EMT - Emergency Medical Technician

All didactic information is presented online and skills are taught and verified onsite at the end of the class. Clinical rotations will begin immediately following verification of your skills proficiency.  All students are required to complete a minimum of 24 hours in an EMSEC approved Emergency Department and 24 hours onboard an EMSEC approved EMS provider's ambulances.  In addition, our students must participate in a minimum of three (3) patient transports to a hospital facility.

What about:     the course itself?     cost?     prerequisites?     screenings?      skills instruction and verification?     clinical rotations?     registration?     completion?     

Course Organization

The class is  organized so that the student has approximately 10-12 weeks to complete all didactic work prior to the skills weekend and final exam.  You may proceed at your own pace.  Within the class are certain deadlines that you need to meet. Class work times  up to those deadlines are up to you complete as your schedule allows. You may have several attempts for the assignments but the module exams are single attempts only.  Module exams count for 60% of your course grade.  The assignments and chapter quizzes make up the other 40%.  

At the skills weekend, the course final exam will be given, and all skills will be taught and verified.  The final exam must be completed with a grade of 80% or better.   If you do not score 80% or better, you will have one additional opportunity to take the exam.  You must score 80% or better on this retest in order to move to clinical rotations. 

The three benchmarks each student must pass are: 1). 80% or better on classwork - assignments, chapter tests, etc. 2). 80% or better on Final Examination -given at skills weekend 3). Completion of skills verification within four (4) attempts. 

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Cost
EMSEC provides all-inclusive pricing for the EMT-Basic course. The tuition price of $850 includes course tuition, malpractice insurance, textbooks, screenings, clinical fees, skills testing, ID badge and uniform shirt. Fees not included are state registration and National Registry fees, and any drug testing fees should laboratory confirmation be required. Additional uniform shirts , as well as other EMSEC merchandise can be purchased for additional costs. 

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Prerequisites

All students must have a high school diploma or GED prior to taking the National Registry examination.  This is required by Texas DSHS for Texas EMT certification.  A valid CPR card must be provided prior to skills instruction. A CPR class will be available, (at additional cost), on Friday before skills instruction begins, (see schedule). Proof of immunizations including 2 MMR, tetanus within the last 10 years, and a valid TB test within the last year must be provided before clinical rotations can begin. In addition, proof of completion of the hepatitis B series or a hepatitis B titer test greater than 10 must be provided.  If you do not have Hepatitis B inoculation, you MUST begin your series immediately in order to complete the three shot series by the beginning of clinical rotations and have time to complete your rotations.  YOU MAY NOT ENTER CLINICAL ROTATIONS WITHOUT THIS REQUIRED IMMUNIZATION.

Screenings

Students shall have a criminal background evaluation performed in the first week of class, and drug testing performed at the first skills session.  All criminal history greater than traffic misdemeanors will limit or preclude clinical rotations and will be evaluated on a case by case basis.  All failed drug tests may be confirmed by laboratory testing on the same sample at the student's expense. A failed drug test will result in expulsion from the EMSEC program without refund of any fees or tuition.

Skills Instruction and Verification

All skills instruction will be done during the skills weekend.  Skills taught will include patient assessment, bandaging and splinting, shock management, traction splinting, spinal movement restrictions, (seated and supine), use of epi-pen, use of bronchodilators, vital signs, AED, Oxygen administration and bag-valve-mask use, suctioning and airway adjuncts, lifting and moving patients. Documentation and teaching/testing will be done using the National Registry of EMTs skills sheets, available on www.nremt.org and the Texas DSHS website.  All skills will be taught and verified by EMSEC instructors. Each student will have four (4) attempts to verify competency on each skill. Remediation will be provided if verification attempts are not successful.  EMSEC strives to provide the student with every opportunity to be successful in our program and ultimately in their career as an EMT-Basic.

Clinical Rotations

EMSEC clinical rotations are provided at hospitals and EMS agencies with a reputation for actively involving students in patient care.  Our primary site is Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital in southwest Houston, a level III trauma center, receiving patients from the local community as well as Houston Fire Department, Fort Bend County EMS and other surrounding agencies. EMS agencies hosting EMSEC students include Westlake EMS, near Katy, and Walker County EMS in Huntsville.  Documentation of each shift, with a minimum of three patient contacts per shift,  with a signature from the precepting nurse or paramedic must be turned in at the skills weekend.  In EMS, we say "If it isn't written down, it didn't happen".  Your documentation should describe your patient encounters thoroughly.

Registration

Registration is open through the first week of any session.  Payment of tuition confirms your reservation in our class session.  Payment can be made online with immediate access through PayPal, (PayPal account, or credit card through the PayPal system), or by check or money order.  Payment by check or money order can be sent to EMSEC at 24423 Rolling Meadow, Tomball, TX 77375. Access to class materials will be restricted until payment is received and clears processing. A payment plan of three $300 payments (which includes a $50 processing fee) is available.  All initial fees or first payment fees must be paid at registration.

Completion

What do I get at the end?  EMSEC students completing all aspects of the program will be provided with a Course Completion Certificate indicating satisfactory completion and eligibility to register for and take the National Registry of EMTs registration examination.  Successful completion of this examination allows the candidate to submit the application and fee to the Texas Department of State Health Services for certification as a Texas EMT-Basic.