All pre-hospital emergency life support providers start at the Basic level. An EMT-Basic course is approximately 140 hours.

The next level of EMT is the EMT-Intermediate or simply EMT-I, which 41 states recognize in some form. In Connecticut, an EMT-I course is approximately 80 hours of classroom time, and after classroom study, students are required to spend time practicing the skill of IV starts in a hospital setting. Unfortunately, in Connecticut, the EMT-Intermediate can only initiate IV's under extremely limited circumstances and employ non-secure airway devices (and then only in cardiac arrest). Connecticut bases its EMT-I training on the DOT standard that was developed in 1985 (called the "EMT-I/85"). The DOT revised this dated EMT-Intermediate standard in 1999 and called it the "EMT-I/99 National Standard Curriculum." Connecticut has elected not to adopt this standard at this time. Other states put an emphasis on health care rather than focusing on what EMS providers cannot do.

A few states have a level of EMT above the Intermediate but below Paramedic. For example, Georgia has the Cardiac Technician, and New York has the EMT-Critical Care. These EMT's are typically trained in the use of advanced rescue techniques as well as in the use of a number of cardiac-related medications. Connecticut does not have such a level.

The highest level of EMT, recognized in all 50 states, is the Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedic. The classroom time and clinical time required to become a Paramedic varies from state to state, but not by much: most programs run from 1,400 to 2,000 hours of study. To put things in perspective, it has been said that in the first ten minutes of a cardiac arrest, there is no difference between what a doctor can do and what an EMT-Paramedic can do. EMT-Paramedics are trained in the use of numerous emergency procedures that other levels of EMT are not. In addition, EMT-Paramedics are trained in the administration of scores of medications that lower levels of technician are not authorized to administer.