Tuesday, May 6, 2014

What You May Not Know About EMT Training Charlottesville VA But Should

By Tracie Knight


Emergency medical technicians or EMTs in short are clinicians who are trained to respond fast to emergency medical issues, accident scenes and traumatic injuries. EMTs mostly work for ambulance services, hospitals, fire departments, governments and police departments. They are usually supervised by medical directors, who are physicians. By signing up for EMT training Charlottesville VA residents can obtain the skills and knowledge they need to care for patients.

EMT training programs differ greatly in terms of calendar length. Fast track programs for entry level emergency medical services or EMT Basic can be completed within two weeks by attending classes for eight to twelve hours a day. Other courses are completed within a number of months or up to two years for associates degree programs.

The EMT course includes three main components namely clinical rotation, didactic education and testing. Didactic education will help you gain hands on skills by learning how to care for a sick person through lectures, interactive presentations, skills labs and simulations. Clinical rotations are somewhat similar to medical school clinical rotations. As an EMT student, you will spend some hours in an ambulance and watching hospital services like obstetrics, emergency services and surgery being performed in order to complete the EMT program and be eligible for the EMT certification exam.

The number of clinical rotations you need to complete will depend on the level of training you are obtaining and how long you take to show competency. Many universities, hospitals, community colleges, emergency medical service academies and technical schools offer EMT training. You do not need to have previous medical experience to enroll into an EMT course.

You can enroll into an emergency medical technician program even though you have not met certain eligibility requirements. Nevertheless, you cannot begin the program unless you meet all eligibility requirements. You have to be eighteen years old or older to receive a certificate. You cannot work as an emergency medical technician if you are under the age of 18.

If you are younger than 18, you can take EMT courses six months before your eighteenth birthday but you will not receive your certificate of completing the program until you meet the age requirement. Before you can enroll into an EMT training program, you will be asked to submit your CPR card. You will also be required to maintain your CPR certification throughout the course.

Besides meeting the eligibility requirements, students are also required to submit the results of a current, basic physical exam that was conducted within twelve months before the beginning of the EMT course. The report should be signed by a doctor and specify that no physical limitations may bar a student from participating in the clinical or classroom components of the course.

Most schools that offer EMT training also require students to furnish proof of being immunized against Varicella, Hepatitis and Measles, Mumps and Rubella, abbreviated as MMR and submit a negative TB skin test. The TB skin test should be taken within 3 months of starting the EMT course. Students who have had a positive reaction to previous TB skin test are usually requested to submit chest x ray documentation showing that they do not have TB.




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