I’m 29, live in Oregon, and recently got my EMT certification and Oregon license. I’ve been applying for EMT jobs for about 3 months now, and I’ve been surprised by how difficult it’s been to actually get hired.

I’ve applied to AMR multiple times along with other ambulance companies and EMT-related positions in my area, but so far I haven’t had much luck. A lot of applications either go nowhere, get rejected without an interview, or I’ll find postings that seem like they aren’t even actively hiring anymore.

My long-term goal is to become a career firefighter, so I’m really trying to get some solid EMT experience while continuing to apply to fire departments. I’ve completed a fire academy, have my EMT license, CPR/BLS, FEMA certifications, and a solid work history, but getting that first opportunity in EMS has been way harder than I expected.

For those of you who struggled to land your first EMT job, how long did it take? Did you eventually get hired by an ambulance company, hospital, ER, fire department, or somewhere else?

Also, is there anything you’d recommend doing to make myself more competitive when I don’t have professional EMT experience yet?

Just trying to figure out if this is normal for someone starting out or if I need to change the way I’m going about my job search.

For context, I have been working as a certified dental assistant for about 3 years now and I love it but I don’t see any future growth and long term. I had recently seen an opportunity online to do EMT training that fit really well with my full time schedule. I’ve always pushed myself through hard situations that felt overwhelming and knew if something wasn’t right for me. I am overall excited to learn about saving a life, medicines, and useful techniques. I am curious to learn what I should know/ expect from training and/or in actual shifts as an EMT. I am open to honest and blunt advice as I believe this would be great for me. Thank you all. God bless you and your services <3

19M, 5'9, trying to get in better shape for the training and job. I'll be honest, I haven't taken amazing care of myself over the past few years, so I may need to start a little slow. Anybody have any good tips?

I just applied for the EMT I position on the government careers website. I am seeking for advice on how to pass the general entry written test to get to the next level which is the training phase. I took the test once and I did not pass. So with that being said, how did you pass the written test and got a high score? What resources you used to help you pass?

Ex: books (What kind of books should I read?) or anything I can use to pass.

In simple words what is it and how it works

Hey y’all, I’m currently employed as a campus supervisor at my local high school. I just recently received my EMT certification and plan to get my license in the next week or so. I’ve already had discussions with the Athletic Director about working games this year. She said she thought it was a great idea, but she doesn’t know about the Insurance side of things and employing me as an independent contractor. I was just seeing if anyone else that worked at the school also moonlights as the school’s EMT for games and could maybe give me some insight.

throwaway account to protect my identity.

I recently got hired in my first IFT company, no prior ems experience. I just completed my first day training, and I really am wondering if it’s common for FTOs to really make you question your career choice. my FTO is really intense, not an asshole but I could tell he was irate when I didnt know how to operate the hospital beds intuitively and sort of just went “what are you doing?” telling me to grab the latch when in my view theres like three different moving articulating parts of the hospital bed and just pointing in a vague direction. first day and I’m already being asked to maneuver the patient and lift the gurney (not hard but stressful doing it the first day of training). It’s a five day training period, and in the fourth and fifth days I’m going to be driving the rig and after this training period I will be expected to be on my own with a partner if I pass.

This whole training process is sort of stressing me out, it feels like I do have the support but it feels like the coaching methods employed by my FTO do not really match with my style and I also feel like five shifts is definitely not enough training time for a brand new EMT entering the field for the first time. just feels like I’m being set up for failure but I’m scared that if I speak up and ask for my training period to be longer they’ll just fire me

Is 16.50 a good pay for an AEMT working a 48/96 in a rural area?

I'm just starting to get some solid plans for entering an EMS career, but I am curious to hear from anyone who has experience working primarily at event jobs. I would love to have a 'per diem' type situation that allows me to pursue some more creative endeavors on the side, but not sure if that's unrealistic. I'm specifically looking into the east coast, ideally in or around new york. If anyone knows what the job market there is like for this kind of thing, or how competitive it is, that would be very helpful. Any insight is appreciated.

As the title says, I completed an EMT-B course in August of 2024. Today, August 31, 2026, I passed the NREMT, and my certification has been issued. Unfortunately, it seems like I need a valid course completion record within the last 2 years to apply for EMT state (CA) licensure. Has anyone made this mistake?

If this is true, what can I do to apply for the license now? Do I have to retake the whole course?

Okay so this is lowkey embarrassing to admit but I’m struggling on the NC state exam for EMT-b
I passed the NREMT first try but for some reason can’t get the state exam down. I don’t know if the different testing environment is making me more anxious or what.
Any tips or tricks?

I want to work in an ER after getting my paramedic and while I get my nursing to keep my skills up and knowledge sharp. I wanted to try to get into a pediatric hospital like U of M but wasn't sure if they would even consider hiring me as an ER tech with a brand new paramedic license. Does anyone have any tips for getting into the peds field and what I should expect?

Edit: I forgot to mention I'm planning on working a firefighter paramedic job after getting my EMT-P license. Doing fire academy after paramedic is done.

I somehow someway passed my class even though i wanted to quit so many times. i felt really behind being the youngest in class (18 when i started, everyone else at least over 21) and on top of that everyone else in my class had prior medical knowledge (CNAs, Teachers, Athletic trainers etc). i now just have the NREMT to tackle next week. My instructors told me they make our in class final exam harder than the NREMT, and i have about a 92% chance of passing first try. Anywho I am just a TERRIBLEEEEE test taker, idk why I just doubt so much. I have also found i typically do like 30% better on tests i dont study for? I guess im just looking for test taking tips in general for the NREMT, i’ve heard they word problems really weird and whatnot so yeah thank you!!!

p.s - the psycomotor exams were actual hell i was so nervous i was shaking and felt like such a dummy, but i passed all of those too!

I started my EMR training through my college last week. I have no prior medical experience except for anatomy class, and was told this course was completely entry level, and that all my BLS certs would be obtained through the class.

Right after ice breakers, we were brought into a room thinking it would be a lecture, but instead we were surprised to have it be a scenario. The teacher yelled “HELP!” and had a dummy and AED on the floor. One person (who was a retired nurse renewing her license) went up and started CPR, and everyone else stood there. When the nurse called for help, I was the first to go up, and I took over her CPR. The teacher was standing behind me and writing notes.

Keep in mind, I haven’t done CPR since high-school (6 years ago. I had brushed up online, but I haven’t been able to test on a dummy since then. The teacher told me to stop because I was doing compressions too quickly.

The rest of the day went fine, and I was able to fix my mistakes in the later scenarios. But my grade for the day got docked by almost half for the first mess up, and the teacher asked me how I ended up in class without my CPR cert. I told them I was under the impression we’d earn it in class along with our other certs and training, but apparently not? We’re supposed to have prior medical experience.

I’m still able to stay in the class as long as I get my certs by the end of the month, and as of today I started CPR training online since I won’t be able to get it through the class, but I’m feeling pretty embarrassed and de-motivated. Additionally, most the people in this class are people who were once first responders or med workers but took a break, and are back to renew their licenses.

I’m just really nervous because the guidance counselors at my school told me this is where I should start training, but it’s above my skill and knowledge level, and I’m worried I gave my professors a bad first impression of me. I’m also worried this bad grade will hinder my ability to pass, since we only meet 6 more times. I’m still determined to learn and become an EMT, if this course doesn’t work out then I’ll study and practice until I can take it again, but it’s off to a rough start…

Edit: I know it’s confusing, but at my school I need to take EMR to get into the EMT class. I cannot skip to EMT.

I just bought my first pair of the pants and I really like them I got the Stryke ems cargo pants they have room for knee pads very convenient and am debating buying a pair of their boots bc their on sale right now but just want some opinions without breaking the bank

I’ll be starting emt school this December trying to get into fire as a fire medic later on, what should I do to get a head start before emt school?

I’m in my first week of EMT class and I’ve already gone through the lectures for Chapters 1–5. So far the workload has felt pretty manageable, but I know I’m still really early in the course.
For anyone who has already gone through EMT school, does the material get noticeably harder later on? Are there certain chapters or topics where things start to ramp up?
Just trying to get an idea of what to expect and what areas I should be ready to spend more time on.

Recently hired at an EMT company that mainly does BLS IFT and I think the occasional code 2. Any advice on how to best be prepared or about what I should be most focused on during these shifts?

how are people able to get ER tech jobs without having experience on an ambulance first (esp. in california)? any tips would be appreciated!

Hi everyone! I'm taking my NREMT written exam tomorrow and I'm not feeling as ready as I want to be. I've been doing a lot of practice problems but I just don't feel as prepared as I feel I should. Do you all have any tips for the exam? I would be so grateful to hear any suggestions from you all. Also, are there specific concepts/topics that I should have down or expect to show up on the exam more than once? Thanks for any help!

On a separate note, one thing that I keep getting caught up on is when to BVM a semiconscious patient. The way I learned is that BVM is basically only for non responsive patients, but I've gotten a few questions where BVM is the answer for semiconscious ones, so how should I know when to use it when they are still conscious?

I’ve got one of those little pen lights with a pupil gauge and it’s always clicking on in my pocket and draining the batteries. Any solutions that don’t involve purchasing a different light because I don’t want to. I’ve got a heavier duty light that doesn’t do that but it’s a bit too bright for pupil checks and doesn’t have the handy dandy little gauge.

Hi, for background I have been EMT for just over two years. I’m from Oregon and I recently came across NMETC and thought it looked like a good fit for me. It looked good because I’m working full-time and I am soon expecting my first child. I just wanted to come on here and see if anybody who has taken it knows anything about the clinical portion of the school. I know there is 12 day in person Boot Camp, but as far as hospital and out of hospital clinical times does that have to be done in Massachusetts or do they allow me to do it back in Oregon? Thank you!

Hi!!! I just passed my entrance exam through AMR EWYL and was wondering if we get a class to practice what’s in the video? I just looked it up on youtube and the one i found was dealing with the stretcher, and i have zero experience with any of that equipment. If they don’t do practice, any advice on the best way to practice/learn quickly?