Why work in IFT?

[DEurich]

I am a new EMT as of a couple weeks ago. I'm about to start volunteering in a week or so which I'm super excited about.

I do want to make a career out of this, and currently I want to work in rescue. So I thought I'm going to need experience in all areas of emergency medicine to better my chances of getting a job in the Northern Virginia area (I've heard that getting a job as an EMT in the Northern Virginia area is almost impossible) So..

I applied to an IFT agency and have an interview in a week!!!!

I'm just curious as to what should I say when they ask me, "Why do you want to work here?" lol

 

[BASICallyEMT]

Because it's a job? Only you can answer the question.... I would suggest being honest and say you wan't the experience.

 

[STXmedic]

Because it's experience and an opportunity to learn?... Especially since you're new.

 

[DEurich]

Yeah I definitely want the experience and opportunity to learn, I just wasn't sure if there was a specific reason people work in IFT.

 

[Angel]

its not hard to get an IFT job. Ive had 4 in 2.5 years. its just a foot in the door for a lot of us. until something better comes along, honestly

 

[titmouse]

its not hard to get an IFT job. Ive had 4 in 2.5 years. its just a foot in the door for a lot of us. until something better comes along, honestly

+1 on that

 

[avdrummerboy]

In all honesty, every IFT company that I've dealt with will acknowledge that people are there simply for experience/ hours in order to move onto something else (paramedic, fire/rescue, whatever) so just telling them experience is not a bad answer really and about all that they expect out of you. Most people don't stick around long and they know that but they have plenty to choose from.

 

[Altitudes]

Because it's a job? Only you can answer the question.... I would suggest being honest and say you wan't the experience.

Definitely don't give this as an answer for any interview...

Yeah I definitely want the experience and opportunity to learn, I just wasn't sure if there was a specific reason people work in IFT.

Look at their website. Especially a mission statement or something of the like. Utilize that, along with some other research about the company to come up with a reason for wanting to work there. You can, of course, mention you don't have much/any experience & that you think you would gain from working there.

 

[BASICallyEMT]

Definitely don't give this as an answer for any interview...



Look at their website. Especially a mission statement or something of the like. Utilize that, along with some other research about the company to come up with a reason for wanting to work there. You can, of course, mention you don't have much/any experience & that you think you would gain from working there.

And why is that? I didn't know telling someone that you wan't experience was a bad thing... Reading back now though, you must think "because it's a job" was my recommendation to tell his interviewer which you would be wrong.

 

[Altitudes]

And why is that? I didn't know telling someone that you wan't experience was a bad thing... Reading back now though, you must think "because it's a job" was my recommendation to tell his interviewer which you would be wrong.

Yes, I was referring to the "it's a job part". Probably should have bolded it when I quoted you.

 

[UnkiEMT]

How about this one:

Because it's important work. It's not sexy, it's not glamorous, and no one sits in basic class and day dreams about running an IFT, but that doesn't change the fact that people genuinely need the services available at the other facility, and the majority of them can't get there any other way.

Speaking as someone who's made the conscious choice to not only hire on at an IFT service, but stay there despite being headhunted by primary response agencies because I genuinely feel that this work needs to be done, and I would so much rather have someone who understands and appreciates that serving this population than someone who's just in it for a paycheck until they can move elsewhere; I accept as an inevitability that the majority of my co-workers are only in it for the the experience, but every once in a while we get someone in who's actually committed to this job, not just EMS in general, and I love them for it.

 

[Angel]

^^ you are definitely one of the rare ones. IFT work is best for people like you, who enjoys it and that translates into great patient care.

 

[UnkiEMT]

^^ you are definitely one of the rare ones. IFT work is best for people like you, who enjoys it and that translates into great patient care.

Saying I enjoy this is probably overkill. I mean, I do enjoy it, but not nearly as much as I do working primary response.

That being said, I enjoy it enough to let the service to my patient population factor in enough to let it overcome how much happier I'd be doing primary response.

I've seen people come in and half-*** this job because it's "just IFT". The thing they miss is that this job is inherently different than primary response. Just because you don't have to worry about the primary diagnosis and you're rarely going to use all those fancy skills we get taught doesn't mean that you don't have to closely monitor for condition changes, and moreover, you have to be sensitive to a much broader set of conditional changes than you do when you're in primary response. I would stack my pharmacological knowledge against any primary response 'medic's any day of the week, and maybe, MAYBE, a 30 year medic might beat me, but I wouldn't bet on it.

My patients shouldn't suffer because their medic is "only doing IFT".

I'm shoring up an institutional failure here, and frankly, I wish the rest of you would start shouldering your share of the burden.

 

[Emergency Metaphysics]

its not hard to get an IFT job. Ive had 4 in 2.5 years. its just a foot in the door for a lot of us. until something better comes along, honestly

This is the reality that I've had to come to terms with as I set to look for my first EMT job. It's just experience and a paycheck until something better and/or I complete paramedic school.

How does one know whether a potential employer is strictly IFT versus 911/IFT without talking to them directly? I think that'll help my job-hunting in a couple of months.

M.