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Emergency responder education requirements

Updated January 8, 2025
2 min read
Usually, emergency responders don't need a college education. The most common degree for emergency responders is bachelor's degree with 43% graduates, with only 23% emergency responder graduates earning associate degree. Emergency responders who decided to graduate from college often finish Florida State University or Central State University. Some good skills to have in this position include patients, emr and cpr.

Popular emergency responder certifications include Emergency Medical Responder, Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), or Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA). To improve emergency responder qualification and skills, we prepared some online courses to help in emergency responder education paths.

What education do you need to become an emergency responder?

What degree do you need to be an emergency responder?

The most common degree for emergency responders is bachelor's degree, with 43% of emergency responders earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are associate degree degree at 23% and associate degree degree at 15%.
  • Bachelor's, 43%
  • Associate, 23%
  • High School Diploma, 15%
  • Master's, 6%
  • Other Degrees, 13%

What should I major in to become an emergency responder?

You should major in business to become an emergency responder. 13% of emergency responders major in business. Other common majors for an emergency responder include nursing and criminal justice.

Best majors for emergency responders

RankMajorPercentages
1Business12.8%
2Nursing12.1%
3Criminal Justice9.4%
4Psychology8.1%
5Biology7.4%

20 best online courses for emergency responders

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1. Medical Emergencies: Airway, Breathing, and Circulation

coursera

In this course, you will develop the knowledge and skills to assess and stabilize certain types of patients for transport. By the end of this course, you will be able to: 1) assess a basic medical patient 2) describe general pharmacologic principles and the skills associated with medication administration, 3) explain airway physiology, the assessment of the airway and available interventions for airway management, 4) identify, assess and formulate a plan to stabilize a patient with a...

2. Trauma Emergencies and Care

coursera

Welcome to Trauma Emergencies and Care. In this course, you will learn about some of the mechanics and physics of trauma on the human body, and how this can cause injury. You will continue to expand your new vocabulary with medical terminology, and learn how to describe the different injuries you may see. You will also learn about the trauma system itself- and when it is important to transport patients to a trauma center. Then we will dive into specific injuries based on what part of the body...

3. Introduction to Medical Imaging

udemy
4.5
(827)

Your guide to the history, science, math, and economics of medical imaging systems (e.g., X-ray, CT, MRI, Ultrasound)...

4. Medical Terminology

udemy
4.7
(3,688)

Introduction to the meaning of various roots, terms and combining forms that are components of medical words...

5. Medical Emergencies: CPR, Toxicology, and Wilderness

coursera

In this course, you will develop the knowledge and skills to assess and stabilize certain types of patients for transport. By the end of this course, you will be able to: (1) Identify the signs and symptoms associated with a patient in shock, to describe the major categories of shock, to assess a patient with signs of shock and formulate a plan for treatment to stabilize the patient for transport, (2) Identify a patient in cardiac arrest and to describe the components of high performance CPR...

6. Emergency Care: Pregnancy, Infants, and Children

coursera

Welcome to the final course of lectures in your quest to master EMT basics. In this course, we will cover some of the highest-stress patient populations: pregnant patients and kids, also known as pediatrics. To wrap up your EMT knowledge we will end this course with information about hazmat situations, extricating patients from tight spots and finally how you write a note about your patient care. You will learn to ensure it communicates what your assessment of the patient was, what...

7. Emergency Life Support First Aid Training

udemy
4.7
(2,132)

Learn important life saving first aid. Treatment of major illness and injuries...

8. Medical Terminology 101

udemy
4.4
(752)

For those in healthcare, billing, and more. Boost earning ability and marketable skills by learning to speak medicine...

9. Prehospital care of acute stroke and patient selection for endovascular treatment using the RACE scale

coursera

Acute stroke is a time-dependent medical emergency. In acute ischemic stroke, the first objective is to restore brain flow using sistemic thrombolytic treatment and, in patients with large vessel occlusion, by endovascular treatment. In hemorrhagic stroke there are also specific treatments that can improve the clinical outcome. The sooner the initiation of all these therapies the higher the clinical benefit. Thus, the organization of Stroke Code systems coordinated between emergency medical...

10. Health in Complex Humanitarian Emergencies

coursera

The Center for Humanitarian Emergencies is a partnership between CDC's Emergency Response and Recovery Branch and the Rollins School of Public Health that drives global collaboration, research and evidence based training to improve the lives and well-being of populations impacted by humanitarian emergencies. - Center for Humanitarian Emergencies: http://www.che.emory.edu/ - CDC's Emergency Response and Recovery Branch: http://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/healthprotection/errb/index.html This course...

11. A Specialty Approach to Learning Medical Billing and Coding

udemy
4.6
(352)

Volume One: Medical Hematology...

12. ICD 10 & 11 Medical Coding and Billing

udemy
4.4
(767)

Preparation for Medical Coding Certification Exam...

13. Personal Emergency Planning (Coronavirus - COVID-19 Edition)

udemy
4.5
(1,490)

Learn how to prepare for and respond to all the different kinds of emergencies that could befall you including COVID-19...

14. AMCI Introduction to Medical Coding (I2MC) Course

udemy
4.6
(444)

Introduction to Medical Coding (I2MC) Course...

15. Medical Coding: ICD-10-CM Diagnosis Code Training

udemy
4.5
(645)

Learn medical coding and prepare yourself for today's healthcare workplace...

16. Practical Regulatory Affairs 2020 - European Medical Devices

udemy
4.5
(527)

A practical course discussing the EU Medical Device Regulation (MDR) in real-world situations...

17. Medical Device Regulation 2017/745 EU regulatory affairs.

udemy
4.3
(764)

Understand regulations for medical devices in simple terms to gain market approval of a medical device in the EU...

18. Medical Device Regulation (MDR): Intro for Device Designers

udemy
4.4
(520)

An introduction to the EU's Medical Device Regulation (MDR) for those involved in developing medical devices...

19. Practical Regulatory Affairs 2020 - US FDA Medical Devices

udemy
4.4
(726)

A practical course discussing the US FDA Medical Device regulations for real-world situations...

20. ACLS & PALS

udemy
4.8
(469)

Advanced Cardiac Life Support and Pediatric Advanced Life Support...

Average emergency responder salary by education level

According to our data, emergency responders with a Bachelor's degree earn the highest average salary, at $51,059 annually. Emergency responders with a Associate degree earn an average annual salary of $49,051.
Emergency responder education levelEmergency responder salary
High School Diploma or Less$42,881
Bachelor's Degree$51,059
Some College/ Associate Degree$49,051

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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