# Philadelphia Fire Service Medic



## maag himself (Mar 23, 2011)

I'm a pretty new medic working rural/suburban/small cities, and its been a dream of mine to run in a big city. A friend told me that Philly Fire was pretty short staffed on medics.

I'm planning on moving down to Philly so that's perfect. I checked Philly's HR site and there was the "Fire Service Paramedic" position hiring, so I put an app in..

Does anyone here work for/have worked for PFD as a Medic or recently been hired? Are they real selective? About how long does the whole application process take? I meet the minimum requirements for the job with a PA driver's license and Medic cert but i'm not sure about the experience thing. They didn't have a experience requirement or preference, they just asked about how many years. Could this be a reality for someone with only a few months of FT medic experience?

I've been searching around for information on working at PFD, and I'm seeing alot of mixed opinions.. some love it, some hate it. Not to mention most of the posts are years old. 

Anyone?


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## SeeNoMore (Mar 23, 2011)

The general impression I have heard is that they do indeed need medics, and your level of experience should not be a barrier. 

As for the quality of the PFD EMS, I think it's like most other urban systems. There are some good medics but I have also seen some pretty half assed care. Part of the issue is how busy the system is , and that medics are sent to a great deal of BLS calls so I think there is an element of skill dillution. 


But again, you will get lots of experience and there are some great medics on the department.


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## maag himself (Mar 23, 2011)

Thanks for the reply. Have you worked for PFD yourself?


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## maag himself (Mar 27, 2011)

Noone here is a medic with PFD? If you are, shoot me a PM. Id like to chat with you.


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## 46Young (Mar 27, 2011)

Alexandria Fire and EMS in VA, just west of D.C. is worth checking out; they work a 24/48/24/96, are treated well, and are single role medics. I'm sure they have better working conditions that Philly does. their pay starts in the mid 40's/yr, decent OT, and it's really around 50k after paid holidays and such, I'm told.


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## maag himself (Apr 7, 2011)

Thanks, but I don't think moving to VA is an option at this point.. and thats too far of a commute.

+ Bump for a PFD Medic! Someone here's gotta be a Fire Service Medic with the PFD or was in the past! There's over 12,000 members.. :huh: PM me, I have a few questions.


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## 325Medic (Apr 8, 2011)

*P.f.d.*

Disclaimer: I am not a Philly medic BUT: I did my ride time for the cert in Philly (Medic-11 / South Philly) in "99". I am now a medic for a mid size 911 agency in Bucks County / just north of Philly. I used to reside in Philly also. With that being said...... I get this info from good friends that are both on the medic side and fire side. I used to want to work for Philly years ago when I ETS's from the Army but that did not work out due to resdency issues. The fire dept is hiring and you have to me a medic prior to hire. The dept. is like any big city fire ran service or any city service for that matter. Lots of b.s. but you do, depending where you get stationed get good calls. North Philly / look for lots of b.s. but you do get the knife and gun club in that section of town. The city, for budget reasons downgraded some medic units to basic units, this I am stating was in the news... I known alot of good medics that work there but for every good medic you have a bad one, thats everywhere you go I presume. 
              For the total info / go to their web site / I am just putting the stuff out there that I have experienced. I run into them guys and gals @ the local shock trauma E.D. just inside Philly lines alot and some are disillusioned (lots of calls / approx 15-20 depending on the section of town) but for the most part I would trust my life if I were in the cirt lines. 

Oh yea, No paramedic engines and at times you could run limited mic (1 EMT / 1 medic) but for the most part you would run double mic. 

Good luck and p.m. me if you need more info though what you see here is the extent of what I know.

325.


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## maag himself (Apr 8, 2011)

Thanks for the reply... PM sent


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