West Coast EMT- LA County 19750 South Vermont Avenue, Torrance, CA 90502

"***IMPORTANT - Please read!*** This is generally a good school, but there are a few things you should know before you sign up: 1. The "pass rate" being high 97-98% is extremely misleading. This is actually the number of students who *make it to the final* compared to the number who graduate. The number who *start* the course vs number who graduate is closer to 30%. For example, our class started with 47 people and ended with 14, and that was considered "about normal". 2. This is not a "show up twice per week and graduate" type class. There is around 20 hrs per week of reading you need to do outside of class. The book is huge and you will need to read the whole book or close to it. Many of the people who passed already know how to study and get good grades. If you don't already have the ability to read, process, and retain information for for several hours each day, this class will likely be a struggle. 3. If you do the night classes, you will need to request around 7 days off work from your full-time job. At least one Friday for skills final, and two days for ride-alongs (opposite of your M/W or T/Th classes). You will need to choose 6 possible days to do your ride along and won't find out until 4pm Friday for a 6am Monday scheduled ride along (for example). So trying to take time off from your full-time job is a bit of a nightmare as you have to request 7 random days off and then cancel the un-used PTO days last-minute. Unfortunately this ride-along part actually gets *much*, and I mean *MUCH* worse. Several students had ride alongs scheduled via email, but showed up and were sent home because their paperwork had not been sent to the ambulance company. Others were called by the ambulance company on days they had not been scheduled. Others had all 6 possible days pass without ever getting contacted by the ride-along staff. Several mishaps due to poor scheduling resulted in students being made to pay a $50 rescheduling fee with ability to graduate withheld until they paid for situations that resulted purely from incompetent scheduling. Calling or emailing the ride-along staff resulted in generic and unhelpful responses such as: "Requests will be sent for your upcoming remaining dates. Once we know, you will be informed of the shift." Even emailing them to say "I need to reschedule. Understood there is a fee, here are the dates i'm available: XYZ" resulted in the response "Please pay your $50 rescheduling fee and provide dates at that time" even though my credit card was already on file, and new dates had already been provided. Several requests to speak to the owners about reschedule fees for the people that were unjustly charged resulted in the staff saying "they'll call you back" and never did (whether those requests were ignored by the scheduling staff or the owners, we do not know). While most instructors and admin staff are professional and courteous (shout-out to Jackie who was incredibly helpful and amazing to our whole class), the ride-along scheduling staff is NOT. Be prepared to be spoken to, repeatedly, in a rude and belittling manner when trying to inquire about your ride-alongs."

"This course is amazing! Specifically this campus in Redondo Beach. Jayson Nickle was my instructor he is the best teacher/instructor I have met in my life. He explains subjects in class in a nice fast steady pace and goes over subjects students are confused about. He is never there to put anyone down and always helps the best he can. But you get what you put into this program I tried my hardest and he saw that so he helped me. The Campus Manager Heaven is also very great shes on top of everyone’s paper work and helps in anyway she can with ride alongs. If you’re thinking about becoming an EMT this is the place to go."

"I want to start off by saying that I absolutely loved this course! I enrolled in the 5- week program and had Jayson as my instructor. He is an amazing teacher and made learning the material so much fun. This was a plus because his style of teaching made the days fly. Jayson was open to any question that we had and he even stayed after class for anyone who wanted additional help. I felt well prepared for both my ride alongs because he exposed us to skills every day and encouraged us to become comfortable with the procedures that we will face in the field. I also passed my NREMT on the first try ( woohoo)! Time went so fast. Jayson is an amazing instructor and he does everything in his power to ensure his students succeed! Make sure that you are willing to put in the work though!"

"I signed up for the evening course and it was by far the best experience. Jayson goes above and beyond for his students, makes himself available any day of the week, and makes the course FUN/INTERESTING. He uses real life examples and provides relevant pictures/videos depending on the topic of the day. This class requires you to put in the effort and STUDY. Make friends, exchange numbers with your classmates, and don't procrastinate. I would highly recommend this course."

"I had Sam as an instructor and my course ended yesterday. I absolutely loved taking it with her as my instructor. Her lectures were absolutely on-point and she was so helpful when we didn’t seem to understand a concept and gave us resources that helped tremendously as well. I would recommend West Coast to anyone thinking about taking an EMT course. I’m encouraging my friends to take the class as well - I’d love for them to have Sam as well."