Emergency Medical Technician / Advanced Emergency Medical Technician

Degree Options:
Campus Location:
Athens
Division
Life Science & Public Safety

Program Overview

Mission

The mission of the Emergency Medical Technician program is to prepare students to become competent, professionally prepared entry-level emergency medical technicians who meet state and national expectations within the profession.

Students who are interested in a career in the pre-hospital healthcare environment should consider both the short-term and long-term success of a program on the National Registry of EMT’s certifying exams, as well as retention rates. Athens Technical College’s EMS programs have a long standing success in preparing students both for the field work and the exam of pre-hospital providers.

The EMT classes are held every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evening, from 6-10 PM. Athens Technical College has clinical agreements will 10 EMS services in this region. The EMT and AEMT students will have access to all 10 EMS services. Beyond general duties, the specific responsibilities of EMTs depend on their level of qualification and training. The National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT) certifies emergency medical service providers at four levels: emergency medical responder (EMR), emergency medical technician (EMT), advanced emergency medical technician (AEMT), and paramedic. Graduates from the EMT/AEMT program will have the opportunity, upon completion of required core classes, to continue on to the Paramedicine program.

 

Additional Information
Interested in the EMT/AEMT Program? People's lives often depend on the quick reaction and competent care of paramedics. Incidents as varied as car crashes, heart attacks, slips and falls, childbirth, and gunshot wounds require immediate medical attention. Paramedics possess knowledge, skills and equipment to provide life-saving care and transport to an emergency department for the critically sick or injured patient.

“Paramedics commonly facilitate medical decisions at an emergency scene and during transport. Paramedics work in a variety of specialty care settings including but not limited to ground and air ambulances, occupational, in hospital, and community settings. Academic preparation enables paramedics to use a wide range of pharmacology, airway, and monitoring devices as well as to utilize critical thinking skills to make complex judgments such as the need for transport from a field site, alternate destination decisions, the level of personnel appropriate for transporting a patient, and similar judgments.” (National EMS Scope of Practice Model 2019)

Student Learning Outcomes Graduates of the Emergency Medical Technician program will be able to complete the following tasks:
• Perform an EMT level assessment.
• Form a general patient impression.
• Formulate a patient care plan within their scope of practice.
• Implement patient care.
• Transport patients to appropriate medical facilities or higher levels of care while delivering EMT level of care.
• Demonstrate the personal and professional ethics and interpersonal skills that are expected in the workplace.
• Pass the state psychomotor skills exam.
• Pass the National Registry EMT written exam.
Students earning the EMS Professions Diploma or Pre-Hospital EMS Operations TCC are expected to meet the EMT learning outcomes followed by the AEMT learning outcomes after completing the EMT portion.

Graduates of the Advanced Emergency Medical Technician program will be able to complete the following tasks:
• Perform an AEMT level assessment.
• Form a general patient impression.
• Formulate a patient care plan within their scope of practice.
• Implement patient care.
• Transport patients to appropriate medical facilities or higher levels of care while delivering EMT level of care.
• Demonstrate the personal and professional ethics and interpersonal skills that are expected in the workplace.
• Pass the National Registry AEMT written and psychomotor exam.
Students earning the EMS Professions Diploma or Pre-Hospital EMS Operations TCC should have already met the EMT program learning outcomes before entering the AEMT program.

Essential Functions Part 1 The following technical standards and essential functions outline reasonable expectations of a student in the Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) program for the performance of common EMT functions. The EMT student must be able to apply the knowledge and skills necessary to function in a variety of classroom, lab, and/or clinical situations while performing the essential competencies of an EMT. These requirements apply for the purpose of admission and continuation in the program. A general summary of the technical standards is listed below.
Essential Function: Observation
The ability to actively participate in all demonstrations, laboratory exercises, and clinical experiences in the professional program component and to assess and comprehend the condition of patients assigned to him/her for examination, diagnosis, and treatments. Such observations require the ability to see, hear, fell, or even smell cues related to the patient's condition.
Examples
• Observe skill demonstrations.
• Read small medication labels.
• Assess patients, including color changes, distinguishing location and types of injuries, lung sounds, and odors.
• Observe details about patient environment, including odors, colors, and sounds.
• Read small gauges on oxygen regulators and blood pressure cuffs.
• Listen to and distinguish patient lung sounds, heart tones, and blood pressures using a stethoscope in noisy environments.
Essential Function: Communication
The ability to communicate effectively in English using verbal, non-verbal, and written formats with faculty, other students, patients, families, and other members of the healthcare team.
Examples
• Read patient charts, medication labels, clinical documentation, physician orders, legal forms, and e-mail.
• Produce written communication with faculty or a healthcare team, including physicians, dispatchers, supervisors, patients (via charts, pre-hospital care forms, and/or narratives).
• Communicate verbally with healthcare team members, including physicians, dispatchers, supervisors, patients (in person, via telephone, and/or via two-way radio).
• Communicate effectively with instructors using a variety of methods such as email, voicemail, and messaging.
Essential Functions Part 2 Essential Function: Motor
Sufficient motor ability and dexterity to execute the movement and skills required for safe and effective care and emergency treatment.
Examples
• Lift and move patients with and without assistance.
• Perform emergency skills such as bandaging, splinting, moving patients, applying oxygen, and administering medications (pills, sprays, auto-injectors).
• Assess patients on and extricate patients from irregular surfaces, stairs, trails, roadways, ditches, vehicles, dwellings, businesses, waterways, etc.
Essential Function: Intellectual
The ability to collect, interpret, and integrate information and make decisions.
Examples
• Combine findings from patient and scene assessment with knowledge of anatomy and physiology to develop or follow treatment plans.
• Solve problems to meet challenges of emergency scenes.
• Recognize changing patient conditions and adapt care to address changing conditions.
• Synthesizing patient treatment plans in the absence of concrete findings or in the presence of contradictory findings.
Essential Function: Behavioral and Social Attributes
Possess the emotional health and stability required for full utilization of the student's intellectual abilities, the exercise of good judgment, the prompt completion of all academic and patient care responsibilities, and the development of mature, sensitive, and effective relationships with clients and other members of the healthcare team. Possess the ability to tolerate taxing workloads, function effectively under stress, adapt to changing environments, display flexibility, and learn to function in the face of uncertainties inherent in clinical settings with patients. Possess compassion, integrity, concern for others, and motivation. Possess the ability to demonstrate professional behaviors and a strong work ethic.
Examples
• Interact with people (such as patients and their families, bystanders, healthcare team members, and members of the general public) from diverse socioeconomic, ethnic, educational, religious, moral, and cultural backgrounds in a professional and non-judgmental manner.
• Respond to and manage emergency scenes under stressful and time-pressured circumstances.
• Respond to and manage non-emergency situations during an entire shift (up to 48 hours of continuous duty) while maintaining a compassionate, caring, and professional demeanor.
• Interact with people with learning, developmental, psychological, and/or behavioral disorders while maintaining a compassionate, caring, and professional demeanor.

Specific Facility, Tools Or Educational Tools Available

The EMS program uses the full range of simulation equipment from static models to high-fidelity human patient simulators, Bilevel PAP devices, and other contemporary EMS equipment as well. In addition, we have 2 fully operational ambulances which are used to help students become accustomed to the environment in which they will be required to function upon employment.

Additional Details
Class Times Offered:
Evening
Online Class Options:
Fully In Person
Deadline for Selective Admission:
June 15th- Fall
Additional Information:

Student Intent Form

Credentials you can earn:

Program Expenses

EMT students practicing on a dummy

Program Contact

Don Pruitt

Program Chair

dpruitt@athenstech.edu
706-355-5040

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Emergency Medical Technician / Advanced Emergency Medical Technician