As I mentioned in a previous post, before I can be accepted into a paramedic program here in Washington, I have to have a current EMT certification. As I’ve also mentioned, my certs lapsed about 5 states and 15 years ago. (My old Connecticut EMT number started with an “89″ if that’s any clue as to how longs it’s been.)

It turns out that I now have a couple of options. I was planning on the accelerated W-EMT (Wilderness EMT) class in Leavenworth in October, but last week, on a whim, I took the entrance exam for the North Seattle Community College EMT Class. What do you know? I passed.

So, now I have to decide if it’s North to Leavenworth or North Seattle.

As an aside, I was kind of surprised when I found out that North Seattle had a pre-class test. When I took EMT back in the late 80s, I just applied, sent in my 200 bucks and I was in. It’s not so easy today. Apparently the EMT class at NSCC is so popular that several hundred people test for the 30 available class slots and the 10 alternate slots every quarter. Most of those folks testing are Seattle firefighter hopefuls. It’s a plus if you’re already an EMT when you apply, as it’s a condition of employment.

But, I made the cut and now I’m leaning toward North Seattle for several reason. One, it’s much cheaper. Two, it’s closer. Three, the credits will go toward the elective portion of my degree. Seems like a no brainer.

If I do decide to attend the Fall quarter at North, I’ll also be taking the paramedic prerequisite A&P (Anatomy and Physiology) and an Integrated Studies course that is required for the degree program.

It’s been a while since I posted anything new, so here’s what’s going on. As you may or may not know, before I can be accepted into a paramedic education program, I have to be a current, working EMT for a year. So, that means I have to get re-certified as an EMT Basic. (I knew I never should have let those certs lapse!)

Last night I took the pre-test for the North Seattle EMT class. Everyone I talked to said it would be a killer test, but I thought it was pretty easy. It was all based on the Red Cross Emergency Response Curriculum, which is the basic DOT First Responder criteria. So, it turns out that there’s 40 slots for students in that class and about 150 people were testing last night. Most were guys that looked like they were young firefighters, hoping to add EMT skills to their repertoire prior to getting on with a local department. There were only a few older guys like me. I was planning on taking the WEMT course at Remote Medical in Leavenworth and banging it all out in 20 days, but after talking to my adviser, she suggested that I take EMT at North and apply those 10 credits toward my degree. Duh! At any rate, if it should happen that I don’t get accepted into the North Seattle program, I can either still take the Remote Medical class in Leavenworth in October (which I’m actually registered for) or apply for the King County EMT program in Bellevue that Search and Rescue sponsors, and thus will cost me nothing! There’s lots of options. I’m also excited because I didn’t realize how close I was to getting most of the AA degree requirements knocked out, so I can move on to a regular university. Radio… gotta love the fact that you can work in the business, make a ton of money and do it without a degree. The real world is a little different.