Volunteer before going paid or dive straight in?

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boydel8

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Alright so I am wondering if anyone can lend some insight. I recently recieved my EMT-B and I am wondering if it would be better to look for volunteer work or jump into paid right away?

Let me paint a picture of my current situation. I will be returning to school in the fall to pursue Nursing (finally accepeted into a Nursing program!) As of this moment I do not know if I will be a commuter or a resident, depending on which school I go to... However for the summer aside from 2 summer classes I am free, I can work/volunteer with no obligations, come september it may be another story if I stay instate, or out of state for school.

Currently I am in the process of joining up my hometown squad as a volunteer (just have to wait for some paper work on their end). Now I have heard of some people doing both paid and volunteer, and others just after getting their EMT-B, going paid right away. Assuming I can only work until September would it be better to forget the volunteer and go paid, stick with the volunteer or try doing both volunteer and paid?

If I wanted to go paid, is the hiring process lenghty? yes I realize it is late june and I want to squeeze in as much as I can before september. What I am looking for in the EMT, is expereince to simply gain expereince.

Any tips would be of great help
 
If you need the money go paid. Also most paid services are a higher call volume than most volly outfits so you'll gain experience a little faster. On the other hand volly outfits are usually more flexible about your schedule and sometimes offer benefits like free ce. If you can do both that would be good too as you will tend to get a different kind of feeling from paid and volly work mostly because your coworkers will have different perspectives on the job.
I would definetly get the volly thing in the works as even if you do get a paid position picking up a volly shift occasionally can help you stave off the burnout that can sometimes hit paid folks.

Keep in mind I am strictly a volly provider so this is all from what I've observed in the paid folks I've worked with.

Regardless of what you decide, good luck and keep us updated :)
 
All good points by BBG. It's likely that you will be able to both if your location allows. I know many people at work that volunteer on their off days. After they get their schedule from the ambulance company, they sign up to be on call for a day or two.

Your first paid job might well be with a private company doing mostly non-emergent transfers, so if you're looking to spend some time on a 911 ambulance, volunteering could be a good way to do this. Just give yourself time off from EMS now and then, no reason to burn yourself out of healthcare by going to school, volunteering, and working 7 days a week!
 
Good advice, thank you. I will not drop the volunteer, I am almost offically on the sqaud so it makes no sense to go and drop. As for the paid, what I am thinking now is give the volunteer solo a few weeks, see how it is and then perhaps add in a paid with the volunteer. I have no idea as to their call volume, how busy they get, so I will have to see.
 
Why do something for free when someone is willing to give you money for it?
 
To echo Linuss, let me rephrase your original question:

Should I work for free, or should I get paid for said work?

I hope you can answer this yourself.
 
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Linuss said:
Why do something for free when someone is willing to give you money for it?
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I was wondering the same thing.

Linuss said:
Hey, I was born in the 80's!
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The problem with that is even I can make that argument! haha I mean it was the tail end of '89 but still in the 80's!
 
The vollys will take you faster, because they are always starving for people.

Another factor to consider before you go to a paid service is your age. Most don't like taking EMT's without experience AND if you are under 21, they are really nervous about letting you drive. Insurance reasons are the most likely cause of this.

I'd say Volly for the time being, get the process started on the application for the paid position...if the paid position doesn't fall through, you still got your volly experience. I started off in a volly position, it helps you get the basics down before you go to a paid position...and having patient care experience either as a volly or paid, will help you with your nursing degree. good luck
 
I wish I could find a good volly service around here. All the city companies are paid. I am in nursing school and have a job at a hospital so I don't really need the money but I do miss working on the street. It was a great learning experience.
 
Linuss said:
Why do something for free when someone is willing to give you money for it?
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Because I am rich like Scrooge McDuck and I don't need the dam money! :lol:

In all seriousness though, I assume if I volunteer first it will be more attarctive when I look for the paid gig.
 
boydel8 said:
Because I am rich like Scrooge McDuck and I don't need the dam money! :lol:

In all seriousness though, I assume if I volunteer first it will be more attarctive when I look for the paid gig.
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It's really going to depend on the service. I've heard some services don't honor it as experience due to low call volumes that most volly outfits run but it definitely will not hurt you.

I honestly don't see any advantage to doing either first, take whatever you can get. If you can get both then you really got it made!
 
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