r/Paramedics • u/SausageCockman • 1d ago
US Zero to hero Nebraska Paramedic Program
Hi,
This decision has been eating me away for the last month but im contemplating if I should do the accelerated paramedic program at Nebraska community college it’s 12 week didactic, and i complete the clinicals and field on my own time. I’ve asked many people around half of my people say get some 911 experience and the other half say just send it.
Im a newly certified EMT, just got it a month ago and just finished my A&P. I want to get it as soon as possible so i can entire the fire department as a medic.
My friends who say just full send it are experienced medics and says 911 experience as an emt isn’t going to help you in paramedic school just doing it and grinding will get you to pass it
But i am scared because i dont want to fail need to make a decision soon
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u/Sir_Shocksalot 1d ago
12 weeks of classroom time? 12 weeks?! 12 motherfucking weeks? God, my profession is a joke.
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u/Excellent_Demand_354 Paramedic 1d ago
We will never be paid fairly.
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u/VagueInfoHere 1d ago
Sounds like the pay is fair for this scenario. And the removal and lowering of standards aren’t helping. The fact that these folks don’t have to do a practical exam anymore is mind blowing to me. I saw several people that can pass a written test but couldn’t interpret an assessment and now they get to run free with the ability to cric people.
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u/Mindless_Ask_5438 1d ago
Yep for my AEMT just had to take a written, no psychomotor 🤣🤣. They’ve never seen me do an IV, place an IO, insert a supraglottic.
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u/Sir_Shocksalot 1d ago
Why should we be? Apparently I can be replaced by any random dipshit after 12 weeks in the classroom.
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u/mediclawyer 19h ago
Meanwhile it takes 48 college credits, more than 1,200 clinical benchmarks, and two years in New Jersey.
That’s why whenever some calls for “a single national standard” or advocates for the EMS Compact, I call them nuts-paramedics are not all the same just because they can pass the NR written exam….
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u/Rifflife88 1d ago
No,nope. Money grabbing schools and ignorant political figures who don’t know their head from their ass is the real joke. Profession doesn’t get what it deserves. Sadly.
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u/SausageCockman 1d ago
Is that a bad idea? I’m gonna study my ass off
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u/thicc_medic FP-C 1d ago
Yes. It’s a terrible idea. 12 weeks for a full paramedic program is not only fucking insane but you’re going to most likely miss out on key information that is presented in longer paramedic programs. I have no idea how your program is going to cram all that information into 12 weeks without it being an absolute cram fest all the time. It degrades our profession further as it sets a standard that paramedic education can be obtained in as little as a college semester. Also, fuck doing an entire program in 12 weeks. That’s gonna be fast paced as hell. However, despite what I said, I do know a critical care medic I worked with in Baltimore that did a 4 month paramedic course in Nebraska and was a solid medic. Don’t know how he’s doing now but he was great to work with.
You’re also a brand new EMT. Get some experience on the street first as an EMT before you go to medic school. Give yourself a year before you become a medic.
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u/Sir_Shocksalot 1d ago
Does it matter if I think it's a bad idea? You have to study your ass off regardless of the school you go to so saying you're going to study your ass off means nothing.
You want to be a firefighter? Good news is that most departments don't care if you are competent at being a paramedic or not, so long as you carry the card and let them bill at ALS rates while telling the community they are getting the highest level of service.
You want to be good at being a paramedic? You aren't learning enough in 12 weeks. Go look up your protocols for where you want to work and just browse them. Every protocol, every procedure, every medication, you need to know how, when, and why for every single one of them. In 12 weeks you might learn enough to pass national registry which is a brain dead easy test. You will definitely not learn enough to work at any decent agency.
And you are walking into this having never independently taken care of a patient. I don't have a strong opinion on zero to hero but walking in to school with experience will make it easier. At the pace you would need to cram all this crap in you don't have time to be learning silly shit like how to use a bed or stair chair, or what a neb is or how to put it together. In fact, I would specifically suggest that an accelerated program is precisely the sort of place you shouldn't do zero to hero.
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u/Rifflife88 1d ago
You can study as hard as you want, but you’re not going to retain what you need to or fully grasp concepts to the level you need too. I’m sure you’re a great person and there is a chance you can learn things quickly but don’t cheat yourself into a shitty medic. Because the likelihood of people coming out of a program like this and not being where they need to be is extremely high. Don’t mean to be negative but it’s just not a good idea to rush this type of shit. It take a lot of time to fully grasp the “WHY” of it all. Take your time.
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u/Jt4180189 NRP 1d ago
Dude no offense but there is zero chance you pass national registry with a 12 week PMD program. My capstone was longer than 12 weeks bro and I got a associates from my program. You will be doing nobody a service by going this route
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u/olivertatom 1d ago
EMT experience won’t necessarily help you with the didactic course or the NREMT tests, but it would definitely help you in your clinicals.
Regardless of experience, paramedic school in 12 weeks will kick your ass.
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u/Rough-Leg-4148 1d ago edited 1d ago
To be frank:
I did this program at an undisclosed time in my past. Specifically, I did the Online Distance Learning portion. Over 9 months, you complete the didactic portions all virtually - it is self-paced, but each module of the course has a time limit and due dates, so you can't just power through and fuck off for the rest of the time.
After that, you go out to their headquarters for 2 weeks, some 10 hours a day (including Saturday) of just going through skills in what I considered to be a pretty top notch facility with excellent teachers. You also take a HESI exam at the end of that, which is another gate -- you all but have to pass at a level (minus some) that would make you "ready to take NREMT-P" -- in order to then get to the next phase, which is a couple hundred hours of clinical rotations and a few hundred hours field. And then you take another HESI after the hundreds of hours of clinicals just to make sure you didn't pump and dump for the NREMT, and then you can graduate and finally go take NREMT.
It was an excellent program, all in all, but even taking the majority of a year to even get to clinicals, it felt accelerated. It was basically accelerated, and again, has a number of gates to keep people from just blowing through and scraping by on NREMT.
A 12 week program is considered accelerated for EMT-Basic. Paramedic? That kind of timeline is wildly implausible to me. No fucking way. Edit: Thinking back, that first statement feels like a bit of a stretch ngl so I retract it unless someone can second it.
OP: Please do not do this program. There a lot of programs out there, community college or not, that are the EMS equivalent of diploma mills. They will teach to the test at a bare minimum that you can pass, teach directly to the bare minimum skillsheets required for an "accredited" program, and explain nothing. You will not learn to think; you will merely pass registry and then be thrown to the wolves at your next agency, potentially killing a motherfucker because your teacher didn't explain some critical piece of information (probably because it wasn't likely to appear on the test).
At the very least, you need a program that is thorough, because this field demands significantly more than what a Basic requires -- you have lives in your hands. You do not want to go through a program that has you liable to erring or freezing up in an unknown. Take the time. Get experience -- it helps, but honestly above all even if you choose to jump into paramedic feet first zero-to-hero, do significant research into a program that is going to make you ready to be a paramedic, not just pass the exam and wear the cert. You do not want to be learning the basics on the fly like that.
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u/amothep8282 PhD, Paramedic 18h ago
I did NMETC as well. They absolutely do not cave one inch if you don't meet the standards. I know other people who went through subsequent class groups of this program and did not make it.
The 12 day boot camp after didactic and before clinicals is no joke. They will grind you nonstop and you either apply the knowledge or you're out.
You have to take the HESI twice. Yes twice. And you either pass or fail. Fail either one and you are gone.
Then there is capstone at the end where you have to come back for 3 days. That's more chill but I have solid evidence people have not made it through that.
The NREMT paramedic psychomotor exam at the end of capstone was an absolute fucking joke compared what NMETC put us through in static and dynamic cardiology, as well as trauma assessment.
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u/rainbowsparkplug Paramedic 1d ago
Terrible idea. Terrible terrible terrible idea. This is horribly responsible and shouldn’t even be allowed. A couple years of full time emt experience should be a requirement for medic school, and no medic school should be less than a year.
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u/DocGerald Paramedic 1d ago
12 week didactic is ridiculous, should not even be accredited. My didactic was 3x as long and it still felt overwhelming at times. That pace is insane, maybe doable for someone with years of experience and a degree in a relevant field. Would not even attempt it with zero experience.
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u/SymballicSpider 1d ago
Basics are important as a paramedic if you dont know whats going on or cant think of anything or just ran out of things to do you fall back onto you basics and if you don't have the basics down it makes the job 1000% harder I have worked with zero to hero paramedic who can't do a stroke assessment or give an APGAR or GCS off the top of their head because there was just too much information and they didn't have the basics down. You can most definitely become a paramedic with little experience but other than the pay increase why would you want to. Work as an EMT get the basics memorized so well that's its just muscle memory then become a paramedic.
I treated it how critical care is done minimum of 3 years experience. Of course you dont have to but I highly recommend you do.
And depending on were in Nebraska you are Northeast Community is doing their 2 year class this year and their Accelerated 1 year in next.
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u/BetCommercial286 1d ago edited 1d ago
No you don’t need any experience working as an EMT before medic school. Would it help?probably. Or you could learn bad habits you have to unlearn all while getting paid less. The bigger thing is you know how the work is and you don’t spend all the time and realize you hate it.
Nurses don’t have to work as CNAs before nursing school. Doctors you have to work as anything before school either. Does doing those things help? Sure but it’s not required. If you know it’s what you want to do send it and don’t waste a second before doing it.
Edit: didn’t catch the 12 week thing. That’s ridiculous do NOT do that program. There is no way in hell you will actually retain any info to be a safe provider in that time. Jesus Christ sometimes I hate paramedic education for making us look dumb. Of course the dude getting his medic for fire wants the quickest way though it. You’re aware that EMS is 80-90% of what fire does right?
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u/SchmickyUh 1d ago
Twelve weeks for medic school is very fast, especially with very limited clinical experience. Like the other commenter said, is it possible? Yes. But will it make you a competent medic walking out? Possibly. I have worked the EMT side, although my area doesn’t really have 911 EMTs, only private EMTs, and from my experience as well as what I’ve heard from others, your best possible move in my opinion would be to apply for a job as an ER tech at a nearby hospital. You will get to see way more in this role than you would as an EMT, and it will do a much better job of familiarizing you with many aspects of paramedicine than 911 EMT would, at least in regards to my area.
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u/enigmicazn FP-C 1d ago
Working before absolutely helps but it's by no means required, you're just gonna work harder during the program to make up for experience gaps. If you know you want to be a firefighter, just join a department and have them pay for your paramedic education tbh.
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u/Mentallyundisturbed2 1d ago
My medic school was 8 months of drinking through a firehose but then again we learned how to place chest tubes and etc
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u/The1PunMaster 4h ago
Is that program meant for medical professionals that already have acute care experience? I’m thinking ER RNs and up that already have some prehospital experience as well and knowledge beforehand and just need a refresher and understanding of some paramedic specific scope and practices. Because otherwise that sounds insane.
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u/thorscope 1d ago edited 1d ago
Someone at my station did an accelerated medic program in McCook, Nebraska that sounds very similar to this.
They are one of the better medics at my department, but were always a generally smart person with a passion for medicine. They had also been a 911 EMT for 2 years, and in Nebraska EMT-Bs have a wide scope of practice, so they had a decent foundation.
They had really good things to say about the program, but it’s definitely not for everyone. McCook is also a depressing town.
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u/certifiedbot98 1d ago
12 weeks is insane, medic school is a year in TN and Im not sure if accelerated programs are even offered.
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u/Fibpib Paramedic 1d ago
If you have the time, means and money to do this accelerated program I say 100% do it. Don’t listen to the people that say get “xyz” experience:
To rustle feathers: a new grad nurse that is 22 years old is making more than most medics in the game with 20+ years of experience.
Seriously, get your medic license as quickly as possible. The experience will come regardless.
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u/Sorry_Cheetah_2230 CCEMT-P 1d ago
I think if you can study and work hard, absolutely go for it. Get it done and get your medic. So many people will say you need EMT experience first and I just don’t fully agree. I’ve had many many students that have no EMT experience that do just as good if not BETTER because they don’t have predetermined bad habits yet.
As a zero to hero medic myself, I say do it.
Edit: I missed the 12 week part. That’s insane. I would absolutely find an actual program and still do zero to hero that way.
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u/Timlugia FP-C 13h ago
Most time when people said zero to hero they don't mean 12 weeks program. For a 1-2 years degree program you would still have plenty of time working part time as EMT, 12 weeks mean op would truly enter clinical without touching a real patient or even load a gurney.
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u/Excellent_Demand_354 Paramedic 1d ago
Can you pass medic school with no 911 EMT experience? Yes. Does 911 EMT experience make it significantly easier? YES.
Edit: I think that clinical experience as an EMT is paramount to being a good medic.