How to Become a SWAT Medic
SWAT medics provide emergency medical care to law enforcement personnel and civilians injured in SWAT operations. SWAT teams are called to situations that regular law enforcement teams are not equipped or trained to handle.[1] These kinds of missions have the potential to be highly violent and to practice emergency medicine under these circumstances take an immense amount of disciplined training and experience. However, if you are up for the challenge, becoming a SWAT medic can be an extremely rewarding career.
1. Earn a high school diploma. To begin down the road to becoming a paramedic, you need to hold a high school diploma or GED. Many paramedic training programs operate out of community colleges and will earn you an associate’s degree.
It is recommended that if possible, you continue your education after high school. While becoming a paramedic does not require a higher degree, continuing your education may give you more options in your career down the line.
2. Become CPR-certified. Some EMT-B courses require that you are already CPR certified. The Red Cross and other organizations offer CPR courses both online and in-person.[2]
3. Complete a EMT-B (Emergency Medical Technicians-Basic) training program. EMT training classes are offered at many community colleges and other institutions, so finding a course near you should not be too difficult. An average EMT course will take about 6 months to complete and will require 120-150 hours of training.[3]
4. Become certified as a EMT. After completing EMT-B, you will be able to take the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians Exam (NREMT) for EMTs and then apply for certification. You will need to take the exam and apply for certification within two years of completing the EMT coursework.[4]
5. Find a job as an EMT. Once you have become certified as an EMT, begin reaching out to ambulance companies, firehouses, and police departments to inquire about EMT positions. Online job lists can also be helpful in finding jobs (i.e. https://emtjobs.nremt.org/). EMT jobs are relatively plentiful, as they are in high need around the country.[5]
6. Enroll in a paramedic training course. After working as an EMT for at least 6 months, you will be able to begin coursework to become a paramedic.[6] Paramedic training will take 1200-1800 hours, which means that many programs will last 6 to 12 months. It is common for community colleges to offer two-year courses in paramedic training, so check with your local schools to see what they offer.
Paramedic training is extensive and will involve both classroom and clinical training in hospitals and with ambulance companies.[7] If you are a paramedic student looking to eventually become a SWAT medic, it would be worthwhile to find an internship within law enforcement during your paramedic training.
7. Become certified as an paramedic. Once you have completed classroom and clinical training to become a paramedic, take the paramedic version of the NREMT and apply for certification as a paramedic.[8]
8. Find a job as a paramedic. The kind of job experience you have as a regular paramedic will greatly affect whether or not you will be able to eventually become a SWAT paramedic. You will need at least 5 years of experience as a paramedic in high-intensity situations. If you cannot find a regular paramedic job within a fire department or police department, it is worthwhile to seek out volunteer positions within these agencies.[9]
To become a SWAT medic, you will need to show your commitment to being the best practitioner of emergency medicine that you can. This means that you will need to be present and focused for your patients during your time as a regular paramedic in order to hone your skills.[10]
One option for gaining applicable experience as a medic is through the military. The military lifestyle may not fit into your plans, but if you are looking to become a SWAT medic specifically, being trained as a medic through the military might be a good option for you.[11]
9. Continue to develop professionally. Seek out additional certifications as a paramedic that will give you a more complete skill set, such as flight paramedic certification. When trying to find a job as a tactical medic, it will be important that you have shown an interest in staying up to date with new strategies and certifications.
10. Connect with a law enforcement tactical team. Many tactical paramedic training courses will require that you have an existing relationship with a law enforcement agency. Reach out directly to law enforcement agencies near you and if possible, make contact with local SWAT officers to express your interest in gaining tactical experience.[12]
11. Enroll in TEMS training. Once you have had some experience with a tactical team in law enforcement, you will be able to take a course in tactical emergency medicine. Tactical Emergency Medical Service training (TEMS) will focus on setting up zones of care, dealing with tactical constraints, and understanding how to support the overall success of a law enforcement mission.[13] Depending on the program, these intensive courses run for about a week and will often involve training with firearms.
12. Take the Certified Tactical Paramedic exam (TP-C). The exam is 125 questions and takes about 2.5 hours to complete. The exam is based around tactical principals and paramedicine best practices. Your TEMS training should prepare you well for this exam.
13. Find a position as a SWAT medic. The relationship building that you have engaged with throughout your career as a regular paramedic will be vitally important when trying to secure a SWAT medic position. Police departments will advertise for open medic positions sometimes, but you will find more success by reaching out directly to law enforcement agencies and sheriff departments.
There are a few website that can provide listings of positions within law enforcement, such as policeone.com. Tactical medic job listings can also be found on more traditional job search websites like Indeed.com and simplyhired.com.
Be aware that many SWAT medics, while elite members of the emergency medical community, will often work part time as a SWAT medic and full time as a regular medic. The reason for this is that only larger cities tend to have full time, large scale SWAT teams in their police departments.[14]
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