EMT-B to Paramedic to Become Officer?

[Jarrett Jacobson]

Hey EMS Fam,

I’ve been really curious lately about a good pathway to take in order to be a more useful officer down the road. I’m currently finishing the Emergency Medical Responder Class in order to move into the EMT class in about 2 weeks. I’m also taking the EMS academy option this next semester to start learning about academy structure and lifestyle. I’m wanting to work for a state police agency, such as the California Highway Patrol or Washington State Patrol. Since these men and women also respond more frequently to vehicle accidents than a typical municipality officer, my question is... would it be beneficial to me to work towards my Paramedic Certification before I become an officer, or is that not necessary? I’m still planning on completing my EMT this fall. Let me know. Thanks!

 

[Chimpie]

Having your EMT certificate will definitely make you more attractive when it comes time to search for jobs. However, depending on where you'll end up as an officer you probably will never need those skills.

In high population, urban areas, the culture of law enforcement is do a visual assessment and call for EMS. You can have them on scene before you have time to put on your gloves.

If you end up in a rural environment or in a town with smaller fire and ems agencies, you would probably end up using your skills more. In these areas it can take 20 or more minutes for someone to show up.

I don't know your financial situation or how soon you want to start LE academy, but if you can afford medic school and can take the 12 to 18 months to complete it, go for it. It'll allow you to work as a medic while going to the academy or after it while looking for a job.

Just some random thoughts and opinions while I drink my coffee.

 

[mgr22]

Jarrett, just to build on what Chimpie said, there are regions that employ dual-role cops -- e.g., LEO/paramedics. They respond to pretty much all 911 calls and use whatever skill set is most appropriate. If that sounds interesting to you, becoming a paramedic could be worthwhile.

 

[Mufasa556]

Do you already have a degree?

If not, I’d go through medic school and get your Associates through it. Then apply to CHP. I was talking to a medic who’s friend got hired with CHP. Once he finished his probation time, he transferred to CHP’s flight team as their flight medic. Super sweet gig. Apparently, if you already have your medic (and medic experience), it’s not that hard of an assignment to get.

Also, it’s good to have a degree that’s not law enforcement specific. You’ll learn all you need to know about policing in the police academy. With a non-criminal justice degree, If you get injured or just end up hating the job you still have something to fall back on

 

[DesertMedic66]

@chrls could probably offer some great info to this thread as he is a medic for a state police agency.

it’s not that hard of an assignment to get.

IIRC it is actually a very hard assignment to get because there is not a lot of movement in the air ops as a medic. Since it’s a sweet gig you have to wait for someone to retire since not a lot of people would transfer out.

 

[Mufasa556]

That’s more how I figured it would be, but this guy was super adamant that it was super easy to get into. I was surprised that someone just off probation was a Chippie flight medic.

 

[chrls]

@chrls could probably offer some great info to this thread as he is a medic for a state police agency.


IIRC it is actually a very hard assignment to get because there is not a lot of movement in the air ops as a medic. Since it’s a sweet gig you have to wait for someone to retire since not a lot of people would transfer out.

As mentioned, I am a CHP Officer and work on a helicopter as a paramedic.

I’ll try to touch on a few things that are specific to my department.

Going to medic school: I’d say if you have any interest in becoming a paramedic, go for it. It opens plenty of doors, some of them law enforcement related. It looks like you’re ok with being a patrol officer and using your medical skills as somewhat of a secondary. If this is correct, I’d encourage you to apply as a soon as you can. It’s a great job either on the ground or in the air. We also train everybody to the First Respodner level in our academy. If your only goal is to be a paramedic on a CHP helicopter, that’s a lofty goal, but not unattainable. Just be aware, it can be a long wait.

Responding to crashes as an officer with medical training: For the CHP, again you will be trained as a First Responder. If you are a patrol officer, even if you’re a paramedic, the department won’t recognize you as one and you won’t hve any additional gear at crash scenes. As a paramedic on the helicopter we do search and rescue, law enforcement calls, as well as medevac to hospitals. There is also the nature of your area. You can work in downtown la with a hospital every 5 feet, or you can work the middle of the Mohave and have 30+ minutes EMS response times.

Going to college: If you have the time, yes. If you’re postponing applying for jobs because you don’t have a degree, stop wasting time and apply already. I went from high school, to emt, to medic, to CHP Officer by 21. Not as a rule but more of a fun story, my academy started with 143 people, 6 of which had masters degerees. We graduated 91 people and zero of the masters degree people made it.

This is my personal opinion on things. Let me know if you have any questions and the CHP.

 

[CALEMT]

Be a real cop... join a Sheriffs department as my dad would say.

 

[Jarrett Jacobson]

As mentioned, I am a CHP Officer and work on a helicopter as a paramedic.

I’ll try to touch on a few things that are specific to my department.

Going to medic school: I’d say if you have any interest in becoming a paramedic, go for it. It opens plenty of doors, some of them law enforcement related. It looks like you’re ok with being a patrol officer and using your medical skills as somewhat of a secondary. If this is correct, I’d encourage you to apply as a soon as you can. It’s a great job either on the ground or in the air. We also train everybody to the First Respodner level in our academy. If your only goal is to be a paramedic on a CHP helicopter, that’s a lofty goal, but not unattainable. Just be aware, it can be a long wait.

Responding to crashes as an officer with medical training: For the CHP, again you will be trained as a First Responder. If you are a patrol officer, even if you’re a paramedic, the department won’t recognize you as one and you won’t hve any additional gear at crash scenes. As a paramedic on the helicopter we do search and rescue, law enforcement calls, as well as medevac to hospitals. There is also the nature of your area. You can work in downtown la with a hospital every 5 feet, or you can work the middle of the Mohave and have 30+ minutes EMS response times.

Going to college: If you have the time, yes. If you’re postponing applying for jobs because you don’t have a degree, stop wasting time and apply already. I went from high school, to emt, to medic, to CHP Officer by 21. Not as a rule but more of a fun story, my academy started with 143 people, 6 of which had masters degerees. We graduated 91 people and zero of the masters degree people made it.

This is my personal opinion on things. Let me know if you have any questions and the CHP.

I really appreciate this! It’s been a goal of mine to work for the CHP and I’m only 19 now, so I’m working on a degree and I’ve been trying to knock out other things such as an EMT cert. I’m about 2 semesters away from my associates in Administration of Justice and I’ve just completed my Emergency Medical Responder (First Responder) course this week. I’ll be done with my EMT by December. This interest in the medical field is new and I’m really enjoying it so far. But, the CHP is still my ultimate goal. And as for my expectations, Patrol would definitely be great for me. I’m not planning on only focusing on a flight medic position within the agency. It’s just something I’ve kinda been thinking about.

 

[NysEms2117]

Now I am allllll the way across the country in New York state(formerly). My work(NYS Parole) actually paid for my EMT cert+ gave me a bonus for having it. As you enter the workforce I think everybody can attest that your employer may and usually does pay for you to advance your career. I 100% can not speak for how California operates, but maybe just food for thought. I was never involved in state Police, only Parole but I’m sure CHP offers some incentives on classes and certificates they want you to take. Often times it’s to better the agency so they can say “x officers are also medics or emt’s” on their PowerPoint to the governors office each year.

 

[DrParasite]

If you want to be a medic, go to medic school. I don't know of many law enforcement agencies that give any bonuses for being a medic (the Paramedic/cop dual role hasn't made it to the east coast yet), nor will it help you get hired. I do know of several that will pay for you to attend EMT school, and a couple that will send you to paramedic school.

If you want to get on with CHP, look up what they require to get hired and complete those requirements. If you haven't already, check out this page, which lists what they require. I wouldn't ignore other LEO agencies, as they can give you more opportunities than CHP, and having LEO experience can help make you a better CHP candidate.

In my experience, it's rare to find a truly competent paramedic who works as a cop; the few I have met that are gained their competence and maintain their competence working on an ambulance (either as their part time job, or before they were hired into LEO), not in a patrol car. Not saying they don't exist, but most people who become cops do it to do LEO stuff, not EMS, and many will put their EMS training in the rear view mirror once they get hired as a cop.

If you don't want to be a medic don't spend a year or more of your life going to medic school. spend that year doing what you need to in order to become a cop.

 

[chrls]

Be a real cop... join a Sheriffs department as my dad would say.

Says the wanna be fire fighter. Make daddy proud. Haha.

Now I am allllll the way across the country in New York state(formerly). My work(NYS Parole) actually paid for my EMT cert+ gave me a bonus for having it. As you enter the workforce I think everybody can attest that your employer may and usually does pay for you to advance your career. I 100% can not speak for how California operates, but maybe just food for thought. I was never involved in state Police, only Parole but I’m sure CHP offers some incentives on classes and certificates they want you to take. Often times it’s to better the agency so they can say “x officers are also medics or emt’s” on their PowerPoint to the governors office each year.

Unfortunately we don’t pay extra for stuff like that. They’ll make sure you have the minimum requirements and you’ll get your salary for that, but you don’t get paid extra for just holding cents. There is education pay, 2.5% for a 2 year and 5% for a 4 year but we don’t do any sort of tuition reimbursement though.

There are some jobs within the department, like mine on the helicopter, that come with incentive pay once you’re in the position, but I didn’t see any monetary benefits driving a patrol car as a paramedic.

It would be nice except the governor would also have to give us more money to offer those incentives.

If you want to be a medic, go to medic school. I don't know of many law enforcement agencies that give any bonuses for being a medic (the Paramedic/cop dual role hasn't made it to the east coast yet), nor will it help you get hired. I do know of several that will pay for you to attend EMT school, and a couple that will send you to paramedic school.

If you want to get on with CHP, look up what they require to get hired and complete those requirements. If you haven't already, check out this page, which lists what they require. I wouldn't ignore other LEO agencies, as they can give you more opportunities than CHP, and having LEO experience can help make you a better CHP candidate.

In my experience, it's rare to find a truly competent paramedic who works as a cop; the few I have met that are gained their competence and maintain their competence working on an ambulance (either as their part time job, or before they were hired into LEO), not in a patrol car. Not saying they don't exist, but most people who become cops do it to do LEO stuff, not EMS, and many will put their EMS training in the rear view mirror once they get hired as a cop.

If you don't want to be a medic don't spend a year or more of your life going to medic school. spend that year doing what you need to in order to become a cop.

All we require is a high school diploma or equivalent, a California driver license, 35 or younger, and no felony convictions. Yes, those are the minimum and some people get hired that way, I did, but having more helps.

I might be a little bias but the CHP has a lot of opportunity. I work in one of the southern most counties of my state. If I wanted to work up next to the Oregon border all I have to do is put in a transfer and I can be there next month. We also have a ton of specialty stuff like motors, commercial facilities, K9, our air program, bike patrol, etc. we also have nearly 7500 uniformed officers, that’s a lot of room for advancement compared to smaller departments. But having said all that, it’s still the people’s communist republic of California. Did I mention these are my opinions and don’t express the views of my department? Haha.

I totally agree on the less than stellar cop/medic. You get a lot of people who treat it like a fire/medic job and EMS gets a backseat. I still work part time for my local AMR shop for that very reason.

 

[CALEMT]

I still work part time for my local AMR shop for that very reason.

*cough cough* but hasn't picked up a shift since April.

 

[NysEms2117]

Unfortunately we don’t pay extra for stuff like that. They’ll make sure you have the minimum requirements and you’ll get your salary for that, but you don’t get paid extra for just holding cents. There is education pay, 2.5% for a 2 year and 5% for a 4 year but we don’t do any sort of tuition reimbursement though.

There are some jobs within the department, like mine on the helicopter, that come with incentive pay once you’re in the position, but I didn’t see any monetary benefits driving a patrol car as a paramedic.

It would be nice except the governor would also have to give us more money to offer those incentives.

In NYS we found it worked wonders, especially for improving education department wide. It did cost quite a bit up front, but it more then paid for itself in just the little time I was there (<5 years). NYS has also started to found a lot of improvements to EMS (sheriffs dpt having their own EMS unit that runs calls, Doctors on Scene, Police having incentives to gain medical knowledge. I think for me getting my EMT-B in NYS it was an extra $0.43/hr, but that turns into 1000's by the end of the year. +It was free(ish) all I had to pay for was gas and wear on my car. We also had TONS of options come down from executive leadership, to be able to help ourselves(increasing salary wise, because that's why we go to work, right...?). Some chose to take it and run, I mean free class with useful knowledge, that I also got a bonus for... no brainer for myself personally. not sure if you had questions about it but feel free to PM me if so. I'll try to answer them, I was only co-running that division for a very short time.