Maryland/Northern VA paramedic jobs?

[Will980]

I am looking to relocate from Texas and I would like to get some information on who does 911 in the Maryland/Northern VA area. I am not fire certified and I don't really want to become a firefighter so somewhere that doesn't require you to be a firefighter would be great. I have 11 years of experience as a paramedic in the 911 setting. Thanks in advance.

 

[CANMAN]

First off, why on earth would you want to relocate from Texas to MD/VA? Hoping it's because your wife must relocate for work and she is the primary bread winner, because otherwise I would tell you that your crazy man haha. For the most part to get a 911 job in the area you are going to have to apply with the Fire Services and about 95% of them want you to be dual certified and will put you through a fire academy. Washington D.C. has civilian paramedics which do not have to do fire side, but they are one of the worst EMS systems in the nation IMO and the benefits suck compared to their union brother firefighters. The ONLY place that I would encourage you to look into if looking for EMS only and a great department would be Arlington County VA. Their FD hires Paramedics for EMS only, however it's extremely competative to get hired there and the written test is no joke. Heavy in chemistry and math.

Any MD department worth working for is going to be dual role.

If I were you and you are set on moving here, I would bite the bullet and apply to places like Fairfax, Arlington, Loudon, Alexandria, which are all Northern VA departments. Do the academy and learn the fire stuff, and if you only wanna ride a medic unit trust me they will make that happen. There are plenty of fire guys that will swap out with you as much as you would like. Going through the academy for dual role will allow you much more vertical movement for promotions etc. All of those departments are young, progressive, and squared away departments that have money, nice equipment, good protocols, etc. Pay, benefits, pension, etc all goes to the northern VA departments. MD is a ****ty state to live in. High taxes, extremely high cost of living, crappy gun laws, high crime, crappy schools, need I say more. Northern VA will be pricey as well, but those departments pay enough to make a living in those area's. If you need more info feel free to shoot me a PM.

 

[joshrunkle35]

Hope you have looked at cost of living for the two areas already. I've spent a lot of time in that area, and homes are about 4x the price there compared to Ohio, for the exact same thing. Gas, food, etc, is all more expensive. My understanding is that Texas is even cheaper in all of those respects than Ohio. It would be like moving from The Czech Republic to Switzerland.

 

[planetmike]

And don’t forget the traffic on Northern Virginia. You’ll want to minimize your commute. If there is ever any kind of incident (rain, snow, car crash, pretty sunset, rainbow) anywhere in the area, traffic goes to heck in a hurry.

 

[blachatch]

There are numerous good fire based departments in northern Virginia and Into Maryland. If I were you I would just start to apply to as many departments as you can it may open a new opportunity for you.

There are a couple people that work for NOVA departments on here hopefully they can chime in.

 

[dank]

Yep, I'm from Texas and work in the Northern VA/Maryland. I want to go back to Texas! Most if not all fire departments in the area only hire for firefighter/EMTs or medics. I know Alexaderia, VA Fire Department hires medics. Also SEMS (Special Event Medical Services) hires medics to work all the sporting events in the area (Washington Capitals, U of Maryland, Navy, ect...)

 

[WoodyPN]

You could always look at the District of Columbia. Most departments want fire training, however check some of the smaller Maryland counties for other opportunities.