How Much Does An EMT Make?

If you are interested in a career that is more about helping people than it is about pushing paperwork across your desk and sending e-mails, you might be wondering about how much does an EMT make. An EMT, or Emergency Medical Technician, will spend their days essentially just helping people and saving lives. If that is the kind of career that you would like to have instead of the dead end monstrosity of nothingness that you currently have, then it might be a smart decision to pursue becoming an EMT.

What Kind Of Certification Or Schooling Would I Need?

How much does an EMT make? The first part about that consideration is the type of certification that you would earn as an EMT. After you obtain your high school diploma or equivalent, in order to work as a paramedic you have to become EMT certified. There are three levels of certification that you can receive as an EMT - basic, intermediate, and paramedic. Each level requires a certain amount of schooling and experience to be received before you can go onto the next level. You may not need a college degree to enroll in these classes, but you will need a transcript of upper level schooling to get to the top levels.

What Does An EMT Do Every Day?

How much does an EMT make? Well, an EMT is all about saving lives. Your training allows you to be able to rush to a scene, evaluate the condition of a patient, be able to stabilize that patient for transport to the hospital, and then either you're the one driving the ambulance or you are in the back monitoring the patient. This could mean setting broken bones, checking concussion symptoms, putting in an IV, monitoring blood sugars, or just holding someone's hand.

What Kind of Hours Does an EMT Work?

How much does an EMT make? An EMT works a wide variety of hours and schedules because emergencies don't ever take a day off. Each region needs to have EMTs that are on the clock or available by phone call every hour of every day. That means EMTs generally end up working by either first shift, second shift, and third shift, or they end up rotating the shifts in small areas so that no one is stuck having to work the overnight shift all the time.

So How Much Does An EMT Make?

A basic EMT doesn't generally make very much - it is usually between $12 - $16 per hour in the United States… and that's if you are lucky enough to find paid work as a basic EMT. Many programs and hospitals only offer internship positions to basic EMTs so that they can gain the needed experience to be able to apply to go to the next level because basic EMTs are very limited in the life saving skills they are allowed to perform. An intermediate level EMT can generally earn around $20 per hour and a paramedic level EMT can usually earn between $25 - $30 per hour in the United States.

The work of an EMT can be extremely fulfilling both from a personal stand point and a professional one - if you are wondering how much does an EMT make, be sure to see what it is in your area and then check into your basic EMT certification.