by Argon 6
There are plenty of questions from those who are interested to apply to the program so I will try to answer some of them here. If some of your questions remain unanswered, just send us a message so we can add it to future versions. I will be using some guide questions to start it all off but other details can be covered as we go along, so just read it all.
Let us begin with some general information:
1. What is an EMT?
An EMT, or Emergency Medical Technician, is a person who works in an ambulance. There are several levels of EMT, but all you need to know now is that it starts with ‘basic’, hence the course being “EMT-Basic”.
You might be more familiar with the term “PARAMEDIC” as someone who works in ambulances. That is fine. I will not go into technicalities here. For now, it is enough for you to know that EMT and PARAMEDIC are just the same. They are the specialized people who work in an ambulance.
2. Is there an Age limit? What are the minimum requirements?
The age limit is from 18 years to 40 years old, male or female. The main reason is for physical and mental fitness. There are some who are older but are still fit, so we still accept these applicants provided that they give certification that they are physically and mentally fit. The job of an EMT/paramedic requires maturity together with physical strength and stamina.
We accept high school graduates. Just provide your diploma and TOR. Same with college or undergrads. Although it is preferred that you have a medical background, it is not an absolute necessity.
3. Who is ARGONIX?
Argonix is an ambulance service licensed by the Department of Health (DOH). We specialize in Interfacility Critical Transfers, that is, we bring patients in critical condition from one hospital to another.
We also respond to house-calls. Our paramedics go to a patient at his home to assess his condition and give initial treatment onsite, even before transferring them to the hospital. We also excel in this since our coordinated response also prepares the receiving hospital about the incoming patient, and we have “Medical Controllers”, doctors who give us direction/guidance when needed.
So you can see that we are really in the thick of ambulance operations. There are multiple runs daily. We cover the whole of Metro Manila and its surrounding municipalities.
4. Why train with us?
You might be thinking about accreditations and other standards that you have heard about. There are many schools offering different standards, I have seen all of them. I have worked with graduates from all of them. Their skills and knowledge were not enough, so I had to train all of them. Don’t believe me? You are welcome to ask any of our officers. They are the ones who came from those other schools.
Since the start of our operations, it has been apparent with our management committee (mostly doctors) that the level of training of EMT’s/Paramedics need to be supplemented. That is exactly what we did from the onset. We trained our employees on advanced level of care as well as polished the basic knowledge they had. We did that on a regular basis and on all our new recruits.
So we have been training EMT’s/Paramedics for as long as we have been operating the ambulance service. And we keep on improving on the training regimen every time.
The combination of operations and in-house training keeps our Paramedics sharp. We regularly do case presentations and even simple run debriefings, to learn more about the cases that we handle.
THE ONLINE PROGRAM
Now that you know more about what we do and what an EMT is, let us now proceed to the stages of the program.
STAGE 1 - ONLINE CLASSES
This is the online part of the training. You can attend from anywhere in the world, as long as you have a good internet connection. It is best if you have a personal computer but the tasks are still doable via mobile phone. With computer shops everywhere, wifi at home, and mobile data on your phone, this really brings the bulk of the training to wherever you are.
Imagine this:
Two months of learning from the comfort of your own home. No need to commute to and from school. You don’t only have more time to read and study, you can save more. Usually, the bulk of daily allowances go to meals and transportation, [ex. Lunch P60 plus commute P40 (P20, each way) = P100/day] multiply that by 40 days, you have P4,000 worth of savings!
Upon enrollment, we will give you access to our online class. For 8 weeks (2 months) there will be weekly topics that you will be reading up and watching instructional videos on. There will be weekly online tests.
You have to pass these tests for you to qualify on taking the final test that will conclude Stage 1.
Yes, there will be a final test, which we will conduct here in our base, before we allow you to move on to Stage 2. If you have passed the weekly tests, there is a very high probability for you to pass the finals.
We know that there are fast-learners and there are slow-learners. The online class is given 2 months, but can be finished in less than that. In any case, the cycle for the online class is every 2 months. For those who finish before that, there is still time to prepare for the next stage.
For those needing more time, we allow 2 re-takes for the online tests you fail, but make sure you take it within a week of your failed test. We will also allow 2 re-takes of the final test. If you get delayed due to these tests, no need to worry. The cycle for stage 2 is also every 2 months. You will get scheduled on the next stage, when you are ready for it.
We want our students to learn. Tests are only there to guide and check what you have already learned.
STAGE 2 - HANDS-ON
The Hands-on/Practical stage takes 2 weeks and will be conducted in our ambulance base. It is a 9am-5am laboratory class where you will see and handle different equipment and learn practical skills.
The prescribed uniform is the Type C uniform: plain white shirt, denim/maong pants, black socks and rubber shoes. Type B uniforms will be talked about on your first day here and shall be the same uniforms you will be wearing during internship. This will be at your own expense.
The location is in Greater Lagro, Quezon City. There are some of you who have family in Metro Manila where they can stay for the duration of the training. That is good. Travel going here is very easy in the mornings as well as afternoons since you will be going against the bulk of traffic. Just ride any jeep, bus, or van going to SM Fairview and you will not get lost. There is a MRT 7 construction ongoing that you will see from Commonwealth Ave. up to SM Fairview and beyond. Every post you see has a number painted on it. Our base is right in front of post 220. Use it as a guide.
For those who have no family here in Manila, there are a lot of places you can stay in and around our area. Barangay Greater Lagro has several schools and colleges and consequently has a lot of boarding houses. We can provide you with contacts but you have to be the one to come here and finalize. There are more choices if you can come over and look on your own.
It is advisable to secure your lodgings for around 2 months. The 2 weeks is for Stage 2, while the next 4 weeks (1 month) is for Stage 3.
STAGE 3 - INTERNSHIP
Internship is where you will begin to consolidate and apply all that you have learned in the first 2 stages. You will be going on 24-hour duties every 3 days for 1 month. You will ride with us during runs and get to experience first-hand the life of a Paramedic.
Yes, there are still academic requirements you have to fulfill but after you have passed the previous stages, it won’t be much of a problem. Our very own Paramedics will take you under their wing and guide you through-out this exciting, adrenaline-filled month.
I hope I have answered most of your questions in this article. If you still have other questions, feel free to message us on our fb page or email us at argonixph@gmail.com.