# Not sure if I should be a firefighter or police officer



## ken158 (Sep 15, 2012)

Before my EMT course, I wasn't really interested in the fire department. I was interested in becoming a police officer, though. 

However, now that I'm certified and looking around for jobs, being a firefighter is appealing to me. I won't be making any decisions now since I'm too young to work for either and I don't have time (I'm 18 starting college soon), but their explorer programs are interesting. 

So...which one is a better career? Perhaps I can even do both at different times?


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## NYMedic828 (Sep 15, 2012)

ken158 said:


> Before my EMT course, I wasn't really interested in the fire department. I was interested in becoming a police officer, though.
> 
> However, now that I'm certified and looking around for jobs, being a firefighter is appealing to me. I won't be making any decisions now since I'm too young to work for either and I don't have time (I'm 18 starting college soon), but their explorer programs are interesting.
> 
> So...which one is a better career? Perhaps I can even do both at different times?



It isn't exactly easy in 95% of the country to become a career firefighter or police officer. Apply for both and see who calls first.


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## Milla3P (Sep 15, 2012)

Do you enjoy sleeping at night or driving around in a little black and white car?


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## wannabeHFD (Sep 15, 2012)

Get the best of both And be an arson investigator


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## Achilles (Sep 15, 2012)

wannabeHFD said:


> Get the best of both And be an arson investigator



Hell ya! 
In fact speaking of that, when I went through the academy. We had an instructor that made a reference to backdraft when the investigator took his knife and stabbed it into the charred wood, he did this to see the depth of the burn.


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## bigbaldguy (Sep 15, 2012)

There are quite a few FFs that are also law enforcement. Mostly investigators.

I met a nurse once who worked for a law enforcement agency. She would go into facilities to investigate fraud and abuse allegations undercover. She was on her way to work for a doctor who was under investigation for running a pill mill. It sounded like a pretty cool job to me.


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## Jambi (Sep 15, 2012)

You'd probably be better off being a trash man or working for UPS/Fedex...

It's a sad sad world. :sad:


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## rescue1 (Sep 16, 2012)

Where I am in PA, there are several police officers who work part time as firefighter/EMTs. Best of both worlds.

I'd do ride alongs with your local fire and police departments and see which appeals to you more.


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## ken158 (Sep 16, 2012)

rescue1 said:


> Where I am in PA, there are several police officers who work part time as firefighter/EMTs. Best of both worlds.
> 
> I'd do ride alongs with your local fire and police departments and see which appeals to you more.



Wow, that actually sounds pretty good. 

Yeah I think I'll do that. I think I have to be involved in both Explorer programs to be able to do ride alongs, but I'll try to do both.


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## rescue1 (Sep 16, 2012)

It's tough to get hired around here as a firefighter though. You need all your certs (FF1 & 2, EVOC, Driver/Operator, Rescue Tech, etc) and experience to be considered. And you need to be precertified as a police officer to get hired too. It gets kinda expensive.


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## berkeman (Sep 17, 2012)

ken158 said:


> Wow, that actually sounds pretty good.
> 
> Yeah I think I'll do that. I think I have to be involved in both Explorer programs to be able to do ride alongs, but I'll try to do both.



That's a great approach, if you can be in both Explorer programs for a while.  From my perspective, it comes down to how you want to deal with people in your work.  For FF EMTs/Medics, it's about patient contacts.  Do you like dealing with people who need your help medically?  I've found that I do enjoy Pt contacts, even with difficult people.  It would be good if you could do some EMT volunteer work somewhere, to start to get more Pt contacts to see how it feels to you.

OOTH, I've also found that I don't much enjoy dealing with people in Security/PD-type settings.  I don't like getting boldface lied to so much, and it is more mentally unpleasant for me to have to deal with people so much in an adversarial way.

Best of luck in whatever you choose!


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## Imacho (Sep 17, 2012)

I you do both, that will make you a "Fire pig."

(no disrespect intended to LEO) its only a joke.


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## Handsome Robb (Sep 18, 2012)

Apples to oranges. 

What do you want to do? Do you want to be a cop or do you want to be a firefighter? 

Good luck having your cake and eating it too, like others have said, you picked two tough careers to get into.


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## leoemt (Sep 18, 2012)

ken158 said:


> Before my EMT course, I wasn't really interested in the fire department. I was interested in becoming a police officer, though.
> 
> However, now that I'm certified and looking around for jobs, being a firefighter is appealing to me. I won't be making any decisions now since I'm too young to work for either and I don't have time (I'm 18 starting college soon), but their explorer programs are interesting.
> 
> So...which one is a better career? Perhaps I can even do both at different times?




As a former police officer myself let me give you some advice. Being a cop is about the most stressful thing you can ever do. The job itself isn't really hard, but you will be scrutinized for EVERYTHING you do. You go hands on with a suspect, better be able to defend yourself in court and in the media. 


Being a cop is very hard. It is also very rewarding. Whatever you choose, you need to keep a separation between work and family and not take your stress out on them. 

PM me if you have specific questions


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