no time for standard school?

troymclure

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ive decided to become an emt, and eventually possibly a paramedic.

due to my job im not able to do standard classes(im on call to work off shore in the gulf of mexico 1-30 days at a time with as few as 3hrs notice).

all of the classroom type classes around here take 3 months or so, just a few hours a few times a week.

to take these type of classes i would need to take 3 months off of work. as ill already be taking a 60%+ pay cut to be an emt that isnt going to be possible.

my questions has anybody had any experience with online emt-b courses such as emtfiretraining . com or trainingdivision . com(top google searches).

ive already contacted the local places of employment and all they care about is having proper certification, as "most important training takes place on the job".
 
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troymclure

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ive seen the 2 week boot camp for $4k, got links to anything different?
 

hogwiley

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I would steer clear of any EMT mill that claims they can spit out a competent EMT in a few short weeks.

If you just want to take an EMT class for personal enrichment, fine. But if you plan on actually becoming licensed and working in the field, I would look at a normal 4 or 5 month EMT course that gives you time to study and absorb everything, become proficient at skills like vital signs and patient assessment, and gives you some clinical experience.

This is assuming you arent already some other medical professional like a licensed RN, and that you are starting from scratch with no medical education or experience.
 

Tigger

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Every class no matter the format will meet state requirements for hours and clinical time.

Whether or not you are the type of the student that can absorb everything in the course of a few weeks is something only you can really decide.

A two or three weeks is not inherently inferior to a semester long program. The content will be the same. It is just whether or not the student is capable of effectively processing and retaining the information at that sort of rate.

Every one of my undergrad classes (except the semester abroad) has been taught in three and a half weeks. Each class is taught individually, so in theory I can focus all my time on that (hahaha). It has worked for me. It may not work for you, but do not discount it as an effective model.
 

EpiEMS

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I took SOLO's EMT/WEMT in a month. Fabulous course. Really well instructed.
 
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troymclure

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ive taken combat lifesaver course 2x in the army, and used a bit of that training in iraq.

and i know i can absorb the info faster than 10hrs a week.
 

hogwiley

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Some may be able to absorb the information and retain it in that short of time, but from what Ive seen its very few. The last couple EMT classes Ive helped out with had students that took a LONG time, as in months, to become proficient at some of this stuff, and it took lots of practice sessions and the instructor giving them lots of homework to make sure they read, understood, and in some cases memorized what was in the book. Some of them were veterans and had taken a combat life saver course while they were in. They didnt do any better than anyone else and probably a little worse, maybe because they had an inflated view of their abilities and didnt study enough.

Im not trying to be snotty, but we arent talking about nursing students here, who already passed hard math and science classes like chemistry, Physics and A&P and had a 3.5 GPA or better. Many EMT students from what Ive seen barely graduated from high school.
 

griffithsgriffin

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shot in the dark here: do such programs exist for paramedic course? Either condensed programs or online learning. I thought it was worth it to ask.
 

hogwiley

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Another example of why it seems ridiculous to have a 2 week EMT course.

Some community colleges are now breaking EMT up into 2 semesters. Thats an 8 MONTH EMT class. The local community college around me does it that way. They also require 2 semester A&P, Intermediate Algebra, English comp, and a minimum score on the science portion of the ACT before you can be accepted into their Paramedic program.

So something is wrong when you have community colleges with respected, accredited EMS programs saying it takes 8 plus months to produce a competent EMT, and some school that says they can do it in 2 to 3 weeks.
 

VFlutter

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tumblr_md7ip9vx3Z1rfy2fao1_500-1_zps14ea8bc8.jpg
 
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troymclure

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Another example of why it seems ridiculous to have a 2 week EMT course.

Some community colleges are now breaking EMT up into 2 semesters. Thats an 8 MONTH EMT class. The local community college around me does it that way. They also require 2 semester A&P, Intermediate Algebra, English comp, and a minimum score on the science portion of the ACT before you can be accepted into their Paramedic program.

So something is wrong when you have community colleges with respected, accredited EMS programs saying it takes 8 plus months to produce a competent EMT, and some school that says they can do it in 2 to 3 weeks.

250 hours is 250 hours. what improvement on training would having 1 class a week be over 1 class a day?

ucla centers for prehospital care offers a 3 week course, 7 hours a day. are you saying that your community colleges are better because they make you pay thru 2 semesters?
 

Tigger

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Another example of why it seems ridiculous to have a 2 week EMT course.

Some community colleges are now breaking EMT up into 2 semesters. Thats an 8 MONTH EMT class. The local community college around me does it that way. They also require 2 semester A&P, Intermediate Algebra, English comp, and a minimum score on the science portion of the ACT before you can be accepted into their Paramedic program.

So something is wrong when you have community colleges with respected, accredited EMS programs saying it takes 8 plus months to produce a competent EMT, and some school that says they can do it in 2 to 3 weeks.

The plural of anecdote is not data. One or a few schools may do it that way, but that doesn't make them right, even if they are "respected." Often times a respected school doesn't really provide all that great of education, but since everyone that goes there thinks that they are the best, the reputation perpetuates itself.

There are actual studies regarding the efficacy of education models and they are rampant in the higher education world. Many majors at my college (taught on month long blocks) take standardized exit exams, which show no difference in performance as compared to schools with near identical curriculum taught on a semester plan.

Having a few hours spread out of many does not mean the student will learn the material any better than someone else. In fact, giving students too much time between classes and assessments has been shown to be detrimental.

And personally, the idea of 8 month EMT class sounds horrifying, I cannot imagine a slower paced class. Successful education requires a solid foundation to be laid and then more advanced topics built on top. If you give students a week between every topic, they're going to forget things and never really learn the whole picture.
 

hogwiley

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Im not saying 8 months isnt overkill for an EMT class, even though thats what some colleges are going to....only that 2 weeks is totally inadequate. If you are going to class 8 or 12 hours every day, when are you going to have time to read your book and study, or practice?

How long do you really think your brain is going to be able to take hours of the same topics before it begins to wander? As dumbed down as the EMT curriculum might be, its still a LOT to learn and remember if you are starting from scratch. Thats why regardless of how many class hours you log, it makes sense to spread it out some instead of trying to cram it all in a few weeks.

Look at how thick the text books are, you think someone of average intelligence is going to learn all that in 2 weeks? Yeah if all you were doing was learning skill stations, 2 weeks might be barely adequate(for some), but theres a bit more to it than that.
 

sweetpete

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FWIW....I got my fire cert through Training Division. They were awesome. I don't know about their EMS classes, but I heard those are pretty good too.

Hope this helps a little.

Take care
 

EpiEMS

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Some community colleges are now breaking EMT up into 2 semesters. Thats an 8 MONTH EMT class. The local community college around me does it that way. They also require 2 semester A&P, Intermediate Algebra, English comp, and a minimum score on the science portion of the ACT before you can be accepted into their Paramedic program.

So something is wrong when you have community colleges with respected, accredited EMS programs saying it takes 8 plus months to produce a competent EMT, and some school that says they can do it in 2 to 3 weeks.

There is no necessity for such a lengthy EMT course at the current level of practice. There is no way that any EMT course could truly justify 8 months of training - whether that be 3 credits, 6 credits, or whatever number. An EMT course could plausibly be considered a college level course, but certainly not an upper division course or anything of the sort.

If you want to judge it by anything, judge it by NREMT pass rates.

And the NREMT has data indicating that pass rates are strongly associated with baseline higher levels of education (viz. Studnek J, Margolis GS (2005). Educational Background Correlates to Success on the National Registry of EMTs Written Certification Examination. Poster presentation at the annual symposium of the National Association of EMS Educators.)
 
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AtlasFlyer

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Pelham in Bloomington, Indiana has a two-week EMT class.

I think a program like that can cover the necessary material. I've had several experiences with intense, short-term training programs that cram a lot of material into a short amount of time. What matters most after doing a program like that is getting out there and doing the job right away after completing the program. Skills can be learned quickly, but they'll fade pretty quickly too if not used right away. If you're going to do a program like that, get out there in the field and get to work right away, don't sit around not using the skills for months.

Just my nickel's worth of free advice...
 

Tigger

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Im not saying 8 months isnt overkill for an EMT class, even though thats what some colleges are going to....only that 2 weeks is totally inadequate. If you are going to class 8 or 12 hours every day, when are you going to have time to read your book and study, or practice?

How long do you really think your brain is going to be able to take hours of the same topics before it begins to wander? As dumbed down as the EMT curriculum might be, its still a LOT to learn and remember if you are starting from scratch. Thats why regardless of how many class hours you log, it makes sense to spread it out some instead of trying to cram it all in a few weeks.

Look at how thick the text books are, you think someone of average intelligence is going to learn all that in 2 weeks? Yeah if all you were doing was learning skill stations, 2 weeks might be barely adequate(for some), but theres a bit more to it than that.

Yes, someone of average intelligence is absolutely capable of doing so. I'm surrounded by 2000 people everyday that excel at doing so. And I am not alone in that. It is a viable education model. The thing is that most people have never actually experienced it, so they are afraid of it or write it off as impossible.

Until you have you know, tried something, maybe don't write it off as invalid?
 
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