QFT. Most organizations that hire FF/EMT-P are laying people off now, not hiring. Not to mention the HUGE money and time commitment needed to even get the training much less a foot in the door. And your physical conditioning needs to be above and beyond. A former chief of mine was quoted saying "You can never be in good enough shape to fight fire"

You could go the medic route in the ambulance world, but that is pretty competetive as well. If you want to get a job as soon as you are certified, I would go Rad tech, surgical/ ER room nurse, trauma, etc. There is always a shortage of jobs in hospitals. My sister-in-law is a rad tech and she can pretty much go anywhere and get a job with a couple years experience. Sometimes even the housing and moving expenses are paid...helps to be bi-lingual tho :|

Her and my brother have some friends that travel the US in a motorhome going from job to job in 6 month stints. She is a rad tech, he is an OR assistant/nurse.

 

Yeah, everything is rough right now. I'd kind of like to be on a 2x24 crew if I could get on one. I'm not in nearly good enough shape to be a fire medic but I guess I have over a year to get my **** together if I wanted to do it.

I'm looking at EMT and Paramedic programs right now as well as rad techs. The rad tech is cool because I'm fascinated with the human body and there are a lot of good paying jobs. But I think I'd get way bored.

 

I'd recommend working for some time as just an EMT, or something in a hospital before going to Paramedic school. It will make it easier. (Not first hand experience, just what I have been told).

 

The school im looking at you have to do 6 m as emt.

 

ya I have known a couple EMT-P students who had a rude awakening once they started their internship, and found out what the job was really about. If you cannot stomach tons of overdose calls, dead/dieing infants, abuse and neglect or children and elders, communicable diseases, and pretty much the worst and most disgusting our society has to offer, then Paramedic is not for you.

I can handle trauma, but some of the medical side really gets me down.

At least go the EMT route. It is a semester long, and depending on the sponsoring medical authority, there are various lengths of required ride along and ER time. It a great way to get your foot in the door and improve your resume for those programs that have big wait lists. You will also get your feet wet and hopefully gain some valuable experience as well as some insight into the field.

NOLS Wilderness Medicine Institute is great if you want to work outdoors.

 

Thanks Bo for the talk last night. I appreciate it.

I am going to talk to EMS tomorrow again and try to get in for an apt. Wed. They have a summer EMT program starting up pretty soon. I need to keep working on my MA externship and my design stuff too. Crazy.

So if any of you guys have doctors in your family that will take on an extern let me know. And if any of you or your family work in fire or paramedic and are willing to have a sit down with me or let me do a ride along let me know.

I'm not an 18 year old idiot and won't get in the way.

Need to get my **** in shape! Down 24 pounds so far. Got another 25 or so to go before I'll feel ready for any type of fire test.

 

Absolutely anytime bro. Definitely a good convo.

 

You can get your EMT-B course done in as little as 2 weeks with a private company/college. JCs are 1 semester. With that you can work on an ambulance making $9-$18/hr doing 9-1-1 while working with a paramedic, CCT with an RN, or EMT level transfers with another EMT. Or you can apply for ER Tech jobs starting at around $20/hr but are very difficult to get and lots of places want paramedics now.

You can then get your paramedic license which will take about $10,000 more and about 2 years from start to street. Then you can apply with fire as a firefighter paramedic and start at about $8k/month working 10 days/month, BUT it is EXTREMELY competitive. You will also most likely need a BA or BS and a fire academy with volunteer time if you want to be competitive with other applicants.

Or you can get your nursing license which will take a couple years start to finish.

 

Private ambulance paramedics make between $13-30/hr depending on where they work and what they do.

 

very good info. i suggest taking an intro fire tech/science class (usually ft50/fs50) while doing your emt stuff just to find out more about the fire side of things. If after that class you decide you're not interested its just 1 class. If you become passionate about the fire service continue taking classes. Also find someone who is where you want to be and talk to them to find out how they got there and how they would do things if they were in your shoes. Try to find younger guys/girls who just recently got into the position whatever it may be (ff,medic,whatever) as things may have changed from the last time others have gotten jobs in the field.

Whatever you do, don't give up. This is the time to take that risk. The economy is getting better. New job opportunities are popping up everyday you just gotta keep looking and always keep your head up.

 

I have been working as a ICU RN (male) for several years now. It could be fun if you like intense environment. But it could also get very stressful if you don't take care of yourself. In bay-area, pay is very good. 100K plus without OT. Also, you could go back to school for advance nursing after some experience. Personally, one of things that I don't like about nursing is it's really hard on your back. Yeah, you gotta be in shape. I think it's very hard to find a job for new grad though...

 

OneManArmy, do you know what an 18D is?

 

lol. i'd say 18d is pretty much the opposite from what he is looking at.

 

No I don't.

 

You down for a convo? Im trying to talk to as many people as possible. This is a tough choice for me. Im 34 and I've got a wife and daughter. Im a good designer and I like it. I've got 14 years in to it and I can either dive two feet in to medical or go do a bit more design school. With my experience and a degree im worth 100k pretty easily.

Trying to hear peoples stories on how they got there and What it took as well as what jobs are out there... realistically.