In most states in order to receive an EMT certification a person must be able to demonstrate need (i.e. have an affiliation with a rescue organization, ambulance service, guiding service, work requirement etc.) and also have a supervising physician. Usually anyone can take an EMT class but simply wanting to be an EMT is not sufficient to become certified at a state and national level.

With a basic EMT certification a person is typically trained to provide initial care to sick or injured people and assist them in obtaining higher level care in locations close to medical and rescue services. There are many adjunct and higher level training plans for EMT's. A useful and interesting program is the Wilderness EMT adjunct (WEMT) that trains EMT's to provide initial and longer term medical care in remote locations with limited resources. Some places offer a combined EMT/WEMT class.

Probably the most useful and easiest to obtain training for people involved in outdoor recreational activities is a Wilderness First Responder certification. The class teaches a range of first aid, rescue and improvisation skills for initial and long term first aid in remote locations.


Here are some links to reliable places for wilderness first aid training.
Most of these places also sell high quality preassembled first aid kits and supplies.

http://www.nols.edu/wmi/

http://www.remotemedical.com/

http://www.wildmed.com/

http://www.soloschools.com/

http://www.aeriemed.com/

http://www.wildernessmedicine.com/