Where do I start? I'm interested in becoming an EMT. Can anyone give me advice on where to begin? Thanks in advance.

[dossfit@aol.com]

I've never worked in the medical field. I've been a personal trainer for over 7 years. I love helping others and very interested in health. I don't know where to begin with schooling, etc. Any advice would be much appreciated. thanks so much.

[Arctickat]

Start with First Aid and CPR training if you don't already have it. Then go to your local EMS department and ask them what you just asked us, they'll have lots of pertinent information regarding local schools, what you might be able to expect for working conditions and so on. Ask if they have a volunteer program that you could take part in to learn the ropes and see if this is something you would thrive in or not.

[Resqmedic]

Most all community colleges have an EMS program, probably the easiest (if not the most expensive) way to break into the field. And depending on your state, many EMS services and will offer Medical first responder and EMT courses, sometimes even Paramedic, usually at a lower cost than community colleges. You might even be able to join the service and have the class offered to you for free, this is quite common in rural areas where finding people willing to do EMS is difficult.

[Just Plain Ruff]

I've never worked in the medical field. I've been a personal trainer for over 7 years. I love helping others and very interested in health. I don't know where to begin with schooling, etc. Any advice would be much appreciated. thanks so much.

Give us your general location and I"m sure that someone here on this site would be happy to give you a general list of good and the bad places to go get your education.

[Guest ~~~]

Well everyone has covered mainly all of it.

Starting off getting a CPR & first aid certification is a good start, plus helps you to sort of see if it's something you really want to do and see if you want to spend the money on the training. Fire departments, ems departments, and community colleges usually offer both classes. I have even seen a couple police departments offer a CPR and first aid classes.

Most of all community colleges offer the emt-b training, but you're looking at $2,000 - $5,000 for the program, maybe even a tad more. Depending on where you live fire schools will usually offer emt-b courses usually cheaper than the community colleges, the challenge is finding one that will offer to do such a thing.

If you decide to take the CPR & first aid classes and if you're still unsure, or if you don't want to do that you can always try to find an EMR program ( emergency medical responder ) they are usually cheaper and you get a bit more experience in the field than just holding your CPR and first aid certifications. The EMR program is cheaper, a bit harder to find.. but worth it. They teach you how to use an automatic AED device, cpr, first aid, stabilize someone's neck (used in car accidents), how to move patients, reading/taking vitals, basic anatomy & physiology, etc.. Just not as much as a emt-b will learn. I know a few people that volunteer with fire departments and did it because they didn't want to take the emt-b course work and they enjoy it.

But just check your community colleges, ems departments, and fire departments who offers the emt-b classes and best of luck with it!

Edited November 19, 2012 by PattonEMT

[Resqmedic]

The lovely Patton is quite right, EMR would be a good place to start if you are interested in getting your feet wet. The EMR is nice if getting a job on an ambulance isn't your immediate goal, plus it will give you a leg up on an EMT program, and looks nice on a resume. Most all career fire departments require their employees be trained at least to the Emergency Medical Responder level. Always follow the advice of beautiful blondes! (except Jenny McCarthy, she is an idiot)

[emtdennis]

As asked earlier, what is your general location?