The City of Boston has launched and registered a new Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) apprenticeship with the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development that provides paid, hands-on learning for new hires with Boston EMS. The apprenticeship is part of a larger partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development (OWD) to help Boston EMS enhance recruitment efforts, attract diverse candidates, and open pathways to good pay, benefits, and career advancement for Boston residents.
The EMT apprenticeship has two components:
1. Boston EMS Recruit Academy. In the six-month academy, spend three months in the classroom learning, including additional clinical skills, situational awareness, all hazard preparedness, and documentation training, as well as three months in the field providing patient care while being supported by field training officers. Pay is 80% of a full-time EMT’s wages.
2. Probationary employment period. Apprentices are promoted to the rank of EMT, gaining additional field experience on ambulance shift assignments in their probationary first year of employment with Boston EMS. Pay is approximately $57,000 per year, plus benefits.
These training components, in addition to a pre-apprenticeship EMT course that prepares applicants for certification, count toward the 2,000 hours required for apprenticeship.
The City of Boston is recruiting Boston residents for the EMT apprenticeship in part through City Academy, an OWD-run training initiative that prepares residents for City jobs. City Academy prepares aspiring EMTs for apprenticeship with a bridge course to develop their CPR, first aid, and job readiness skills. The initiative also covers the costs of the prerequisite EMT course, which – at $750 or more – can otherwise pose a barrier to low- or middle-income residents.
Read the BPDA press release or this Boston Herald article to learn more about the new EMT apprenticeship.