With this program, students acquire the skills to become Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT's) who provide immediate care to the critically ill and injured. EMT's must be capable of functioning with authority and good judgement in a variety of circumstances under difficult and stressful conditions, and must be caring persons with the desire to help others.
EMT's are providers of out-of-hospital care to patients with illness or injury. There are 2 main levels of EMT: EMT-Basic & Paramedic.
As reported by the US Department of Labor, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personell can expect to lift 50 pounds frequently with no maximum, do climbing, balancing, stooping, kneeling, crouching, crawling, reaching, handling, fingering, feeling, talking, hearing, and seeing on a frequent basis. All of these activities may need to be performed in any type of environment, weather, or lighting condition - indoors or outdoors. In addition to the physical demands of the job, applicants may need to deal with challenging emotional, ethical, and or spiritual issues.
The EMT will “size-up” the scene to determine that the scene is safe, the mechanism of injury or nature of illness, total number of patients and to request additional help if necessary. Determines the nature and extent of illness or injury and establishes priority for required emergency care. Based on assessment findings, renders emergency medical care to adult, infant and child, medical and trauma patients. Duties include but are not limited to, opening and maintaining an airway, ventilating patients, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation, including use of automated external defibrillators. Provide out-of-hospital emergency medical care of simple and multiple system trauma such as controlling hemorrhage, treatment of shock, bandaging wounds, and immobilization of painful, swollen, or deformed extremities. Patients will be found in all types of environments: homes, care facilities, traffic accidents, building collapse, fire scenes, etc.
The EMT reports verbally and in writing their observation and emergency medical care of the patient at the emergency scene and in transit to the receiving facility staff for purposes of records and diagnostics.
Educational for the EMS area of study at Sinclair includes:
First Responder - Requires 3 credit hours and successful completion of a state test. This level is geared for the delivery of emergency medical care by non-medical personnel; e.g., police, safety team members, etc. This is course EMS 105.
EMT-Basic (EMT-B) - Requires 8 credit hours and successful completion of a state certifying examination. This certification is an entry level position for functioning on an ambulance. These are courses EMS 117 and EMS 118. Please see the Forms area of this website for the information packet for this program.
EMT-Intermediate (EMT-I) - Upon completion of the first 4 quarters of the paramedic course, an individual is qualified to sit for this state certifying examination. This course is not currently offered as a stand alone certification.
EMT-Paramedic (EMT-P) - Requires 39 credit hous after successful state certification at the EMT-B level. Once completed with the paramedic course work, students are prepared to sit for the state certification examination. These are courses EMS 135, 136, 137, 138 and 139. Please see the Forms area of this website for the information packet for this program.
