STONY BROOK, N.Y., March 23, 2009 –The School of Health Technology and Management (HTM) at Stony Brook University will hold a full-time certification course for anyone interested in becoming a certified emergency medical technician (EMT). The five-week program will run from the end of June through the beginning of August, and can accommodate a maximum of 50 students.

SBU has offered an EMT Paramedic program for 18 years, lead by Director Paul A. Werfel, but this basic EMT course is brand new, and the jobs are out there, explains Werfel.

"In this economy with so many people out of jobs, an EMT certification is a great way to get started quickly in a new career," he said. "In my 18 years running the paramedic program, the only people I’ve seen who are not employed after completing certification are those who don’t want to be employed."

Fire departments, hospitals, universities, state parks and day camps are just some of the places that employ EMTs, and successful EMT students will be eligible to apply to the EMT Paramedic program that starts in August 2009.

The 120-hour course costs $700, and many who take the course, including volunteers for local fire department and ambulance corps, may be eligible for reimbursement, according to Malcolm Devine, associate director of the paramedic-training program at Stony Brook.

"The EMT course offers people a chance to get back to work right away," says Devine. It can also be a stepping stone to a career in medicine."

There will be two informational sessions offered for the course; one on Wednesday April 8 at 6:00 pm and another on Saturday April 11 at 11 am. Both will be held in Lecture Hall 3, Level 2 of the Heath Science Center on the East (Hospital) Campus of Stony Brook University.

Applicants for the program need only be 18 years of age at the time the State test is offered (August 20, 2009). For more information on the Basic EMT course or on the paramedic program at Stony Brook University, contact Malcolm Devine at