You might have fallen down and hurt your arm, or you might have
just had the worst headache you ever had in your life. In any
case, you called 911, and a few minutes later a Police Officer
arrived at your door and took some simple first aid steps. He
comforted you by saying that the ambulance would be here
shortly. A few minutes later, a big red truck with flashing
lights pulls up in front of your home, and two volunteer
Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) from the Basking Ridge
First Aid Squad walk to your front door. They certainly aren’t
physicians; what training have they had to qualify them to come
to your aid?
EMT Class
The first step to becoming an EMT is to
take a 110-hour class. Classes are offered in a variety of
formats: two evenings a week for a 14-week semester, all day
Saturday for a semester, all day Monday, Wednesday and Friday
for five weeks, three full weeks in a row, and more. County
colleges usually give 6 or 8 semester units of credit for the
class. If a student is affiliated with a volunteer squad, there
is no charge for the class.
To enroll in the class one must have a
current certification in CPR (Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation).
The first topic in the class, and a recurring theme throughout,
is the safety and well-being of the EMT: an injured EMT can’t
help a patient. The heart of the class is medical care: how to
deal with illness and injury until you get the patient to the
emergency room. The class involves lots of old-fashioned
studying: there are tests throughout the course, and a final
exam at the end. The topics include illnesses, injury, and
emergency services operations. In addition, the class offers
lots of hands-on skill sessions, with many opportunities for
practicing tasks ranging from splinting a broken leg to
administering oxygen. Near the end of the class, students
participate in ten additional hours (beyond the 110) of clinical
rotations in the emergency departments of local hospitals.
If you pass all the skill sessions and
exams throughout the class, you are entitled to take a state
exam. It consists of two parts: several hours of hands-on skill
testing, and a three-hour written exam. Pass those exams, fill
out the forms, and you are a New Jersey Certified EMT-Basic.
On-The-Job Training
After becoming certified, an EMT can wear
the patch and respond to a call. But common sense, squad
policy, and the butterflies in the new EMT’s stomach combine
together to place a fresh EMT on probationary status.
During this time, the new EMT rides only with more experienced
colleagues, and has ample opportunity to learn from them.
Throughout these first calls, the information packed into the
brain during the class slowly trickles to points south,
including the hands and the gut. Some squads have a policy that
new members are on probation for a fixed time, such as six
months. The Basking Ridge policy is for its officers to
determine when an EMT comes off probationary status, but
something like 100 calls (with at least a few “big ones”) is
typical for six active months, and usually enough to be deemed
capable of being a full member of the team.
Once off probationary status, the EMT
continues to learn on every call by planning the response before
arrival on the scene, by talking with peers during the call, and
by reviewing the call with colleagues afterwards. Drills
present EMTs with important but infrequent scenarios. All EMTs
also continue their formal education.
Continuing Education
Every EMT must maintain current
certification in CPR; this can usually be accomplished in just a
few hours every year or two. New Jersey requires all EMTs to
complete 48 hours of training every three years. 24 hours of
that training is a required “core refresher” that reviews the
fundamental skills of an EMT-Basic. Such a class might meet
Thursday and Friday evenings from 6-10, and then Saturday and
Sunday from 9-5. Just like the EMT class itself, this refresher
version combines lectures and reading with hands-on skills
refresher and testing, and is also without charge to EMTs
serving as volunteers.
Beyond the refresher class, the state also
requires 24 additional hours of CEUs (Continuing Education
Units) every three years. The class might meet for one evening
to discuss “Principles of Vehicle Extrication” and give three
hours of credit. A class that meets all day Monday to teach
“Pediatric Education for the Pre-Hospital Professional” gives 8
CEUs, and a Saturday and Sunday class on “Pre-Hospital Trauma
Life Support” gives 16 CEUs. Some CEUs can be gained by taking
online courses or exams through the mail. Topics include
Geriatric Education, Paramedic Assistant, Defensive Driving,
Search and Rescue, and hundreds more.
The 48 hours required by New Jersey over
three years comes out to 16 hours (or two days) a year of
continuing education. Some EMTs choose to be current in the
National Registry of EMTs. Every 2 years, the Nationally
Registered EMT must complete a 24-hour core refresher, and 48
additional CEUs. The 72 hours in 2 years works out to 36 hours
(or about a week) per year of continuing education.
Basking Ridge needs more EMTs. The EMT
class can give you the basic skills; in just a few months, you
could be responding to your neighbors during their hour of need,
with our more experienced members mentoring as you learn the
ropes For more information on becoming an
EMT, click here. And if you
don’t have time to become an EMT yourself, you can still
contribute through your financial support
here.
