Program Overview
Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) and Paramedics are often among the first to respond to accidents and other events where serious, life-threatening injuries occur. Columbia College's Emergency Medical Services (EMS) program offers a full-range of education and training to equip interested students with a wide range of occupational skills to help them help others and save lives.
Columbia College's Emergency Medical Services department offers education and training from everyday emergency first aid to sophisticated pre-paramedic instruction and beyond, to equip you with a wide range of occupational skills. This coursework meets national, state, and local training guidelines in preparation for certification as an EMT. Individuals must additionally pass a certification exam as required by California.
Career Training
All EMS faculty members are either paramedics, emergency medical technicians, registered nurses, or medical doctors. They will teach you valuable skills that can be learned for a specific job, or applied as steps for advancement toward a career in emergency medical services, such as Automated External Defibrillator, Emergency Medical Responder, Professional Rescuer CPR, EMT, Pre-Paramedic, Basic Cardiology, Outdoor Emergency Care, and much more. Specially-designed courses are also available to fill the training needs of your organization, industry, or governmental agency through partnerships and other collaborations.
Student Networking
Columbia College is one of only a handful of colleges in California to offer a college degree pertaining to EMS. The EMS program also offers both basic and advanced first aid and CPR classes, designed for individuals who wish to gather lifesaving information for individual use or as required for employment. The Pre-Paramedic program is accepted by several major paramedic training programs, and it serves as an excellent preparatory tool for those students pursuing careers as paramedics. Qualified EMS students can even gain work experience units for paid or volunteer service hours.
Degrees Offered
See the current college catalog (available on campus or online) for course information on the following degrees:
Associate in Science (AS)
Emergency Medical Services
Certificate of Achievement (COA)
Emergency Medical Services
Skills Attainment Certificate (SAC)
Emergency Medical Technician Training
Emergency Medical Responder
