Any EMTs here?

[Superglide]

Long time out (2001) and got EMT training through fire dept.
Now they hire only paramedics. Loved the firefighting part, not so much medical calls. But still better than cubicle life.
Very accurate answers here and you probably get the picture regarding private ambulance work. Low pay for skills and responsibilty required, etc. Good alternative suggestions well worth pursuing. Best of luck finding your best fit.

 

[CoastRange57]

I will echo the ER techs and Pharmacy techs. My son is a sole role paramedic, and could do the fire fighter thing, but a combat injury to his knee could complicate that, plus after watching my friends for a career, the paramedics come out at 55 in a hell of a lot better shape than the firefighters do. I wrecked my right knee in a fire when I was 25 and have had 35 years of trouble with it.

Jobs in the hospitals are going to be easier on the body and mind both. There is a huge demand for both too. Fire departments easily have 100 or more people applying for each open position. Police departments are begging for new officer recruits, because policing has changed so much.

 

[shibbershabber]

Id considered those routes but am in my 30s now and have a previous injury that would keep my out of FF and police work may or may not be affected by the injury, but the way that field is anymore Im not sure Id be successful.

Im drawn to it more for the emergency services side of it rather than getting deeper into medical side of it.

I also like that I can do EMT in a few months and get a taste for the work before deciding to commit to doing the paramedic program...
Whatever path I take, this should be my last career change

 

[svxr8dr]

Im a former EMT in both OR and WA many moons ago. I mainly got the certs to help with getting hired on with a Fire Department as I had been a volunteer firefighter for about 7 years and the certs was huge for post testing eligibility lists back in the day. I also had experience with the combat lifesaver certification in the military though my MOS was 11B. I'll be honest it burned me out to the point I left the industry entirely and no longer even sign up with my current employers emergency response teams. I freely admit I enjoyed the firefighting, but the combative drunks, gnarly mva's, child fatalities, and the rest of the mix wore on me to the point where I was getting frustrated that regardless of how good I did my job, sometimes it just wasnt in the cards.

 

[HB of CJ]

My answer is about the same only different kinda. Forget the Ambulance if what you mean by such is a ALS or BLS first responder. Usually the ALS lead person is a paramedic. Sometimes the entire crew are paramedics. Sometimes not. I am talking here ambulance crews, NOT combined paramedics and firefighters on a fire apparatus. Concentrate on the RN training and licensing.

Start applying to RN schools and keep trying to get accepted. I took me 2 years and four attempts to get into RN school at our local junior college. Yep. Had a 4.0 average also taking all the lower division stuff. Hard to get into the RN program. Once in it was the real deal 60 hour a week instruction and studying.. It was a 4 year program compressed into a 2 year AS program.

Graduated. Took the California (this is 1984) state RN test. Passed high. Then I started working the floors at the local hospitals. Built experience and got most of the various RN specialty certificates. Then I moved to OR from CA. Got a OR RN license. Then did various things. Great money. The RN license served me very well. Now retired. Have let most of the stuff expire.

Do not consider getting a fire department job either as a BLS or ALS med trained fire fighter. I made a big mistake. Hired on the first fire department, (1972) that wanted me and seemed like a good outfit. Bakersfield City Fire Department CA. ISO Class 1. Great agency. Had everything. Small. Buffed. Tuffed. The only problem the town was, (is) a horrible place to live.

Over 1000 written applications. Over 250 passed the written test. They hired just 2 guys. I was one of them. Very difficult to get hired on today with a good fire agency. But ... it is not the agency. It is the town and state where you want to put down roots and spend 30 years. I can not state this enough. Find a great place to live first. Work any job. Then try for the FF spot.

In my humble but usually correct opinion an RN license with national recognition or state reciprocity is the way to go. Get the RN license. AS first. Get that 4 year BS degree if possible. Get the masters degree nurse practitioner over time if you decide to go for it. RN nursing is the golden ticket for a lifetime of great income and a good job Firefighter? No. Paramedic? No. RN? Yes.

PEM me you wanna.

HB of CJ. Ex EMT. Ex PM. Ex RN. Now retarded and old.

 

[Wombat of Doom]

My answer is about the same only different kinda. Forget the Ambulance if what you mean by such is a ALS or BLS first responder. Usually the ALS lead person is a paramedic. Sometimes the entire crew are paramedics. Sometimes not. I am talking here ambulance crews, NOT combined paramedics and firefighters on a fire apparatus. Concentrate on the RN training and licensing.

Start applying to RN schools and keep trying to get accepted. I took me 2 years and four attempts to get into RN school at our local junior college. Yep. Had a 4.0 average also taking all the lower division stuff. Hard to get into the RN program. Once in it was the real deal 60 hour a week instruction and studying.. It was a 4 year program compressed into a 2 year AS program.

Graduated. Took the California (this is 1984) state RN test. Passed high. Then I started working the floors at the local hospitals. Built experience and got most of the various RN specialty certificates. Then I moved to OR from CA. Got a OR RN license. Then did various things. Great money. The RN license served me very well. Now retired. Have let most of the stuff expire.

Do not consider getting a fire department job either as a BLS or ALS med trained fire fighter. I made a big mistake. Hired on the first fire department, (1972) that wanted me and seemed like a good outfit. Bakersfield City Fire Department CA. ISO Class 1. Great agency. Had everything. Small. Buffed. Tuffed. The only problem the town was, (is) a horrible place to live.

Over 1000 written applications. Over 250 passed the written test. They hired just 2 guys. I was one of them. Very difficult to get hired on today with a good fire agency. But ... it is not the agency. It is the town and state where you want to put down roots and spend 30 years. I can not state this enough. Find a great place to live first. Work any job. Then try for the FF spot.

In my humble but usually correct opinion an RN license with national recognition or state reciprocity is the way to go. Get the RN license. AS first. Get that 4 year BS degree if possible. Get the masters degree nurse practitioner over time if you decide to go for it. RN nursing is the golden ticket for a lifetime of great income and a good job Firefighter? No. Paramedic? No. RN? Yes.

PEM me you wanna.

HB of CJ. Ex EMT. Ex PM. Ex RN. Now retarded and old.

I concur, Bakersfield is nasty.

I am an RN and the first year it is hard to land a job. We don't have national recognition for RN licensure. A lot of states though it is just a fee to get a licensure. It is a hard job, and really, it is a trade. I am having some health issues, so I am transferring to an advice nurse role.

 

[Alexx1401]

I concur, Bakersfield is nasty.

I am an RN and the first year it is hard to land a job. We don't have national recognition for RN licensure. A lot of states though it is just a fee to get a licensure. It is a hard job, and really, it is a trade. I am having some health issues, so I am transferring to an advice nurse role.

Not sure where its "hard" but it sure is not the PNW. Several I work with have gone the RN way. The day they pass the test they have people fighting for them. It's been like that here all my life. I watch many of them turn down multiple offers to hold out for the one they want. After they get a couple years in, if they make any effort at all, they are now able to pick up and move at will with a Traveler License. Many of the RN's I know prefer this. They like the moving around from contract to contract. If people who pass the RN are having trouble finding a job they are in the wrong area. Would have to be a place with no real hospitals or clinics. I have often wished I would have done this when I had the chance.

 

[Wombat of Doom]

Not sure where its "hard" but it sure is not the PNW. Several I work with have gone the RN way. The day they pass the test they have people fighting for them. It's been like that here all my life. I watch many of them turn down multiple offers to hold out for the one they want. After they get a couple years in, if they make any effort at all, they are now able to pick up and move at will with a Traveler License. Many of the RN's I know prefer this. They like the moving around from contract to contract. If people who pass the RN are having trouble finding a job they are in the wrong area. Would have to be a place with no real hospitals or clinics. I have often wished I would have done this when I had the chance.

The PNW. It has not been that way for everyone. If you do not get placed in a great practicum , which in my case was by somebody who intentionally gave everyone in my class their least favorite choice, and out of a class of 52, I think 6-8 had jobs lined up. 2 of those were hired by their mothers. This was 5 years ago. I had friends who took 18 months to find a job. I applied for over 200 positions and got one in the first 2 months out. I took the first offer.

 

[Alexx1401]

The PNW. It has not been that way for everyone. If you do not get placed in a great practicum , which in my case was by somebody who intentionally gave everyone in my class their least favorite choice, and out of a class of 52, I think 6-8 had jobs lined up. 2 of those were hired by their mothers. This was 5 years ago. I had friends who took 18 months to find a job. I applied for over 200 positions and got one in the first 2 months out. I took the first offer.

Don't know what to tell you other than something was wrong there. I have had RN's in the family all my life. Even before Algore invented the net and we used the news paper there were times when the employment section was less than 1 page. Half of that was RN's wanted. For the last 10 years I have watched multiple people taking classes while working, watched as they prepped for the big test. The day they passed people were fighting over them. So for someone to have an RN license and not be able to find a job here something has to be VERY wrong. <shrug>