How to become a paramedic in 127 easy steps:

Many of my adoring fans have written to ask what is required for one to become a paramedic. Okay, maybe it was just one guy who’d accidentally stopped by looking for a grunge band, but I thought I’d tell you anyway.

I was at a Star Trek convention once, I’m a diehard fan, and an actor named Rene Auberjonois (Pronounced Oh-Bear-John-waa) was the featured speaker. You recall that he plays Odo on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (he was also the priest in "The Patriot"). He’s a smart guy and here’s what he said about getting into acting. He asked us to suppose that we want to become builders of fine furniture. (I realize we’re getting a little far afield here, but I promise we’re still talking about becoming a paramedic) The course to becoming a craftsman starts not with cords of cherry wood and plans for an Armoir, but with something much more simple, like making a three legged stool. Once one masters the art of making stools, then maybe one can start building night stands and work up to armoirs and other fine furnature. His point is, to become a true craftsmen requires practice and careful progress. Consequently there isn’t one class you can sit through, from which you emerge a skilled paramedic. The process is a long one, and rightly so, as snatching people from the jaws of death is difficult work.

What I’m about to relate to you comes from my own experiences. I went through all of this in Florida in the late 1980’s. Things vary from state to state, and some things have certainly changed since 1987, so take this with a grain of salt, and talk to your local community college before you make any life altering plans.

A paramedic is a kind of EMT or Emergency Medical Technician. There are EMT-Basic’s, EMT-Paramedics and in some states, EMT-Intermediates. The real work of becoming a paramedic begins with EMT-Basic school. This training is commonly done in community colleges, but is offered by hospitals, or even private companies in some places. In order to get into EMT school you usually have to meet some basic requirements. You must have a pulse, a CPR card, probably some first aid training, and most importantly, you need 15 weeks during which you can attend classes, ride-along on an ambulance and spend time in an ER. After you’ve met their requirements and have been accepted into the class you shell out some money for classes and books. Then the real fun begins.

Classes start with basic anatomy, then move on to other cool stuff like controlling bleeding, delivering babies and even figuring out what the hell is wrong with someone. Later in the class they teach you how to provide oxygen therapy without blowing yourself up. They also cover splinting and bandaging, spinal immobilization, and a myriad of other basic life support or BLS skills.

Once your brain has been filled with a little class room information, it’s time to hit the streets. During EMT school you’re required to spend some time on the ambulance, I think it’s around 40 hours. You also have to spend a similar amount of time helping out in an ER. These are both great places to learn things. You get to apply what you learned in the class room, and see what life in the big white box is really about. It can be pretty overwhelming, and it’s hard not to seem like you’re just in the way, but its worth it. You’ll learn a lot.

Once you finish EMT school, you’ll get some paperwork that will allow you to take the state board test. This is a test put on by your state to see if you picked up what you were supposed to in school. Assuming you pass with flying colors, (which I know, as an avid reader of Smackhead, you will), the state will send you a license with which you can go find a job as an EMT.

Some people go straight from EMT school into paramedic school, but most spend some time working on the street first. I highly recommend spending some time in the trenches before you apply for Paramedic school. Everything will make much more sense to you when you get there and you’ll learn a lot more.

Most paramedic programs require that you have a semester or two of anatomy and physiology, which is time well spent, and all have an application process that looks at your previous grades and experience, as well as other training you’ve gotten along the way. Many states have EMT-Intermediate level certification, which allows the EMT to do some invasive procedures like start IV’s, but doesn’t allow them to give medications, or perform other paramedic skills. Florida doesn’t have this level of certification, so I know less that nothing about it. A good friend of mine who teaches a paramedic program in Idaho tells me that there EMT-Basics can go straight to paramedic school, but the points you gain in the application process by having completed the intermediate training make it much easier to get in.

People ask me from time to time what they can do to prepare for paramedic school. They want to know what books to read, or if there’s any class they can take, and here’s what I tell them. "Pretend you’re going to leave the planet for a year". Trim the trees, fix up the house, spend lots of time with your spouse, or whatever it takes, because when school starts, you are going away for a bit. Paramedic school lasts a year, and most people, having gotten jobs as EMTs, work through it. It requires full time school attendance, over a thousand hours of ambulance time, ER time and clinicals in Psych, Obstetrics, and elsewhere. There are usually projects to be completed, drugs to learn, maladies to master, and a hundred other outside activities. The student is also usually asked to become advanced cardiac life support certified for the first time during this time, which is no small task by its self. Your schedule is basically jam packed for a year. About half of the people who start paramedic school don’t finish the first time for one reason or another. It’s a tough school. Once you’ve survived all of that you get to go sit for state boards again. Assuming you pass those, your employer will ordinarily put you on an ambulance with another paramedic for a few months, and after that you’re on your own.

It really is a lot to go through, but the job does have its rewards. Good luck, and let me know if have any more questions. Rod