NYCers: How fast did you go from 0 to 911?

adamNYC

adamNYC

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NYC guys: How fast did it take you to get to your 1st 911 job and what did you have to do to get there? Did you have to do IFT work first? Any volunteer stuff you did? I want to get to 911 work ASAP when I'm certified. IFT work doesn't interest me at all, but I'm willing to put that work in for experience.

Thanks
 
lukgiel

lukgiel

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You answered your own question.

IFT and 911 Volunteer

No 911 hospital will take you without experience, especially no ift
 
H

Handsome Robb

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You gotta pay to play. IFT experience can be invaluable and often at the ALS level IFTs are sicker than the vast majority of 911s.

Don't be jaded before you even start or you're in a long road. FDNY has hundreds if not thousands of people on their eligibility list. EMTs are a dime a dozen everywhere so you gotta take what you can get when you can get it. The faster you get that IFT gig the faster you can build experience and the faster you'll get on a 911 truck.
 
lukgiel

lukgiel

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He's right.

Waiting to get into fdny is 1-2 years, that's if your background is for the most part spotless.

Ift pays 11$ an hour, hospital 911 pays 22 - 28$ for emt-b, LIJ pays 18, for both transport and 911.

What makes you think they will take you when there's people with years of experience both volunteer and ift ahead of you
 
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adamNYC

adamNYC

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Whats the minimum transport experience time I should look to getting? 6 months? So 911 volunteering (such as at PSVAC) alone is not sufficient experience for hospital 911 work? Thanks alot guys. I had no idea some hospitals start EMTs as high as $22. Wow.
 
LACoGurneyjockey

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In a place like NYC with such an over saturation of very qualified applicants your chances of working 911 early on are slim. 6 months is good. A year is better. I'm sure there's guys there 2 and 3 years into an IFT job that they didn't get into EMS for.
Having done it myself, the best advice I can give is don't be tied down to a specific area you want to work 911 (ie NYC). Figure out how far you'd be willing to commute, if you'd be willing to move, and look at options for paid gigs out of the high population areas. I commuted 3 hours one way for a 911 job, and ended up moving out there after I realized I really liked the area. If I'd stayed in LA I most likely would still be working IFTs. And while it was valuable experience and a great place to start, was simply not what I got into this field to do. I'm sure there's some folks on this forum who could suggest some paid services in the greater area.
It just comes down to how badly you want to do that specific kind of work, and how attached you are to your current location and your comfort zone.
 
TransportJockey

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LACoGurneyjockey said:
In a place like NYC with such an over saturation of very qualified applicants your chances of working 911 early on are slim. 6 months is good. A year is better. I'm sure there's guys there 2 and 3 years into an IFT job that they didn't get into EMS for.
Having done it myself, the best advice I can give is don't be tied down to a specific area you want to work 911 (ie NYC). Figure out how far you'd be willing to commute, if you'd be willing to move, and look at options for paid gigs out of the high population areas. I commuted 3 hours one way for a 911 job, and ended up moving out there after I realized I really liked the area. If I'd stayed in LA I most likely would still be working IFTs. And while it was valuable experience and a great place to start, was simply not what I got into this field to do. I'm sure there's some folks on this forum who could suggest some paid services in the greater area.
It just comes down to how badly you want to do that specific kind of work, and how attached you are to your current location and your comfort zone.
Click to expand...
Hence why I commute six hours one way for my job... That and I'll never ever live there again
 
lukgiel

lukgiel

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Heh, both of my jobs are 15 minutes driving one way. But if I found a better job, that pays better or I can do a 24hr tour, I'd be willing to commute.
NJ also pays great, their hospitals are always hiring, but they require NJ cert and a few other things that I haven't seen in NY

Best advice is.
Keep on applying every few months.

Don't do it online, get a suit and go down there with a resume and cover letter.

I know a few supervisors and they say they never look at the online apps
 
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