I'm thinking about joining the CG for several reasons: to get medical and SAR training, the opportunity to serve my country, and for the adventure and challenge. I am wondering which would be better for me: enlisted or officer? Ultimately, I want to get into wilderness emergency medicine and search and rescue, perhaps working for the National Park Service or something along those lines. I have a Bachelor's degree, NREMT-B and WEMT certs, and am a member of the local SAR team, but haven't been able to get much experience as an EMT and can't find an EMT job because of my lack of experience.
I've looked into the Health Services Technician rating with the CG and am wondering what the training is like. Are there any certifications you have to get to graduate, such as EMT-B, X-ray Tech, etc., or the opportunity to get those certs with extra training? And would I be able to get any search and rescue experience with this job?
Since I have a Bachelor's degree, I'm also interested in OCS, but I'm wondering if I'd actually be able to get into a medical/search and rescue job, or would my job be chosen for me? I've heard that officers are usually assigned to whatever job they need filled, which may or may not be what you want to do.
Also, I would like to become a paramedic, so I'm wondering if there's any way that the CG would help me get that training or would I have to do that once I got out? At this point I would only want to sign up for 3 or 4 years, but if I can get a job I really like, I might stay in longer.
I've looked into the Health Services Technician rating with the CG and am wondering what the training is like. Are there any certifications you have to get to graduate, such as EMT-B, X-ray Tech, etc., or the opportunity to get those certs with extra training? And would I be able to get any search and rescue experience with this job?
Since I have a Bachelor's degree, I'm also interested in OCS, but I'm wondering if I'd actually be able to get into a medical/search and rescue job, or would my job be chosen for me? I've heard that officers are usually assigned to whatever job they need filled, which may or may not be what you want to do.
Also, I would like to become a paramedic, so I'm wondering if there's any way that the CG would help me get that training or would I have to do that once I got out? At this point I would only want to sign up for 3 or 4 years, but if I can get a job I really like, I might stay in longer.