Mayor Michelle Wu, along with Boston Emergency Medical Services, announced a new EMS cadet program designed to ease entry for emergency medical technicians and to bolster employment for Boston EMS, according to the city’s website.
The program aims to increase numbers at Boston EMS by offering cadets full-time temporary employment as they complete their training. Cadets will be paid to learn EMT skills and obtain state certification, with a direct transition post-graduation into the next EMT Recruit Academy with a yearly salary of $69,372, according to the city’s website.
Boston EMS captain James McCabe, an 18-year veteran of Boston EMS, said the goal of the program is to encourage young people to become involved in EMS long-term.
“More or less, high school or college age, if possible, and to get them on track to becoming an EMT but also eventually working for Boston EMS,” McCabe said. “That is the next generation.”
Emma Wright, a junior at Northeastern University and a member of an EMT group at Northeastern, said she thinks the program is a good option for part-time students interested in pursuing a career in EMS.
“This would probably be a really great option for someone who’s not a full-time student,” Wright said.
McCabe emphasized that EMS can be a long-term career, saying that many people who become a part of the cadet program may go on to fill management and supervisory positions.
“Working is vital to life and having a career and the ability to have a career, so this is not a dead end job,” McCabe said. “It’s an exciting career and every day is different … You can look back and say, ‘I was able to help people today.’”
There are 399 full-time uniformed EMTs, paramedics, supervisory and command personnel to field roughly 134,000 calls a year, according to the city’s website.
Wright said the program targeting students out of high school and college is a good option, especially considering the difficulties in hiring for a “field that’s pretty understaffed.”
Boston EMS is currently accepting applications for the cadet program, according to the city’s website, and the application page displays 20 job openings, as of Sept. 19.
McCabe said Boston EMS is ultimately looking for EMTs to find long-term careers in Boston’s EMS workforce.
“We want people that want to work here and to stay here,” McCabe said.
Nazalia Justiniano contributed to the reporting of this article.
