From SOLO website:

"Upon successful completion of both exams, participants receive a two-year SOLO WEMT certification, a two-year AHA CPR certification, and a National Registry of Emergency Medical Technician (NREMT) certification. It is the responsibility of each student to find out how certification and licensure work in their state."

"...THE RESPONSIBILITY OF EACH STUDENT TO FIND OUT HOW CERTIFICATION AND LICENSURE WORK IN THEIR STATE..."

The reason I brought up this issue in the first place is that although it is relatively easy to get EMT training, providing medical care as an EMT is not a trivial thing. As an EMT you are considered a medical professional, albeit a very low level one, and are legally held to a standard of care. Each state sets standards and has requirements and If you use EMT skills without proper authorization you are risking serious liability issues.

NJS,

You're probably both right and wrong, depending on the state, but I also think you're missing the point of the question, which was, "how do I get training" not "how to I work as an EMT."

I know of a few states that require you to affiliate with medical control and maintain that affiliation to get your Paramedic card, so it's possible that the same situation exists for BLS techs as well in some states.

However, that's not the point. Being an EMT does not allow me to outfit my minivan with lights and sirens and call myself an ambulance. It does allow me, with the appropriate medical control, to work on someone elses ambulance, but the ambulance would not exist without the medical control, so I don't really worry about it all that much.

Being an EMT also gives me the skills to help out when I'm not working under medical control. When I tended to a woman having a seizure at 35,000 feet on a transcontinental flight I was a passenger on, I was not acting with medical control - I was a good Samaritan who answered a call for help, and I was protected from liability by good samaritan laws.. Similarly, if I stop at a car accident while driving with my family (which I have also done) I am protected by good Samaritan laws, as long as I follow my training and protocols.

So back to the original question. I have already suggested volunteering with your local fire department or ambulance company. Other places to look are community colleges for courses you want to pay for, and the always popular WEMT certification. CERT and the Red Cross are good for basic first aid, which is certainly useful, but not as involved, and will not give you the same comfort and experience as working an ambulance will give you.

Sorry for the long post!

If you're expired, you'll need to do the entire 110 hr course. Check your local junior college. Typically a semester, but I did an accelerated 6-week, weekends only program.

NJS, I'm another one that has experiences at odds with that you've said. No class I've heard of says no to money. And even certification in California (at least) is suprisingly easy. I even recerted with CEU's from New Jersey one year; a seperate time (several years later) they waived the CEU portion, figuring that full time medical school was sufficient.

From the Maryland Institue for Emergecny Medical Services System (MIEMSS):


In Maryland, one must be affiliated with a recognized EMS program, which may fall under Fire, EMS and some Law Enforcement agencies. None of the training programs (to the best of my knowledge) will allow anyone to enroll unless you have affiliation with one of these entities. Even the programs associated with the high schools and colleges require that one to be associated with an approved EMS program (i.e. Fire and/or Rescue and/or LE agency).

Pete

Like so much in EMS, the rules vary widely by state and locality. I was responding to what I felt was an overgeneralized statement by njs.

As I said earlier, I had my NREMT-B and later NREMT-I before applying to the agency I eventually worked at. I certainly did not need agency affiliation to just take the training, let alone get the NREMT certs. That's how the system is in my state. And I know WEMTs who hold registry and do not work for EMS.

Now when it comes to renewing your certification, things get stickier if you are trained at an advanced life support (ALS) level, which is EMT-Intermediate and up. When renewing as an actively employed EMT you must show agency affiliation. If you are not employed as an EMT but want to retain your cert, you must show that you worked for an ALS-capable EMS agency for at least 6 months sometime in your life. This is how many instructors maintain their registry cert, they rely on their earlier field experience.

Bottom line to the original poster: seek out a Wilderness First Responder (WFR) course from one of the providers njs linked to, and you will be very well served.

This has gotten well away from the original question. Lets clarify the certification issues and put that issue to an end.

MOST states do not require an agency affiliation for certification at the Basic (EMT-B) level, SOME US states do require that you either have agency affiliation prior to certification, by the end of the first certification period, or some time period in between. These rules change frequently, check your state for the current rules where you live.

There is only one national certification organization for EMS, National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT). NREMT Does not require agency affiliation for any initial certification.

Every state has rules regarding medical direction for utilization of advanced skills as an EMS provider. These rules vary from state to state, and again each person should know the rules for their state and certification rule.

So... Southern Cal, where the OP is from, is where I worked for 10 yrs as an EMT.

When I got my EMT, back in 96, no EMS affiliation was required (in LA County). However, the state is ack-bassward. Every county does their own EMS cert's, or you can go through the state Fire Marshall course. so, concievably some counties would want you with an EMS agency, others wouldn't. But to my knowledge, none did. All counties offer reciprocity with one another, for a fee. Wildernss FA is tough to find, depending where you live (I think UCLA EMS offers it still).

Nat'l Registry doesn't exist in CA. However, some counties use NREMT as the basis for their tests, such as Orange County, so you may be served by learning that curriculum. LA Co. was a simple "home made" test.

I'd say call up the EMS agency for whatever county you live in, get the scoop on what they require, and where they have courses. Shouldn't be too pricey. If you don't like your options, go to the next closest county and repeat. You've got, what, 5 counties to choose from (LA, Orange, SD, San Bernardino and Riverside). Santa Barbara/Kern County too if you wanted (I heard good things about their tests)