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Emergency Medical Technicians

Experience, Skills, and Personality Traits

Students in high school usually have little opportunity for direct experience with the emergency medical field, although it may be possible to learn a great deal about the health-services field through a part-time, summer, or volunteer job in a hospital or clinic. Such service jobs can provide a chance to observe and talk to staff members concerned with emergency medical services. 

Anyone who is considering becoming an EMT should have a desire to serve people and be emotionally stable and clearheaded. You must inspire confidence with level-headedness and good judgment. You must be efficient, neither wasting time nor hurrying through delicate work.

Prospective EMTs need to be in good physical condition. Other requirements include good manual dexterity and motor coordination; the ability to lift and carry up to 125 pounds; good visual acuity, with lenses for correction permitted; accurate color vision, enabling safe driving and immediate detection of diagnostic signs; and competence in giving and receiving verbal and written communication.

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