How to become a Boston EMS EMT

If you are not yet certified as an EMT, there are many accredited courses you can take, including an in-house EMT-Basic training that we offer twice every year.

The Boston EMS EMT-Basic Course is $950 and lasts for six months. Classes take place every Tuesday and Thursday from 7 - 10 p.m., as well as every other Saturday from 9 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Scholarships are available to assist with EMT course tuition. To find out if you are eligible apply.

Check Your Eligibility 

One class starts in mid-January and the second in mid-August. Usually, we open up with registration on June and November 15 each year.

Classes typically fill up within two to three days. After registration, you need to make a payment right away to secure your spot.

There are no requirements for taking the course. We post notices about course registration on our Facebook page.

All Boston EMS EMT candidates must already have a valid Massachusetts EMT certification.

Visit the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Emergency Medical Services website. You can find more information on getting a certification. Are you certified with the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians? You still must apply for the Massachusetts EMT certification.

You are required to have your Massachusetts EMT certification card in-hand to take the pre-employment written exam.

Before you can apply, you must have a valid driver’s license. You need to present your driver’s license to take our written exam. You’ll also need to provide an unattested registry of motor vehicles driving record from the state where you live within the last 30 days.

Within the last three years, you can’t have three or more:

• moving violations
• citations
• suspensions, or
• accidents assessed as a surcharge.

Within the last five years from the date of the written exam, you also can’t have any driving to endanger or operating under the influence violations, citations, or suspensions.

The Boston residency requirement for the EMT position has been temporarily suspended for up to three years as set forth in the job posting.

Boston EMS hires EMTs on an as-needed basis, usually once or twice per year. All new hires are placed in a six-month, full-time paid recruit academy. You need to complete the academy to get promoted from EMT recruit to department EMT.

We base the size of the academy on current and projected vacancies, usually including about 25 candidates. We don’t have pre-set hiring dates. All hiring notices are made on the department’s facebook page.

Complete an EMT application on the Boston Public Health Commission’s website. Please remember, we only take EMT applications when the department is hiring. After you submit your application, you’ll get a message within one- to two-business days outlining the next steps. This includes exam and study review dates.

You must pass both a written and practical examination. We base the exams on the current Massachusetts EMS EMT Prehospital Treatment Protocols, and current editions of standard Basic EMT curriculum.

We usually schedule exam review sessions on weekday evenings and weekend days. They aren’t mandatory, but we’ve found that many applicants who attend all of the review sessions often pass the exams. We typically schedule reviews while we’re still taking applications. We encourage anyone considering applying to do so right away after the hiring notice is posted, so that you can attend all review sessions.

The written exam is mandatory — there are no options for alternate dates or retaking the test.

You must arrive at the testing site with:

• your valid Massachusetts EMT certification card
• your driver’s license, and
• a current driving record from your state of residence.

After the written exam, candidates will be invited to take the practical exam.

The practical exam tests three primary skills:

• Basic Trauma Assessment: You have 10 minutes to assess, treat, and manage the transport of a patient with a traumatic injury.
• Basic Medical Assessment: You have 10 minutes to assess, treat, and manage the transport of a patient with a medical illness.
• Patient Lift and Carry: You have to perform multiple lifting and carrying scenarios. This includes climbing three flights of stairs with equipment, and then carrying a 200-pound weighted mannequin down two flights of stairs with a stair-chair device and the help of a partner.

Candidates must pass all four stations, although there will be an opportunity to retest a single station at the end of the practical exam.

If you pass and complete both the written and practical exams, we will contact you about scheduling an interview. We usually schedule interviews in the week right after the practical test.

We make offers for employment soon after the interviews, but the offers are also subject to the results of pre-employment screening.

After we finish with interviews, the candidates we pick continue on to pre-employment screening, which includes:

• a medical and physical examination
• a drug and alcohol screening
• a background investigation, and
• a Criminal Offense Records Investigation report.

It can take a few weeks for us to receive the screening results. We'll notify you two weeks before the academy starts if you are selected for the recruit academy. During the two weeks before your first day, we will advise you to pick up your EMT-Recruit uniform.

The entire process, from the date we first take applications to the start of the Boston EMS Recruit Academy, takes about 12- to 13-weeks.

The Boston Emergency Medical Services Recruit Academy consists of classroom and field components, lasting six months. We created a page to help guide you through what happens at the academy.

The Boston residency requirement for the EMT position has been temporarily suspended for up to three years as set forth in the job posting.