Career in Healthcare

The Demand for EMTs Remains High

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

If you are interested in the medical field and enjoy high adrenaline situations, working as an emergency medical technician might be for you.

Emergency medical technician (EMT) programs at community colleges or other schools last one semester (about 100-150 hours) and accept applicants as young as 17 (must be 18 upon completion). After successfully passing the exam, EMTs must complete 36 hours annually as a refresher and recertify every three years to maintain their credential.

“Many people get into this career because they have a feeling of community spirit or they want to help their community,” said Kevin Alexander, clinical education instructor at American Medical Response of Central New York in Syracuse. “They want to be there for people who are sick or injured. Some have a background of family or friends who are in healthcare. They enjoy helping out others in that capacity and want to get into the emergency medical field.”

The qualities he looks for in EMT candidates include high morals and ethics, good interpersonal skills and the ability to assess patients in a high stress situation.

“It’s the caring and compassion that ultimately you’ve got to have,” Alexander added. “You’re meeting these patients at their worst. The family members are worried about their loved one who’s sick or injured.”

The state requires that each person working as an EMT must be able to lift 125 pounds individually or 250 with assistance, read and speak English fluently, and carry a valid driver’s license. Individual agencies may also have additional requirements, such as a commercial driver’s license for a mobile stroke unit.

“We’re excited that with the they could use a breathing exercise or progressive muscle relaxation. It helps them process their trauma and achieve their goals. It has an 80% success rate for lowering symptoms of PTSD in children.”

CAC of Oswego County also provides help for the rest of the family, including mental health, financial and housing needs and more. The organization employs 16 full-time.

Gazitano said that several new programs are slated to start in 2023 and CAC of Oswego County plans to hire more therapists to expand mental health programs. Much of this involves satisfying schools’ safety education requirements because of Erin’s Law, which involves a minimum of four lessons a year about child sexual abuse prevention instruction.

“We have evidence-based training and curriculum and it’s free for schools,” Gazitano said.

The CAC of Oswego County also provides instruction at other venues. Its non educational services include a community response team for sex trafficking and a child fatality review team.

In 2021, The CAC of Oswego County served 471 children and provided 7,732 unique services including, but not limited to, forensic interviews, advocacy, mental health and case management.

McMahon Ryan Child Advocacy Center in Syracuse represents an Onondaga County-based CAC.

The onsite resources include law enforcement, the district attorney’s office, special victim’s bureau, therapy, advocacy and outreach.

In addition to reducing trauma, holding one interview about the child’s experience helps children succinctly and more accurately relate what happened soon after the crime occurred.

“When children are interviewed my multiple people, they may feel more comfortable exposing different information to different people and

Carol Gazitano

defense attorneys may use that in court,” said Colleen Merced, executive director of McMahon Ryan CAC.

McMahon Ryan CAC assigns an advocate to manage each case that follows the family throughout the entire process and until they no longer need services. This lasts between two months and two years and can include finding resources like housing, working through the criminal justice system, and finding appropriate therapy.

“It builds relationships and connections with team members,” said Merced. “And all you have to do is walk to another floor to get additional information.” decrease in COVID restrictions, things are getting back to normal as far as people coming out to look for a profession in EMS,” Alexander said. “That has helped get more people to want to join EMS.”

Caseworkers and people providing other resources can more quickly meet families’ needs instead of constantly waiting for someone to call back.

McMahon Ryan CAC serves about 1,500 children annually and about 3,500 individuals including parents and non-offending caregivers. The center employs 30.

The center’s 2023 goal is to expand its therapy and outreach services.

“Currently, we have a small outreach team that sees 20,000-22,000 students a year with prevention education and outreach,” Merced said.

He recommends that people interested working as an EMT should volunteer as a “ride along” to see if they might like this work. They should also look at the subsequent employment opportunities. The role has significant turnover because of the entry-level nature of the work. Taking a National Registry EMT course and passing the associated exam can enable an EMT to work on cruise ships, oil derricks, in rural areas and internationally. These pay better.

Some people who find they enjoy working in healthcare move forward to paramedic classes, nursing school, medical school or other healthcare paths.

Paramedic classes take one to two years to complete with an average of 1,000 hours of training and 800 hours of clinical time. The model used to be one paramedic and one EMT per ambulance. However, some ambulance services use a staffing of two EMTs per ambulance with a paramedic in a “fly car” responding to acute calls as needed because it’s been difficult to attract EMTs. An accredited 911 center decides the priority level.

Although EMT work tends to attract people who thrive on high-energy work, it’s not always dramatic, life-and-death scenarios.

“A fair amount of our work is non emergent but there’s a fair amount that is horrific,” said Douglas Sandbrook, EMS liaison at Upstate University Health System and director of EMS Education at Upstate Medical University department of emergency medicine. It takes a toll on providers, like critical events you encounter that are difficult.”

For this reason, it is important that EMTs develop the ability to communicate their needs so they have sufficient time away from work to decompress and mitigate the effects of stress. Sandbrook has worked as a paramedic 31 years.

“I’ve never done the same call or encounter twice,” he said. “It’s very rewarding. I believe it’s impactful. You get to meet amazing people and learn about their lives. And hopefully, you can make a difference.”

Anyone interested in working as an EMT can take advantage of opportunities at volunteer agencies that provide free classes for those who pass the exam.