Questions About EMT/Firefighting

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cmktech

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I am currently 18 years old and attend a university in California. After reluctantly (parents wanted me, but grandparents wanted me even more) spending a semester at my university, I am definately not motivated or cut out for typical college degree.

I have a lot of interest in the ems field, whether it is an emt working in an ambulance or a firefighter.

The main thing I was wondering is how comfortably you can live...I am told and researched the typical starting salary is around $36,000?

-Also, after EMT-B, how would you further yourself and be able to make more? I can only find nor-cal emt-b programs but am wondering about other programs that would increase my earning potential.

Thanks for any info.
 
Well, seeing as I live in California I can offer a few parcels of information on this. Firstly though, what university are you attending? Because if it's a UC, a private one, etc. that is hard to get into, I would give it an extreme amount of thought before walking away since you can still be an EMT part-time while going to school but if you drop out it'll be much harder to go back later if you ever decide to. Since you mention nor cal EMT-B programs, I'm assuming you're either at CSUC, CSUS, UC Davis, or Stanford.

That being said, atleast in the Sacramento area, EMTs start at $12.50/hr with AMR which is $24,000 a year if you assume 40 hours a week. From knowing my best friend, who has been an EMT for 5 years and is currently in paramedic school, you'll be working closer to 48 hours a week if not more and if you're working part-time, as many shifts as you want to pick up. So atleast in California, I highly doubt you'll be making $36,000 a year starting unless you work like 60-70 hours a week.

You have to do the EMT-B program before anything else. After 6-12 months of being an EMT-B, completion of a course in anatomy & physiology, and a few other things, you can apply for acceptance into a paramedic program. They're not cheap though, atleast the one my friend is going to isn't, it's like $8,500 at NCTI. My friend said that in Sacramento, paramedics start at around 60-70K a year. EMT-P/Paramedic is the next level up from EMT-B is the only direct way to increase your knowledge and earnings...beyond paramedic you would have to do something different such as nursing, medicine, etc.
 
Well... EMT is a good start. After EMT-B, then you can become a Paramedic. You could also get on with a Fire Department and work as a Firefighter/EMT or FF/Medic.
 
I go to UC Merced. I have put a lot of thought into this for the past months. I really wanted to go to a tech school such as MMI, but would rather keep motocross as a hobby.

My father went to ncti (that's where I will go for my emt-b) and then went to the firefighter academy and became a firefighter for a short while. I don't know why, but I only used to be concerned with money. Now I am getting 'real' as my parents would say and I would much rather work in a rewarding career rather than obtain a degree and a desk job. I would love to work as a emt for 6-12 months and then go on to paramedic school. I would be VERY happy to make $50k+ after becoming a paramedic. Also, moving back home I would go to the comm. college (as well as ncti for emt-b at ncti) and maintain 12 units to be covered by my parents healthcare and work towards an assosciate's degree.

1) How hard is it to get into paramedic school?
2) How long are paramedic schools?
3) Is there any break on medical coverage for being an emt (sorry if this is a dumb question)
4) Will an associate's degree help increase my pay at all?

Thanks!
2)
 
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I'm in Southern California and the EMT-B program I'll be taking is at a community college and so is the paramedic AA program. From the information I've gathered, the requirements are simple to achieve so long as you attend class, pay attention, pass the tests and keep to an average A/B grade. Anything below a B is failing in these programs. The EMT-B program can be done in one or two semesters, but to obtain the experience requirements for the Paramedic program, you have to have a certain amount of pre-hospital work...voluntary or paid and then you're looking at about a year or two to complete program studies and general education requirements of the college for the degree. That time would depend on how much time you have to dedicate toward studies.
 
Ok you kind of lost me heh. I would probably get my associate's degree in a field other than paramedics since there isn't exactly an as major or aa major at the cc i would be going to.

-I would be taking the 8 week course offered in livermore to obtain my emt-b certification.
 
Basically, the pre-reqs for a paramedic program can range from a few classes to a year worth of classes. The paramedic program itself, most of them anyway, are a year long. And if my friend's experiences are any indication, medic school is hard as hell.

I'm not too sure as to how good accelerated EMT-B classes are either so you might want to be careful on that. You need to look up what the pre-reqs for taking the EMT-B class are too. For the EMT-B program at my school, I had to get a myriad of immunizations as well as get BLS-certified so that I'm eligible for the class. There's probably some sort of pre-reqs for the EMT-B program at your school too. I think the BLS requirement is actually required for licensure so you may be able to take the EMT-B class without it, but you won't get licensed as an EMT-B until you get BLS certified. It's not hard though, it basically consists of doing about 300 chest compressions and giving 150 breaths on a mannequin. :P
 
The CPR and emergency responder certifications are the BLS requirements, correct? That's the class I'm in now and apparently the ticket into the EMT-B program, which at my school, only consists of two classes that can be done in either 8 or 16 weeks. I'd prefer a 16 week course so the info. has time to really absorb.

Hey...does anyone know when CPR compressions of 15 and 2 go to 30 and 2? Also, Somewhere in the midstates, according to my instructor, CPR protocol has eliminated the rescue breaths in between compressions altogether. Anyone hear of this???
 
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Strange that it's a full-length course if it's only 8 weeks, huh. Well, my friend said NCTI is one of the best so if it's by them then it has to be good.

EyeOn, it depends on the school, generally they should be able to tell you what their pre-reqs as far as BLS goes. At my school, you have to have either a CPR for the Professional Rescuer or CPR for Healthcare Provider certification.

I'm not aware of the midstate protocols on CPR but CPR compressions go from 15:2 to 30:2 when there is only 1 rescuer involved and it's with either an infant or child. The ratio is always 30:2 with an adult and it is 30:2 with children and infants when only 1 rescuer is present but switches to 15:2 with children & infants when 2 rescuers are present. I've personally never heard of eliminating breaths inbetween compressions myself though...doesn't make a whole lot of sense if they're not breathing. Anyone who actually knows what they're talking about (EMT, paramedic, etc.) want to comment on this since I'm not afraid to say I dunno jack? :blush:
 
cmktech said:
1) How hard is it to get into paramedic school?
2) How long are paramedic schools?
3) Is there any break on medical coverage for being an emt (sorry if this is a dumb question)
4) Will an associate's degree help increase my pay at all?

Thanks!
2)
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1)Depends on the school. WestMed College? Give 'em $15,000 and you're in. Foothill College? They have a whole bunch of prerequisites and you have to apply. You'll have to check with the individual programs.
2)A good one? 12-18 months.
3)Depends on where you work.
4)Perhaps. A degree in something related might help you out a bit.

And you're in Merced? Firefighters around here make a heck of a lot more than one would think. We're among the highest paid fire services in the entire country. Merced/Modesto/Ripon (ugh) is still growing rapidly, and the money for firefighters out that way is still good. There's also CDF and BLM, but the pay isn't as great. They see some more interesting stuff, though.

I'm right in the Silicon Valley if you're wondering.

WestMed has classes in Merced! http://www.westmedmerced.com/paramedic.htm
 
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Now here is some advice from a nearly-30 year old. This advice was given to me when I was 20 or 21 and I did not heed it.

If you're interested in becoming a firefighter, do it. Get your FF 1 and 2, your EMT-B cert and apply. Get on a good city or county department and stay there. You can retire from a FD after 20 to 25 years with 50-80% of your pay as pension. As a FF you also lessen the chance that you will burn out after a few months/years as well.

Oh, and when it comes to EMS, there's the famous saying:

"If you're in it to make money, get out now while you can."

1) You'll never make what you think you deserve.
2) Your heart is not in the right place.


Knowing what I know now, and I was in your shoes interested in Fire & EMS, I would find a college that has a two year Paramedic and/or Fire program. (Vincennes University in Indiana has both) and register. Get one degree or both. As you finish your last semester pick 10 - 20 departments you'd like to work for, find out their hiring requirements and start applying. By the time you finish college you'll have a better idea of where you want to work, and with one or two degrees in the field you are going into you'll probably have one or two departments knocking on your door.

Take care and welcome to EMTLife.
 
Thanks for the info and the link to the Merced Campus. That would be great for me since I still have one semester left in my apartment lease. I cannot find out how much classes cost or when they are, all they have is information on the program. The comm. college at home has a degree in fire technology (AS) which would be helpful to get.
 
I hate to burst bubbles, but here goes. It is only the beginning of November and you've determined that college isn't for you? I'd stick with it as long as you possibly can.

Literally anyone can get an EMT-B cert, and I even got one in a month in a half after my first year of college. I couldn't stand my first year of college, in fact it was one of the worst experiences of my life. My second, third, and fourth years turned out to be the best years of my life.

You can always stick with the college thing and do the EMT courses at night, or even during the summer. I'd hate for you to give up on college only after two months. I'd suggest at least finishing the year, or even continuing college part time while you did something else.

Good luck!
 
I wouldn't eb quitting school. I would be moving home and going to the comm. college. Saving my parents a lot of money and getting to enjoy my life WHILE going to school. I would just get my emt-b on the days I am not going to class.

At the university I am at, I absolutely hate it and didn't want to be there in the first place.
 
Universities are kind of scary, because they're big. I find community colleges to be more relaxing and more personable, because they are smaller and you can get to know your professors on first name basis...LOL. There seems to be more student attention rather than just class attention. I like my school and best news yet (at least for me)...I'll be attending classes in a nice new science building come next fall :) TeeHee...That's when I get to start on Major directed classes. OK...I must be a geek to be all excited over a building...LOL. The emergency medical education programs will also be getting upgraded equipment...yeah!!
 
cmktech said:
I wouldn't eb quitting school. I would be moving home and going to the comm. college. Saving my parents a lot of money and getting to enjoy my life WHILE going to school. I would just get my emt-b on the days I am not going to class.

At the university I am at, I absolutely hate it and didn't want to be there in the first place.
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Actually, I think what Matt meant was to stay in 4-year college until you're sure that you want to quit and go back to a CC since the most you can get at a CC is an associate degree instead of the bachelor degree you would get at a university. I would imagine if you ever did want to go back to a university to get your bachelor's, it would be extremely hard to get accepted anywhere if they saw that you dropped out of a UC after only one semester.

I'm not saying that enduring four years of misery is worthit, but have you considered maybe looking at some other UCs and transferring to a different one? Just because you hate your current university doesn't mean you'll hate another...and I know from personal experience that UC Davis has /excellent/ tours for prospective students, was there just a few weeks ago. I hear UCSC is extremely good too. Good luck with whatever you decide on!
 
cmktech said:
I am definately not motivated or cut out for typical college degree.

...

Will an associate's degree help increase my pay at all?

...

am wondering about other programs that would increase my earning potential.

...

I would be VERY happy to make $50k+...
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Sorry, but EMS is NOT for you.... it is SO not for you that it isn't even funny... HOLY CRAP it's not even funny! STAY AWAY! Stay away and save yourself (and probably others) the trouble of figuring out the hard way that EMS IS NOT FOR YOU.
 
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I agree.....EMS is not for the unmotivated.....To the OP, please turn around now, run, run far the hell away and never look back.....we would greatly appreciate if your lazy, unmotivated and unwilling to learn type of person were to never look towards our chosen profession as some manner of safety net for the supratentorially deprived.
 
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Wow by no means was I saying I am in it for the money at all. Anyways, I will choose what is best for me. Thanks for SOME helpful input.
 
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