EMT 2-week Boot Camp?

[JMoto]

Alrighty so here's my dilemma: I'm active duty military and am gone with work 7-10 days every single month. I been trying for over a year now and haven't found an EMT-B program that will work with my schedule. I always have to be gone more than allowable in California and would miss too many hours.

A local teacher told me about this boot camp 2 week version taught in the bay area. www.unitekeducation.com It sounds like a good deal and my boss is willing to let me take leave in January to do it. The big problem is that it isn't accredited. Does anyone have experience or knowledge to know if this matters/will matter to me?

I want to become a firefighter and am working on an Associates now. I'm starting with my local volunteer department in January. I want to get my EMT-B so I can work part time with a local ambulance co. to get enough experience to go to Paramedic school.

Does it matter if the certificate for EMT-B is from a non-accredited school as long as you pass the NREMT test?

Thanks for any assistance/suggestions as I don't see any other way to get in this training.
Noob

[zzyyzx]

I would check with the NREMT website and see what the requirements are for taking the exam. Also, check with your state and find out if they accept NREMT or if they have their own. I remember over a decade ago certain counties in California had their own EMT certificates/requirements in addition to the State. I would hope that by now they have changed that, but I don't know.

[JMoto]

Just got an email back from the people at EMSA.CA.GOV

It sounds like that school will work!

"Unitek is an approved EMT school, it is approved through the Alameda County EMS Agency. At this time, EMT schools are not required to be "accredited", so if that is where you are interested in attending (based on your circumstances) then you can sign-up.

This training course will give you the necessary educational tools to take the National Registry of EMT (NREMT) exam. Once you pass the NREMT exam, you will need to apply for EMT certification through a local EMS agency (in the county where you are living). To do that, you will need to take a copy of your course completion document, proof that you passed the NREMT exam, fill-out their application, pay the application fee, and do a livescan background check.

To find a list of local EMS agencies, you can check our webpage at: http://www.emsa.ca.gov/local/admins.asp"

So unless anyone has any bad experience with Unitek that I should know about...

[zzyyzx]

Well, that's great news for you. If you don't have any prior EMS experience, I would highly suggest purchasing an EMT-B course book (used will do) or get your class text book ASAP and start learning as much as you can on your own. My dept takes about a month to train just text book portion and that's moving at a quick pace. We cover about 1200 pages of text and 400 pages of workbook during that time. If you can get your reading and basic knowledge down before you set foot in the class, it should make your life easier during those two weeks.

[kjohn23]

Have you tried taking it on base?
The Navy base here does classes for Active duty and reserves here.

[JMoto]

Yup, I tried that, they won't work with me since I'm TDY 7-10 days every month. Stinks. Their instructor is the one who suggested the boot camp version for me. Not my favorite way to use leave but if it gets me one step closer to full time paid FF then that's what I'll do!

[FireMidget]

You can try trainingdivision.com I believe thier emt-b is 2 weeks, and they test nremt onsite for basic....

[231Engine]

If it works for your schedule Moto, go for it!