specifically the army also known as 18Delta. All special operations medics (recon, SF, rangers, seals, PJs) will attend the the first half of the 18D which basically the "p school" portion of the program with a strong focus on trauma. They do hospital and field shifts as well. Graduates of this portion have intermittently been able to test for the NREMT-P in the past, but recently they have an affiliation or agreement that accredits their school so everyone tests. At the end of this first portion the medics return to their respective services, while the 18deltas continue on to learn field surgery, dentistry, and veterinarian skills among other things.

I had a friend who loved being a corspman, worked with recon for a portion of his enlistment, had some crazy stories, and when he got out of the service he worked as an EMT because he lacked any other civilian qualifications.

Make your choice on where you see yourself staying for good. Unless you don't mind a little backtracking when make the transition.
 
SanDiegoEmt7 said:
A navy corspman and 68w are combat or hospital based medics they will have similar duties and abilities. They both receive a NREMT-b level civilian cert although their skills in device can be much greater. It can be quite frustrating if you end up transitioning to the medical world.
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^ That's what I heard. I heard the only reason a corpsman can't come out as a paramedic in the civilian world is due to the lack of medical experience, but their trauma is far more advanced. My instructor is trying to put together a bridge program so corpsman only have to test out of a medical portion in order to get their paramedic cert.
 
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