EMT-B, CNA, or CMA?

[BeatlesLVR]

@Joelseff,  well I've submitted a request for a challenge, so I can only wait and see.  If it comes back as a negative, then I will move ahead to sign-up for EMT-B either at my local CC.  I need to search around to see if there are any other programs in Northern Virginia that offer EMT-B training for less than what my CC is asking for!  $1,895 is a lot of $$$…!  

 

Per @TopDogg's suggestion, I went onto GW Hospital's employment website and found the following requirements for employment as an ER Tech:  "The Emergency Department Technician provides care to assigned patients, according to established plan of care and as competency documentation designates, under the direct supervision of the Charge Nurse/Team Leader and/or Emergency Department Attending Physician."

 

Requirements

·  High school diploma or equivalency.

·  Certification as a Paramedic preferred

·  1 year of recent Emergency Department experience as an emergency

   room technician or 1 year experience as a critical care technician,

   which provided an advanced knowledge of patient care activities  

   such as IV insertion, phlebotomy and performing EKGs required OR

·  Successful completion of approved college level Emergency Room

   Technician course including IV insertion, phlebotomy and EKG

   Required

·  CPR/BLS certification

 

I fulfill the HS Diploma and the CPR cert; however, I do not have any RECENT emergency department experience, nor am I seeking a paramedic degree…. so is the ER Tech a fail…?  Perhaps if I personally approach the HR department after obtaining my EMT-B and explain my situation/ background, perhaps they may overlook those negatives…?

[rcreek]

...Successful completion of approved college level Emergency Room Technician course ...

 

An ER Tech college course? Never even heard of such a thing, but they have always done things differently on the East Coast. With an EMT cert, it only takes another week or so of on-the-job training to get up to speed with how the emergency department runs and what your role is.

 

In our hospital, management has always required that ER Techs have at least an EMT-I/Advanced EMT cert. Other prominent hospitals in the region have hired CNA's in nursing school, MA's, or EMT-B's.

 

Also, we have had a couple ER Tech's that were Paramedics - they don't get to do anything beyond what those with lower certifications do. The nurses still give all the medications, and the docs do all the intubations, etc. So they have all this extra training to do more skills, but don't get to use any of them. It does, however, give them a better initial understanding of certain processes, identifying critical patients, and picking up on important changes in patient status - things that I learned more about on the job.

 

Most paramedics who work as ER Techs are doing so to supplement their full-time gigs with the fire dept or ambulance service.

[BeatlesLVR]

@rcreek, I've never heard of an ER Tech course either.  Today I visited the Adult Education center that is a part of our outstanding Northern Virginia Community College's medical branch (NVCC)-- and the dean said he'd never heard of an ER Tech course (NVCC does however offer degrees as a Medical Assistant, RN, LPN, CNA, phlebotomist, radiology tech, sonography tech, pharmacy tech, but no ER Tech).  I think I'm just going to do my EMT-B over again (I am not eligible to challenge the state of VA to retest rather than retrain since I am past their 2 year expiration deadline).  I am going to TRY to continue on to EMT-I (in fact I really want to since the ALS is a lot more attractive to hospital HR folks), but only if I am able to do so without interrupting my academic schedule.  

 

I am curious about the Certified Clinical Medical Assistant with Clinical Externship course that NVCC offers.  I thought that a medical assistant didn't require as much training as an EMT, in fact I thought you just needed OJT. However, NVCC is offering this program for $2,950 and it entails: this program students will be trained "to assist physicians by performing functions related to the clinical responsibilities of a medical office.  Instruction includes phlebotomy, EKG, and various other procedures.  140 hours of classroom lecture, skills lab and 160 hour clinical externship opportunity at a local healthcare provider.  Upon successful completion, students will be eligible to sit for the (NHA) Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (CCMA) national certification exam."   So how is this program different than an EMT-I?

[EMEDPA]

medical assistants can draw blood and give IM injections but not start IVs or push IV meds.

if you are considering this also look at LVN which is basically MA + IVs. also LVN allows you to do a bridge to rn if you so desire.

I work with a bunch of great MAs who also have limited xray licenses. they make around 20/hr which isn't too bad for 9 mo of school after high school.

EMT-Intermediate is usually 500 hrs after emt-basic and adds IVs, some advanced airway, some meds, etc.

very different career path than MA or LVN. EMT-Intermediates are generally on their way to becoming medics and full time emergency medicine providers. MAs and LVNs for the most part are headed for primary care or nursing homes. great background if you want to do primary care and ok for going into EM but if you are 100% sure you want EM go the emt-intermediate route.

[ToppDog]

Agree with the above.  I teach medical assisting and it's great if you mainly want clinical experience, but it's much harder to land a hospital or ER position with it.  Plus, it's essentially a dead end, as there is no way to build upon it into any other career & have the MA education transfer over.  At least with EMT & LVN/LPN you can advance to EMT-P or RN if you so choose.  If you're not in an area that hires MA's as ER Tech's, the closest MA's get to that kind of experience is urgent care, and even then there may be areas that want EMT's for those positions too.

[BeatlesLVR]

Thanks @TopDogg.  I suppose I will do the EMT-B route.  I don't want to do paid hours as I have more than enough HCE to vouch for and my FT job and my course load will leave me with very little time for the commitment of a second job.  I'm hoping someone/somewhere will accept me as a volunteer for at least 4 hours/week with my EMT-B.  I want to get some elbow-rubbing time with PAs, NPs, and MDs, see how they work with each other, their differences in practice, and get some mentorship.