Posted on Jul 28, 2020
How do I avoid going through EMT class again in AIT?
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Just joined the National Guard for 68w. I already have my EMT and I was told that once I get to AIT they will decide whether or not I skip the EMT portion. Can anyone shed some light on the process of deciding? How should I prepare? I don’t want to go through EMT class again.
Posted 5 y ago
Responses: 12
I think the previous answers have already covered it, so gonna leave that piece alone. That said, I was a Whiskey instructor at Ft. Sam for 3 years, and I would strongly advise you to suck it up and just take the EMT piece. Here's why. If you skip it, you'll be dropped into a class that has already taken 6 weeks of EMT as a group. That means they already have bonded, formed groups, made friends, etc. You'll be the outsider with zero history with any of them, which will make your life a lot harder. I'm not saying this is insurmountable. That depends on you...and them. However, why borrow trouble when you can do 6 easy, paid weeks of training that you should breeze through, reset your certification, and be a rock star? Just my nickel's worth of free advice.
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MSgt Steven Holt, NRP, CCEMT-P
My thoughts exactly SFC Bryan Stetzer. Group dynamics often will make or break a class.
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MAJ Byron Oyler
On top of your comments, if you are really new or really old, taking it again in a paid Army status has zero to lose. I had to take PHTLS to get my paramedic license in Nevada (already paramedic in TX and NE) and as a Critical Care/ER RN with TNCC and ATCN, I kept that to myself and sat in the back and listened. I picked up 16hours of CEUs, made some new friends in NM, and am sure I am the better provider for it. I would say the last five years most of the classes I have taken I did not need to be successful but did them to be better.
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SFC Bryan Stetzer
MAJ Byron Oyler - Excellent points. That actually brings up something I was thinking about. Kind of an addendum to my earlier answer. Whether you take EMT or not, don't go in there with the "I already know this" know-it-all mentality. While I was an instructor, I taught both EMT and Whiskey (the combat medic piece). This was before they shifted the EMT to all civilians. During that time, we had several students with prior experience, either as EMTs or paramedics. On the one hand, this can be a great asset both to you and to your classmates. On the other, it can be an enormous problem. If you have that prior experience, do not use it to challenge or argue with the instructors. They are strictly bound by a Program of Instruction (POI), and they are required to adhere to it. The tests in turn are all based on the POI. Yes, we know there are other ways to do things. Yes, we know there may be better ways to do things. Yes, we know, that's not the way you were taught, or the way you did it back home, or the way your protocols specified. This is not our first rodeo, but we are required to teach it in accordance with the POI, and if you argue with the instructors, or, worse, go behind them and tell your classmates "they don't know what they're talking about", you're doing both the instructors and your classmates a disservice. It confuses them, and if your classmates listen to you over the instructors, they will fail the tests. If you truly don't understand or have a question, by all means ask. But don't use that as a way to challenge them. On the EMT side, most of them are not only prior combat medics, but also experienced paramedics. On the Whiskey side, they are all experienced medics, most with combat tours. They know what they're talking about, but are bound by the POI. Help them, and your classmates. Don't try to show everyone how smart you are. You'll just end up causing problems for them and yourself.
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If you have the National Registry EMT that’s current and valid, you can skip that portion.
NREMT is an absolute requirement. I had LPNs and RNs in my class who still had to take it.
NREMT is an absolute requirement. I had LPNs and RNs in my class who still had to take it.
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If you’re a state certified emt you can challenge the NREMT test at AIT and just do a skills assessment. You will then be placed in a class that has completed EMT portion already.
Or what you can do is take and pass the NREMT test prior to getting to AIT.
Those are your only two options for skipping the emt portion.
Or what you can do is take and pass the NREMT test prior to getting to AIT.
Those are your only two options for skipping the emt portion.
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No, you can't. Just suck it up and enjoy the class. And if you think you are as good as you think you are, then school that instructor. Show him/her how it's done and you are the boss.
My philosophy, "Play more dumb than you think you are. It's much easier to win the game", like Columbo.
My philosophy, "Play more dumb than you think you are. It's much easier to win the game", like Columbo.
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I am speaking outside my lane here, but I imagine if you are able to get out of doing the EMT portion of the class work in AIT the alternative duty task you get is probably going to suck in comparison.
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They’ll ask if anyone has NREMT already when you get there, bring credentials. You’ll be designated “accelerant” and you’ll love to another company to start “whiskey phase” of training. Depending when you get there you may wait up to 2 weeks to start, less if the company you move to is starting whiskey sooner.
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Why on Earth would you want to do that? Take the training and learn the Army way, THEN, you can also use the training for promotion points later.
The Army has a way they do things and then, please remember, you will have different instructors, Combat Medics that have treated combat wounds. Remember Doc, you will learn something new each class. As a Grunt, I will tell you that there is no more special relationship than that between a Grunt and Doc. I am walking today, was able to finish my career and have a wife and children because a Medic, our platoon DOC was the best trained that he could be. No one, means more to a GRUNT than DOC.
The Army has a way they do things and then, please remember, you will have different instructors, Combat Medics that have treated combat wounds. Remember Doc, you will learn something new each class. As a Grunt, I will tell you that there is no more special relationship than that between a Grunt and Doc. I am walking today, was able to finish my career and have a wife and children because a Medic, our platoon DOC was the best trained that he could be. No one, means more to a GRUNT than DOC.
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SGT Suraj Dave
The EMT portion is taught by civilian and its by the book. Any relevant training to treating soldiers is in the whiskey portion. The EMT portion is literally a civilian course taught by civilian instructors. Nothing Army or combat related except the fact soldiers are in the class. When you get in whisky portion, you have to unlearn most of what you learned in the EMT portion because its opposite. The EMT portion just makes it so you can be an ambulance driver, which most privates will be when they get to their unit. The EMT portion of 68W AIT is the exact same as the civilian class.
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Well demonstrate the knowledge and skills for the class, if you already know the ropes and can pass they won't waste the resources on you.
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What exactly is your cert? And is it National Registry? If you don’t have your National Registry they may give you the option to test out. Not sure how that works. If you have at minimum your NREMT Basic, you will have to provide proof and should be fast tracked to Whiskey side.
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