Unitek College Blog

With employment growth rates on the rise, now is an excellent time to consider a nursing career as an Emergency Medical Technician or Paramedic. According to the US Department of Labor, EMT and paramedic employment is expected to grow by 19 percent between 2006 and 2016, faster than all other occupations. This means better than average job opportunities within an EMT career, especially with private ambulance services. There are many EMT training programs available to assist you in becoming industry-ready, including training at three different levels: EMT Basic, EMT Intermediate and EMT Paramedic. To begin an EMT training program, a high school diploma is typically required.

The EMT Basic program focuses on emergency skills related to respiratory, cardiac emergencies, trauma and patient assessment. Training typically is a combination of in-class time, as well as emergency room or ambulance time. The EMT Basic program will teach you how to manage bleeding, fractures, cardiac arrest, emergency childbirth and airway obstruction. You will learn how to use emergency equipment including splints, oxygen delivery systems, backboards, suction devices and stretchers. You much pass a practical and written exam to graduate from this EMT training program.

The EMT Intermediate program varies by state. The national program usually requires anywhere from 30 to 350 hours of training. In this EMT training, you would obtain advanced skills such as the use of some medications, advanced airway devices and intravenous fluids.

The EMT Paramedic program is the most advanced level of EMT training. You would receive training on physiology as well as anatomy, along with advanced medical skills. This program typically takes between 1 and 2 years, depending on the programs offered at the community college or technical school. This training often results in an associate’s degree. This EMT training prepares you to take the NREMT exam and results in certification as a paramedic. This training requires a broad range of coursework along with clinical and field experience.

Certification is required in all 50 states for all three EMT levels. Registration for the NREMT is also required in most states and the District of Columbia. Some states administer their own version of a certification exam, giving you the option to take either their exam or the NREMT. Recertification is required typically every 2 years to maintain certification.

EMT Training Details
US Department of Labor - EMT Training

With beautiful back roads and a wonderful climate, Northern California is a natural environment for the motorcycle enthusiast. Its hard to avoid the allure of riding a two-wheeled wonder through the canyons and twisty forest roads during a beautiful Sunny day. However being that Northern California is a haven for motorcycle enthusiasts, crashes and accidents are inevitable.

The likelihood of injury is extremely high in these motorcycle accidents, more than 95% of accidents result in some kind of injury to the motorcycle rider, and of that, 45% resulted in more than a minor injury. With the increase of popularity of motorcycles will mean the increase the number of accidents as well. With these alarming motorcycle statistics one can only wonder what the can do to help.

Luckily, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that employment of EMT’s and paramedics will increase by 59,000 new jobs between 2002 and 2012, an estimated growth rate of 33 percent. By becoming an EMT you can help those that are destined to become hurt with their motorcycle follies. This job is especially important since 50% of all paramedics often have to travel to back roads in the country to retrieve fallen riders and are extremely vital to their survival. For more information about becoming a paramedic visit our EMT and Paramedic training information page.

With the ever increasing demand for EMT Training from the east coast, our sales staff have had their desk phones forwarded to their cell phones for early morning inquiries. Last month, we had a reality check when Verizon Wireless sent us a gigantic phone bill. Our CFO nearly had a coronary, and asked us to look at other options.

After careful analysis, it seemed that AT&T Wireless / Cingular had a much better corporate plan (they also have the iPhone, but we neglected to mention that to the CFO). Unfortunately, we have a bunch of rabid ‘Verizon lovers’ around the office that insisted that Verizon had much better coverage around the Fremont, CA area. So, to shut them up, we decided on a road test. We had two volunteers drive around Fremont doing the ‘Can you hear me now’ thing. The first volunteer drove out from Unitek to the Mission hills (filthy rich people such as our CEO live up there, watching over us mere mortals) and then drove along Mission Boulevard to the extreme north end of Fremont. The second volunteer drove from Unitek to the extreme northwest point in Fremont (close to the Dunbarton bridge). On day 1, they used AT&T phones, and they used Verizon phones on Day 2. Continuous talk time was approximately 1 hour on both days.

Alas, those !#$!@#% Verizon lovers were right !! Verizon consistently delivered better cell quality throughout Fremont, and didn’t drop calls (AT&T did, occasionally). Much as we hate the gigantic phone bills (and love the iPhone), we’ve decided to stay with Verizon Wireless and hope that they come up with better corporate plan for their long-suffering customers. Can you hear me now, Verizon?

While working minimum wage jobs for nearly two years, my friend Anaa Jenome has been fighting a war with rising bills, long hours waiting tables at our local Diner, and taking care of her home and 2 kids as a single mother. I always knew she could do better professionally, given her amazing patience and relaxed demeanor with people, and I even told her off and on. But her calling finally came when the diner, she was slaving double shifts at, informed the employees that it would be re-locating from San Jose to Bakersfield due to an expired lease contract and high costs of operation.

Anaa then got a moment to sit back, and re-visit her ambitions to give a better life to her self and her family. Over a hot cup of tea at my place, during the Christmas break last year, while 3 pairs of toddler feet played havoc with Freddie, the resident mutt, we explored various EMT sites on the web for basic how’s and why’s.

I found the Department of Labor to be an informative starting point in our hunt for elaborate and insightful industry information. A feature on future forecasts on the industry highlighted how EMT jobs are expected to grow 20% in the next decade. Anaa was most excited to read the industry median wage information. We were very surprised to learn that an EMT could make upwards of $45,000 in earnings annually.

It’s been a year, since she embarked on that journey, and now Anaa has entered the Healthcare profession. She gained her EMT credentials in the top 2% of her class and is now a practicing EMT with a leading hospital in the Bay Area. She aspires to gain some experience in her current position, before enrolling for an advanced healthcare degree in a few years. I am not sure if the reality of a better paying profession drew Anaa to the Healthcare field, or if it was her natural affinity to help people in need and her high patience quotient. But I am sure there are plenty of other women out there like her who are waiting for that life changing moment, when they can take action to better their lives and live their dreams. If they can draw inspiration from Anaa’s ability to deal with the challenges life posed to her and still come out a winner, this was worth writing about.