# Hard To Get a Job In EMS?



## xsilverfantasyx (Jun 22, 2010)

Today I was talking to an old friend from high school, Talking about college, told him I'm going for ems, he said he had looking into ems (but decided to go into law enforcement) and said that its hard to get a job as a Medic, and that a lot of people are trying to get in that field like in nursing(<_<) He also mentioned that his uncle is a medic and took him 5 years to get a full time job as a medic ("hmm, sounds like he wasn't trying to hard"). I appreciate his input but his input sounds iffy, Id like other peoples opinions.  I still am going to school for it, because its what I want to do, weather its hard or not, but Is it as hard at he claims?

I live in Columbus, Ohio if that's any help. In the future(4-5 years down the road) I want to be a Medic in Chicago if all goes smoothly


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## TransportJockey (Jun 22, 2010)

If you're brand new with no experience and especially if you're just an EMT, work can be scarce. Medics are in demand in certain areas, but theres an overflow in others. and people with experience usually win out over newbies


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## Theo (Jun 23, 2010)

Ohio is pretty thin on EMS jobs, especially at the EMT-Basic level. There are more opportunities for Medics, but they generally come from private services or hospitals. 

Sounds like you're open to moving and that's an important step towards finding good work in the field. It helps keep your options open. 

Best of luck.


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## DrParasite (Jun 23, 2010)

xsilverfantasyx said:


> Talking about college, told him I'm going for ems, he said he had looking into ems (but decided to go into law enforcement) and said that its hard to get a job as a Medic, and that a lot of people are trying to get in that field like in nursing


It isn't _particularly_ hard to get a job in EMS.  It is, however, quite difficult to get a well paying, long term, career in EMS.

Many people go into law enforcement (and the fire service for that matter) because the jobs pay better, the opportunities for advancement are better, the pension system is better, and the conditions are typically better.  Plus is it much harder to get out sourced in the fire service or PD, than in EMS (see outsourcing to a private company after municipalities determine you are making too much, and a private company can do the same job for half the price).

Also keep in mind, many LEOs or FFs work one job, and live comfortably.  They often work side jobs for extra money.  Many in EMS work 2 and 3 jobs in order to live comfortably.  Many go form EMS to nursing not because they want to get out of the field, but because nurses have similar skill sets, and make another 30,000 a year.  

If it takes you 5 years to get a full time job as a paramedic, than I would suspect either you aren't looking really hard, or you are holding out for the "perfect" medic job.   You can get a FT job within a year.  You might have to settle for one that doesn't pay that much, or isn't part of a big system, or you might not find one in your geographic area.  But you can find one if you want one bad enough.


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## xsilverfantasyx (Jun 23, 2010)

Thank so much everyone for the input and opinion, I'm going stick with the plan for now and get my emt-b and continue on the ems degree and also talk to an emt advisor and see how it goes from there only time will tell what path I will decide to go, I am also interested in nursing, witch is what I planed on doing before emt but also there's no limit, I can always do both! Maybe just get the certifications and get the degree in nursing, then get the ems associates later. Time will only tell on what I'm going to do but I'll make this work somehow, I just dont want to worry if I'll have a job I can live off after I get my degree and loans dont pay there selves.


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## terrible one (Jun 23, 2010)

Don't come to CA and plan on working, ZERO jobs here


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## xsilverfantasyx (Jun 23, 2010)

terrible one said:


> Don't come to CA and plan on working, ZERO jobs here



Yeah, I heard it was hard to find a job there.
Rather Go to Chicago thou.


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## Porkchop (Jun 23, 2010)

terrible one said:


> Don't come to CA and plan on working, ZERO jobs here



+1.  Friggin' sucks.


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## Cory (Jun 23, 2010)

Well, I live in Cincinnati. Recently the Cincinnati Fire and Police departments stopped hiring all together, and are now laying workers off monthly. I don't know if the greater Columbus area is anything like Cincinnati, but there are lots of large townships here with very nice, very rich fire departments, but even those are getting too full. I live in a very small town about 15 minutes away from the city, and our FD is BLS only, but they are still hiring. You're best shot for getting a job quickly would be to work for a smaller FD, but the pay is not as good, and it's seriously boring I would imagine. Between 10 EMT's, my towns FD runs about 1 call a day, with no more than three EMT's responding at a time. Nothing like Chicago. Between the current economy, and the enormous amount of middle class citizens, Ohio is overrun with public safety workers.

I'm really dissapointed now. I was seriously considering moving to Columbus and working for Columbus FD. It's much nicer up there than down here.


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## 46Young (Jun 25, 2010)

xsilverfantasyx said:


> Thank so much everyone for the input and opinion, I'm going stick with the plan for now and get my emt-b and continue on the ems degree and also talk to an emt advisor and see how it goes from there only time will tell what path I will decide to go, I am also interested in nursing, witch is what I planed on doing before emt but also there's no limit, I can always do both! Maybe just get the certifications and get the degree in nursing, then get the ems associates later. Time will only tell on what I'm going to do but I'll make this work somehow, I just dont want to worry if I'll have a job I can live off after I get my degree and loans dont pay there selves.



Now you're talking. I got my EMT-B, worked IFT PT for 6 months, then got into a high paying, well benefitted hospital doing 911 or IFT, depending on the shift. I then chose a 13 month medic course over three years of school for nursing. It was my original intention to do nursing school on a paramedic salary, but I chose to go fire based EMS, where I'm making way more than a nurse. Now I'm completing my EMS degree at my leisure, then my next project is to knock out the RN. 

You can do nursing school first and then challenge the medic exam, or do the medic program and then nursing school on a more comfortable income. Perhaps you can also lessen your loan burden or eliminate the need for a loan altogether if you do the medic thing first.

Many will say that you should do the two years for the EMS degree, or just do nursing from the start, and they would be correct from an education standpoint. Your medic program may be stellar, or it may just be a quickie mill that only cares about your money and if they can get you to pass the state and NR exam. Regardless, only you know if it would be better in your situation to do things the proper way where education is concerned, or to do what's the most economically advantageous for you.

One thing though, many have became medics with the intention of going back to school afterward. Many say that they'll take a year off of school since the program was so rigorous and time consuming. If they're paid well, or if the OT is copious, it's easy to get comfortable living on a medic's salary. If you need extra funds, you'll just work a side job and/or OT. "I'm almost making as much as a nurse, and I'm making more than them if I just do one OT shift a pay period or a few shifts at the IFT side job." The next thing is to say that you'll put off school maybe another year so that you can save for a house. Maybe I should go back to school, but the OT's been great, and I'm really racking up! If I go back to school, I'll be giving up all that extra income. Or maybe you have an expensive car to pay off, or just ran up some bills, then you have a kid, get married, whatever order that may be, etc. Now you're stuck, and have no choice but to keep working 60-80 hours or more as a medic as a matter of necessity. The money is just good enough to keep you from having to go back to school.

This is typically how many in EMS get stuck there, never to return to school. Don't fall into that trap.


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## 46Young (Jun 25, 2010)

Also, if you become a medic and go fire based, Fairfax has hired many from Ohio, six in my recruit class alone. Memphis FD has hired a lot from Ohio as well, particularly from Cleveland EMS.


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## beandip4all (Jun 25, 2010)

46Young said:


> Now you're talking. I got my EMT-B, worked IFT PT for 6 months, then got into a high paying, well benefitted hospital doing 911 or IFT, depending on the shift. I then chose a 13 month medic course over three years of school for nursing. It was my original intention to do nursing school on a paramedic salary, but I chose to go fire based EMS, where I'm making way more than a nurse. Now I'm completing my EMS degree at my leisure, then my next project is to knock out the RN.
> 
> You can do nursing school first and then challenge the medic exam, or do the medic program and then nursing school on a more comfortable income. Perhaps you can also lessen your loan burden or eliminate the need for a loan altogether if you do the medic thing first.
> 
> ...



Wow, this is great advice.  Thank you for writing it all up!


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## xsilverfantasyx (Jun 25, 2010)

beandip4all said:


> Wow, this is great advice.  Thank you for writing it all up!



Couldn't Agree more!
Good point, a lot of people get off track in there goals.
Getting my Ems degree and having a better income, for going back to school, is the plan so far! Hooray, for the future of helping people


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## xsilverfantasyx (Jun 25, 2010)

46Young said:


> Also, if you become a medic and go fire based, Fairfax has hired many from Ohio, six in my recruit class alone. Memphis FD has hired a lot from Ohio as well, particularly from Cleveland EMS.



Does Fire Based mean being a Firefighter to? If so...
:mellow:Woooaah, :blink: no fires, near me. 
Me + burning building = FAIL. 
Ninjaaah34r:


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## abckidsmom (Jun 25, 2010)

xsilverfantasyx said:


> Does Fire Based mean being a Firefighter to? If so...
> :mellow:Woooaah, :blink: no fires, near me.
> Me + burning building = FAIL.
> Ninjaaah34r:




Sometimes.  In Fairfax, you train as a firefighter, but the chances of a provider on a medic unit actually *seeing* fire, much less doing anything about it are slim.

Even though the chances are slim though, a medic who's not a competent firefighter should not work in a fire-based EMS system unless there's absolutely no crossover.


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## xsilverfantasyx (Jun 25, 2010)

Cory said:


> Well, I live in Cincinnati. Recently the Cincinnati Fire and Police departments stopped hiring all together, and are now laying workers off monthly. I don't know if the greater Columbus area is anything like Cincinnati, but there are lots of large townships here with very nice, very rich fire departments, but even those are getting too full. I live in a very small town about 15 minutes away from the city, and our FD is BLS only, but they are still hiring. You're best shot for getting a job quickly would be to work for a smaller FD, but the pay is not as good, and it's seriously boring I would imagine. Between 10 EMT's, my towns FD runs about 1 call a day, with no more than three EMT's responding at a time. Nothing like Chicago. Between the current economy, and the enormous amount of middle class citizens, Ohio is overrun with public safety workers.
> 
> I'm really disappointing now. I was seriously considering moving to Columbus and working for Columbus FD. It's much nicer up there than down here.



Still Try up here, make some calls and find out your chances, sometime! Theres always hospitals and private companies to, maybe you might have better luck with that up here, who knows. The Firefighter's and EMT's up here are very kind. (as far as I know). Less Crime here to.


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## xsilverfantasyx (Jun 25, 2010)

Cory said:


> Well, I live in Cincinnati. Recently the Cincinnati Fire and Police departments stopped hiring all together, and are now laying workers off monthly. I don't know if the greater Columbus area is anything like Cincinnati, but there are lots of large townships here with very nice, very rich fire departments, but even those are getting too full. I live in a very small town about 15 minutes away from the city, and our FD is BLS only, but they are still hiring. You're best shot for getting a job quickly would be to work for a smaller FD, but the pay is not as good, and it's seriously boring I would imagine. Between 10 EMT's, my towns FD runs about 1 call a day, with no more than three EMT's responding at a time. Nothing like Chicago. Between the current economy, and the enormous amount of middle class citizens, Ohio is overrun with public safety workers.
> 
> I'm really disappointing now. I was seriously considering moving to Columbus and working for Columbus FD. It's much nicer up there than down here.



Still Try up here, make some calls and find out your chances, sometime! Theres always hospitals and private companies to, maybe you might have better luck with that up here, who knows. The Firefighter's and EMT's up here are very kind. (as far as I know). Less Crime here to.


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## 46Young (Jun 25, 2010)

abckidsmom said:


> Sometimes.  In Fairfax, you train as a firefighter, but the chances of a provider on a medic unit actually *seeing* fire, much less doing anything about it are slim.
> 
> Even though the chances are slim though, a medic who's not a competent firefighter should not work in a fire-based EMS system unless there's absolutely no crossover.



If your engine officer or driver is a dual hatter, then yes, you'll be on the medic unit most of the time. If you're riding the seat of a one and one with the same situation, or the other medic isn't qualified to ride the seat of the one and one, then you're really screwed. At my house I trade off with the other medic tour for tour. One tour I'm on the engine, the next I'm on the ambulance. 50-50. I'm getting about half as much action as a basic FF, but it's not like I'm assigned to the engine and frequently get pulled to do EMS when there's a fire. A good number of our medic units are double medic, and high acuity pts aren't all that frequent, anyway. 

I sometimes ride with the medic unit to the hospital on a good medical or trauma, but on a box alarm I'm commited to suppression. I also get some good car fires, pin jobs, stuck elevators and such. Inside the beltway you get some good volume for both EMS and fire.

A good number of our new All Hazard Officers (Dual Hat) have since dropped their medic status, so more of us are getting that 50-50 split.


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