whats the consensus out there? my long term goal is fire. but would it be smarter of me to do emt and then fire and attempt to get a job and then do medic or just do emt medic and then fire? the medic program is quite long. i just want to make sure that when i apply to get a job, im an appealing candidate. any opinions? what did you guys do?
emt to fire/ emt to medic
- Thread starter amg1322
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Shepard
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I would recommend getting EMT and trying to volunteer with a FD to see how you like it. Don't spend your time and money on medic if you just want it to look better on a fire app. Then you take away a spot from someone who really wants it.
sir.shocksalot
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I'm not sure what your exact plans are or how you feel but I will give you this advice and I hope you take it to heart: If you don't want to be a paramedic, DON'T DO IT! When you're a medic with the fire service you're going to be spending almost all you're time doing paramedic stuff including staffing an ambulance (depending on where you work). If you're heart isn't into being a paramedic you will quickly burn out and your patients will suffer. Citizens deserve a dedicated/well trained and educated paramedic, not some dude who wanted a quick route to riding backwards. I won't begrudge you for going fire but just make sure you have your priorities straight.
VCEMT
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Do what you need to get where you want.
sir.shocksalot
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It's one of the main things holding back EMS as a real member of the healthcare team. We have a large number of paramedics who have no interest in medicine. Paramedic is the only training I know that you get for the express purpose to get into a separate field.
I'm not trying to be an a-hole. If you want to be a paramedic/FF and embrace both parts of the title then great, go for it. But don't get your paramedic just to get hired on, you'll end up hating every day you're on the ambulance.
I'm not trying to be an a-hole. If you want to be a paramedic/FF and embrace both parts of the title then great, go for it. But don't get your paramedic just to get hired on, you'll end up hating every day you're on the ambulance.
EMT to Firefighter
My experience has been,get your EMT basic,work on an ambulance to see if you like that kind of work. Then go for Firefighter. Most fire dept. require an EMT cert. as well as a firefighter qualification. Most fire departments nowadays run a lot of EMS calls. Be prepared to deal with the injured, sick and dying on a regular basis, if you like it ,( practicing emergency medicine)your fellow firefighters/ paramedics will help you enter that field of paramedicine.
My experience has been,get your EMT basic,work on an ambulance to see if you like that kind of work. Then go for Firefighter. Most fire dept. require an EMT cert. as well as a firefighter qualification. Most fire departments nowadays run a lot of EMS calls. Be prepared to deal with the injured, sick and dying on a regular basis, if you like it ,( practicing emergency medicine)your fellow firefighters/ paramedics will help you enter that field of paramedicine.