# Volunteer Fire Department or Red Cross?



## Zalan (Feb 15, 2011)

Just wondering if anyone is a member of Volunteer Fire Department? What have your experiences been like? Would the Red Cross be another orginization to consider volunteering for as an EMT-B? Under a natural disaster or State of Emergency is an EMT-B alloweed to function as an EMT-B for Red Cross? Doese the Red Cross have a Medical Director?

      I recently past my practical and written state exam for EMT-B in Indiana. I found a job that pays better than what EMT-B makes in my area with benefits. The job itself is a state job. After six months it will pay around $12/hr vs $10.90 hr an EMT-B makes for AMR. In the fall of 2011 I will be entering into a Paramedic Degree Program. The next logical choices would seem to be a Volunteer orginization. Or is it best to avoid volunteer work being a full time student and employee?


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## Anjel (Feb 15, 2011)

I have found that doing stuff on the national disaster side of things help a lot with jobs and gives you a little resume booster on the side. 

I don't know if you have heard of the online courses FEMA offers via NIMS. They're free and a nice thing to have. But I have done those and the gov't is flying me to Alabama to complete some Hazmat and incident command courses free of charge to me. Then I can come back to Michigan and teach them to others. 

If you get some of the incident command courses completed online, I'm sure it would be fairly easy to volunteer on the side with the red cross. I don't know much about fire departments though.


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## Ghando14 (Feb 17, 2011)

I worked as a volunteer firefighter in 2005, and got placed on a State Engine, which ended up going from California to New Orleans to help with Katrina. So depending on where you are stationed as a volunteer and what you are willing to do, you can end up doing both. 

I ended up helping with some S&R and EMT work with the Red Cross as well as other firefighters. 

Again, I think it depends on where you are, and what they need.


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## TheyCallMeNasty (Feb 17, 2011)

Zalan said:


> Just wondering if anyone is a member of Volunteer Fire Department? What have your experiences been like? Would the Red Cross be another orginization to consider volunteering for as an EMT-B? Under a natural disaster or State of Emergency is an EMT-B alloweed to function as an EMT-B for Red Cross? Doese the Red Cross have a Medical Director?
> 
> I recently past my practical and written state exam for EMT-B in Indiana. I found a job that pays better than what EMT-B makes in my area with benefits. The job itself is a state job. After six months it will pay around $12/hr vs $10.90 hr an EMT-B makes for AMR. In the fall of 2011 I will be entering into a Paramedic Degree Program. The next logical choices would seem to be a Volunteer orginization. Or is it best to avoid volunteer work being a full time student and employee?



Keep in mind the EMT job may pay less but the pre-experience as an EMT is invaluable esp. if your going into a paramedic program.


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## Zalan (Feb 17, 2011)

Callen909 said:


> Keep in mind the EMT job may pay less but the pre-experience as an EMT is invaluable esp. if your going into a paramedic program.



Thats why I`m doing an Ambulance Intership this semester. Might do one this summer to. The job market for EMT-B is tight in this area. Heck, the community college is making about 20 EMT-B`s per semester.


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## TheyCallMeNasty (Feb 18, 2011)

Zalan said:


> Thats why I`m doing an Ambulance Intership this semester. Might do one this summer to. The job market for EMT-B is tight in this area. Heck, the community college is making about 20 EMT-B`s per semester.



Ahh okay cool. yea here in Los Angeles if you went to a decent emt school and know your stuff you can get a job really easy......not sure about your part of the country


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## Zalan (Feb 18, 2011)

The area has a small city with a population of about 120,000 people. Which has AMR for city Ambulance, & then the fire department handels county. Not saying AMR doesn`t answer county calls. Then everything for the next 9 counties is well rural county EMS; however, their all Med/EMT-B team.


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## Foxbat (Feb 18, 2011)

Anjel1030 said:


> I have found that doing stuff on the national disaster side of things help a lot with jobs and gives you a little resume booster on the side.



I always thought it has an opposite effect (when potential employer considers hiring someone who may become absent from work for a few weeks any time with little prior notice to help during the next disaster).


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## frankiemuniz01 (Feb 18, 2011)

They're free and a nice thing to have. But I have done those and the gov't is flying me to Alabama to complete some Hazmat and incident command courses


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## usafmedic45 (Feb 18, 2011)

> The area has a _small city_ with a population of about 120,000 people


Bahahahahahahaha.

Sorry....just the idea of something with 120,000 people as 'small" strikes me as funny. 



> Then everything for the next 9 counties is well rural county EMS



Nothing wrong with that.  You'll learn a lot more about patient care in rural EMS than you learn in an urban environment because you have more time with the patient.  

Honestly, if you have the choice between being an ARC volunteer and a volunteer with the local VFD, go with the VFD if you want actual patient contact with some regularity.  The ARC it pretty much takes a Katrina level event to get them active in "medical" care.  Being a volunteer is not a negative thing.  As someone who used to be in charge of hiring EMS personnel, I would always choose (all other things being equal) someone who had volunteer experience over someone who was a "full time student" and had zero experience.


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## Markhk (Feb 20, 2011)

I was pretty active in the Red Cross for a while, and I have to say when I first started, I thought ARC volunteers did medical work. However, in reality, it's pretty rare to have that type of deployment (and even if you do, it's a pretty limited scope of practice). 

During a national disaster that warrents deployment of volunteers from other areas or states (utilizing Disaster Service Human Resources, DSHR), volunteers are deployed under certain job functions, like Client Services (i.e. casework), Mass Care (setting up shelters, feeding) and Disaster Health Services (DHS). DHS is typically filled by nurses - but EMTs can fill the roles too.

What one does in DHS though is not the SAR team/ambulance strike team/mobile field hospital thing. Instead, most DHS volunteers are still involved in casework- they interview disaster clients to see if they have any medical needs and provide referrals as needed. (Considering that people loose their albuterol and insulin all the time, this is actually pretty important.) Another position is that the DHS volunteer could serve in a shelter in a sort of first aid/public health role - you get to live/work in a shelter, and if someone falls in your assigned shelter and breaks a leg, you'll provide first aid and refer them (NOT transport them) to the appropriate medical center. You also do syndromic survillence for diseases that might be cropping up (hopefully just bedbugs though!) Finally, in some disasters, DHS does set up "aid" stations, which are locations where people can come for first aid treatment (but only minor first aid) as well as usually be stockpiled with some relief supplies. (During 9/11 these aid stations were equipped with donated PPE so that first responders could take leather gloves and respirators as needed from them.) 

If you're really interested in doing the mobile field hospital thing, then your best bet is to join a federal disaster medical assistance team (DMAT), which is technically part of the US Public Health Service. It can be hard to be deployable if you're only an EMT and they are saturated with volunteers, but persistence and continual training will help you with that. 

The American Red Cross provides valuable services in a disaster, but it's probably not what you expect medically. They really are a great organization to volunteer for, if you know what they actually do. Hopefully you'll find something that appeals to both your desire for service and sense of adventure.


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## TransportJockey (Feb 20, 2011)

Markhk said:


> I was pretty active in the Red Cross for a while, and I have to say when I first started, I thought ARC volunteers did medical work. However, in reality, it's pretty rare to have that type of deployment (and even if you do, it's a pretty limited scope of practice).
> 
> During a national disaster that warrents deployment of volunteers from other areas or states (utilizing Disaster Service Human Resources, DSHR), volunteers are deployed under certain job functions, like Client Services (i.e. casework), Mass Care (setting up shelters, feeding) and Disaster Health Services (DHS). DHS is typically filled by nurses - but EMTs can fill the roles too.
> 
> ...



I've been lookin at DMAT teams for a while. Bear in mind some DMAT teams won't even look at or consider an EMT to join them (NM DMAT1 being a good example of that). You need to be a medic or higher for some teams to look at you. TX DMAT4 (the one I'm lookin at now) only accepts EMTs w/ 3 years of field experience or special skills. They take any paramedics.


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## certguy (Feb 20, 2011)

Another way to volunteer you may consider is CERT community emergency response team.This program was founded by LA city,who realized even they don't have enough personnel to handle a disaster.If first responders are overwhelmed,members are trained to get the ball rolling,them work under the responders when they take over.They also train folks to prepare&take better care of themselves and thier families in disasters.FEMA&Homeland Security like this so much,they're going nationwide with it.


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## usafmedic45 (Feb 21, 2011)

Also, remember that DMAT is not a "quick response" option.  It's designed to handle the overflow in the aftermath in a disaster.  That's something that bores a lot of EMS providers. Imagine hearing about an airline crash and being sent to transfer the nursing home residents next to the crash site for their regular dialysis appointments.


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## Ghando14 (Feb 21, 2011)

usafmedic45 said:


> . Imagine hearing about an airline crash and being sent to transfer the nursing home residents next to the crash site for their regular dialysis appointments.



A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. Ha ha


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## usafmedic45 (Feb 21, 2011)

Ghando14 said:


> A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. Ha ha


Yeah, but a lot of EMTs and medics would :censored::censored::censored::censored::censored: incessantly for the rest of their lives about that.


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## Ghando14 (Feb 21, 2011)

usafmedic45 said:


> Yeah, but a lot of EMTs and medics would :censored::censored::censored::censored::censored: incessantly for the rest of their lives about that.



Agreed, and I wouldn't want to be doing that either. I would definitely be one of those EMT's.


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## TransportJockey (Feb 21, 2011)

usafmedic45 said:


> Also, remember that DMAT is not a "quick response" option.  It's designed to handle the overflow in the aftermath in a disaster.  That's something that bores a lot of EMS providers. Imagine hearing about an airline crash and being sent to transfer the nursing home residents next to the crash site for their regular dialysis appointments.



I would like to do DMAT... but then again, I'm a provider that loves the idea of community health paramedicine, and not just running lights and sirens from one 'good trauma' to the next.


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## usafmedic45 (Feb 21, 2011)

I don't mind that sort of care if I have a choice, but then again I think there are much better prepared folks to be doing that (read as: nurses).  Personally, my disdain for this sort of thing makes me stick out among people pursuing a career in public health since I have a very narrow area of interest/focus. 

Then again, I don't particularly like trauma or crashing patients either.  It's a job....I do what I need to do.


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## Anjel (Feb 21, 2011)

Foxbat said:


> I always thought it has an opposite effect (when potential employer considers hiring someone who may become absent from work for a few weeks any time with little prior notice to help during the next disaster).



I'm not taking it that far. I'm taking the classes then teaching them to others here. Which company's like so they don't have to pay and send there workers somewhere. 

Also in case there is some mass casualty incident locally its nice to know what to do and not run around like a chicken with your head cut off. 

I'm not volunteering to go to where ever the latest hurricane or something is and help. Just locally.


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## firecoins (Feb 21, 2011)

I screwed up.  I meant to join the Red Cross and I ended up seeing the blue man group.


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## Ghando14 (Feb 22, 2011)

Well see, this just proves that everyone has their own preference of what they like and want to do. Some jump in the fire, others put it out, and some go the behind the scenes route.


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## tao (Feb 23, 2011)

You'll probably get more experience with a VFD.   Be sure to choose an FD where EMS Is important to them, some really don't care.

Fortunately, EMS is very important to my local VFD.  Unfortunately, their ambulance only goes out maybe twice a year, usually for auto vs. pedestrian, and ALS usually makes it there first anyway.

I personally recommend that you hide outside the fire station and wait for the engine to be dispatched.  If you have good aim you can hop on the back without being seen.  Then all you have to do is pray that it's a medical call.  Bring your first aid kit.


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## CoffeeInThatNebula (Feb 23, 2011)

DMAT looks interesting, but it also looks like it'd be something you would do if you had freetime.  As fun as DMAT sounds (or not) if you're like many people you probably are either working full-time, going to school full-time or some sort of mixture of both.  In addition, it's not really a paid thing from what I understand aside from reimbursement for food and travel and such.  This is almost more of a retirement thing more than anything else.  

Also, the VA DMAT at least, requires online training, all this governmentish fingerprinting stuff and it looks like even applying might take awhile.   I could be wrong of course since I've never done it.  I WISH I had enough free time for that...

Also, I contacted the Red Cross about opportunities and all they did was send me a big fat automated, totally impersonal email about the process to volunteer.  Yeah, automated emails are an irk of mine.  I would also look into seeing if you have a Medical Reserve Corps nearby.  They provide basic first responder-type training but would probably be more than happy to have an EMT.  Although, I have no clue about how much actual experience you'd get from it.  This is all just based on what research I've been doing while looking for volunteer opportunities myself.


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## Pneumothorax (Mar 8, 2011)

im currently on a VFD & love it, sometimes we can be really busy, sometimes not, but ive gotten a lot of patient contacts & really developing my assessment/treatment skills while im at it.

Im a full time nursing student so working is almost out of the question (until i find a job that can accommodate). but in the meantime--this is a very worthwhile experience


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## TreySpooner65 (Mar 15, 2011)

frankiemuniz01 said:


> They're free and a nice thing to have. But I have done those and the gov't is flying me to Alabama to complete some Hazmat and incident command courses



What courses is this for? I think that would be pretty cool to do? I have ICS-100 and ICS-200 already.


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## Anjel (Mar 15, 2011)

Do 700 and 800. Then look at some of the on site courses through the department of homeland security and such. 

You have to be employed somewhere or actively volunteering in emergency response. 

They will send ya to Alabama for more training. Its pretty cool. 

https://cdp.dhs.gov/schedules/program/a.html


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## TreySpooner65 (Mar 15, 2011)

Anjel1030 said:


> Do 700 and 800. Then look at some of the on site courses through the department of homeland security and such.
> 
> You have to be employed somewhere or actively volunteering in emergency response.
> 
> ...



I'll look into it. It'd be a great opportunity, plus it sounds fun.


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## MEDIC802 (Mar 15, 2011)

http://cdp.dhs.gov/index.html
Great courses, this is the link above, I get to provide the medical support for the AgERT field traing course that is held in Auburn.


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## mycrofft (Mar 15, 2011)

*Good for you to seek more more more*

FEMA online courses some good for college credit:
http://training.fema.gov/is/

DMAT: you get activated, you are covered by insurance and etc. Structured, ask around.
MRC: structure depends more upon your local setting. Meet people with a lot of war stories.
ARC: essentially no medical service in the US. ARC is mostly logistics and education. Nice to have their certificates on your CV.
CERT: little-used, free training and basic tools kit (maybe).
Vollie FD: best bet for experience, maybe make some networking connections there. Don't get hurt.


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## TreySpooner65 (Mar 15, 2011)

mycrofft said:


> FEMA online courses some good for college credit:
> http://training.fema.gov/is/
> 
> DMAT: you get activated, you are covered by insurance and etc. Structured, ask around.
> ...



Add to that:

DHV (CA only as far as I know): Volunteer medical service that deploys local, statewide, or national based on volunteer preference. Regular meetings and a medical kit. (part of MRC but more structured in CA)


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