Paramedic Training Requirements: What You Should Know

Paramedics must undergo quite a bit of training, both in and out of the classroom, before they can take their certification exams and get started on the job. These paramedic training requirements include several different skills, including how to perform CPR and the Heimlich maneuver, how to clear an airway, and even how to hook up and read vital sign monitoring equipment. Additionally, many hours are spent listening to lectures and reading textbooks and other educational materials in order to learn everything that basic life support entrails. 

Admission to the Program

The journey begins with admission to a paramedic training program. To start the Dean College Paramedic Training Program Application Process, each applicant will have to provide some additional documentation, as well as complete a cognitive entrance evaluation exam.  Interested applicants will need to complete and return the following documents listed below.

The Following Documents Are Required: 

1. Completed Application and Fee ($100.00)
2. Copy of your High School Diploma, transcripts, GED or Equivalency  
3. Copy of CURRENT EMT Certification
4. Copy of CURRENT BLS Health Care Provider Card 
5. Current health insurance card
6. Immunization Documentation Form
7. Signed and dated Statement of Understanding

Once an applicant has completed and returned the following documents (via email as an attached PDF or fax), we will then set up a time for you to connect and interview with the Program Director

Entering the Classroom

Once you’re admitted to the program, you’ll learn many of the necessary paramedic training requirements that you’ll need to know before you can sit for the national paramedic exam. You’ll learn information about pharmacology, such as when to give a diabetic patient a dissolvable pill that boosts their blood sugar or how to administer Narcan to someone going through an overdose. Other things involve clearing airways, using Ambu bags to help patients breathe, and even how to splint a broken bone. While you may already know many of these things, having encountered them as an EMT, you’ll learn them in greater detail, as a paramedic must know many advanced lifesaving techniques. 

Spending Time in a Lab

In addition to classroom time and outside reading, paramedic training programs require you to spend time in a lab learning new skills. While in the lab, you’ll learn how to do basic airway management skills, like suctioning out any mucus that may be preventing a patient from breathing properly. Also, skills like knowing when and how to inject medications are also covered during lab time. 

What Isn’t Taught in a Classroom

While you can learn all of the medical skills required to be a paramedic, there are some things that simply aren’t taught in a classroom. For example, you’ll need to be able to interact positively with patients and communicate what you’re doing to help them in terms they’ll understand. You’ll also need to be able to make split-second decisions using everything you’ve already learned while in the middle of a high-pressure situation. These are critical, lifesaving skills and are often learned through your previous EMT experience, as well as the programs clinical and field internships. 

If you’re looking to take your career to the next level, we can help. 

Learn more about the Dean College Paramedic Training Program.