Any EMT or Firefighters?

[Fmedges]

I have recently decided that I want to change careers and get into emergency services. My plan is to get my EMT cert and get a fire science associates in the hope of eventually getting hired on as a firefighter. Is this the best route to go and does anybody in the know have any suggestions?

[theGinsue]

My son is working to become an EMT right now. In CO, you have to get state certified, then nationally certified before you can work as an EMT. Before you can take your national cert test you have to have had your fingerprints/background check come back clean from the feds. There is a backlog and the process is taking over 4 months right now - so start that process early.

PPCC offers what is considered the best in the state EMT cert program but as I understand it, it only really preps you for the state cert and not the national cert test. To pass the national you'll have to pick up a book which covers all of that stuff and really study it. The national test is ~$70.

Also, as I understand it, EMT's in most (if not all) CO fire dept.'s must also be firefighter certified, so your planning to work that route is the smart way to go if you're looking to work for a fire dept.

I hope this helps.

[cmailliard]

Degrees do not mean much in the fire world. I think there are only one or two departments in the state that may require a degree. A degree is important if you want to promote later in your career. EMT is a must, I can't think of one department that does not require EMT prior to hire.

Focus on getting into top shape, do some practice tests, work on oral board type interviews. Most departments know nothing about you during the hiring process until you get the oral boards and chief interview. It is difficult to get a job as a firefighter. You need to do extremely well on the written and physical ability tests to get to the oral board and chief interviews. In those you make yourself standout (a degree may help here, but is not a deal breaker). When you get to that oral board and chief interview do your homework. Know the department better than the chief does.

Once you get on, it is one of the best jobs in the world. Good luck.

[hurley842002]

Also, most departments (last time I looked into it), won't even consider you if you don't have your intermediate or paramedic. I had my basic, but wasn't interested in going further than that, as I'm not real interested in the medical field.

[GunsRBadMMMMKay]

My wife and I both volunteered at a rural dept for a while, and she has her emt-b. Word was, most paid dept's were now requiring new fire/ems recruits to be paramedics (hence my wife now wanting to go to school to turn her emt-b into a paramedic cert/degree lol). You could check out wildland ff, get your basic training as a first responder and sign on with a crew for teh summer season to make some money and get dirty....then you could go to school in the winter if you wanted to continue. FYI, most wildland crews are not like structure fire/urban firefigters I have met it is a totally different beast lol.

[Mahoney]

I think most only require an EMT. I am not sure about the status of the depts that have required paramedic in the past. Fmedges, where are you looking to work? The easiest thing to do is check out depts' websites for requirements and hiring opportunities.

[Fmedges]

Thanks for the advise guys. My girlfriend is a registered EMT-B and working on her IV cert right now. She is trying to get a job as an EMT so she can then apply to paramedic school. I decided to look into the fire science associates or the fire academy at a comm college because they do interview prep as well as prep for the written and physical tests. We are not limited to staying in Colorado as far as work goes. I know you can get picked up through a department through just the testing and EMT alone, but I want to try to get whatever upper hand that I can get because I know it is very competitive.

[Flatline]

You actually apply for your state registry after national ( NREMT ), and the EMT programs will prep you for the national test (there is no state test, you send in your national stuff plus fingerprints/background stuff to the state). Departments look for experience, especially on the ems side. EMT is a dime a dozen, but good experienced EMTs are much more rare. I couple of departments in the county offer their volunteers all of the state fire and hazmat training for free, especially if they already have EMT done. Stratmoor Hills, Falcon, Fountain, and Manitou fire departments all take volunteers and have a pretty good call volume. There are also departments that take volunteers that are less busy but still offer training, and some that will not provide either.

Fire departments are becoming more about ems and customer service by the day. They want to see recruits that are honest, intelligent, and most importantly care about the community. As of the last time I heard, Springs does not require EMT though it will help out a lot. Most other paid positions in the county will require all certs (and at least EMT and FFI) to get hired on. Degrees are worth what you put into them. Fire science is not worth very much, we teach people what they need to know for that. AAS for medic, BS chem, BS bio, ASN, BSN, and other harder programs will help much more with getting on a department. Departments love to see some type of volunteer or community work. It is very hard to get a fire job, both here in colorado and nationwide. I heard they are looking for firefighters up in alaska, and some of the mountain towns are hiring.

If your looking at emergency services in general, law enforcement is much easier to get into than fire service. Good luck in whatever path you take.

[TriggerHappy]

I saw Aurora Fire was hiring the other day, it may still be open.

[gnihcraes]

Background Check: They do the basic background for felony type stuff, but will dig through your past history and resume. Make sure it's all legit. I lost out on a F.department job due to an issue with schooling listed and what the school had on file. Was accused of not telling the truth and lost out. Each department will be a bit different, but plan to have all the contact information of anywhere you're previously been, school and work.

[trlcavscout]

My brother was an Emt for years in ft Collins, then he worked at the fire dept. he now volunteers where they live but he quit doing it full time because the pay sucked in ft Collins. Hopefully it pays better where your at or it's not worth it.

[OtterbatHellcat]

Many of the paramedics at Denver Health are also employed with different FD agencies. They have a great development program for EMT's in training, overtime available.

[encorehunter]

My best suggestion is getting on with a volunteer dept after you get your basic. Run some calls, and see what type of training they will help pay for. Down here, a lot of the volunteer departments will pay for s130 and s190 for wild land, FFI and FFII if they are in the area and your hazmat awareness and ops classes. We have to bring in a lot of instructors, but normally the classes are full. You will normally have to sign a contract saying you will stay with the dept a year after the training or they will charge you for it. Check with a paid dept you are interested in and see if they have a volunteer program. If you can get on it, that normally puts you higher on the list of hire to start with.
Most departments after you are hired will make you go through their fire academy as well. They will make sure you are trained to their standards.

[stenz]

I was a volunteer with a great Rural FD in Boulder for 3 years (2008-2011). They were combination paid/volunteer. I was NREMT, FF1, Hazmat Ops, Ice rescue, and IV cert. I eventually landed in law enforcement in 2011 because that I was able to get a full time job first as an LEO.

Here is my advice...

1. Get your Paramedic cert. If you are a paramedic you are so far ahead of the curve its not even funny.
2. Get on as a volunteer until you get on fulltime. The experience you gain is self explanatory. Plus it will get you in the correct mindset when applying for full time jobs.
3. Get as many certifications as possible. (If not paramedic.. EMT-B, EKG, IV cert, trench rescue, ice rescue, etc....

4. Most important.... be persistent and stay dedicated. It is such a competitive market it will most likely take years to get on full time. One has to know this going forward. I tested with the Colorado Spring in 2010 and there was 2,000 applicants for 20 spots.

IF you have any questions let me know.

[T-Giv]

^ It's getting crazier in trying to land a job. Colorado Springs just had a hiring process where over 13,000 initial applications came in for 40 spots.

[stodg73]

The EMT training is approximately 3 months, the IV cert class is either 24 or 48 hours. Get them both, while you are doing the classes, see if there are some Volunteer Fire/Ambulance services that you could join. If they have classes for Wildland and Structure Fire, take them as well.

The Paramedic course is 2 years long and some require you to have 1 year of experience. There are accelerated courses out there that will get you your paramedic cert in 6 months. Being a paramedic first will make you more desirable to hire for many fire services as you are cheaper to train into a firefighter than a Paramedic.

My brother(encorehunter) and I took different routes to our current jobs, however we both enjoy them.

[Batteriesnare]

If you have the opportunity, look into South Metro's EMT-B course. I took it last year with no career goals in EMS and had a blast while learning a lot. The class was affordable - just under $700 with the text book, and got me well prepared to pass the NREMT exam. They also do a burn day at the training grounds with bunker gear and an extraction day cutting cars in half. The also had scholarships available for some students - but I believe that you had to be a volunteer with a department to qualify.

[birddog]

Where are you hoping to get picked up? Some good advice here but depending on the agency you may need nothing. Some departments don't run ALS so in that case a paramedic cert won't help. Others hire true entry level positions that require no prior background. Let me know where your testing, I can probably get you squared away on the testing at least.

[Mahoney]

Once you have your EMT you can start applying to many departments, you may get lucky. Continue to work on your fire science stuff but get good at oral boards. Many, if not close to all, big departments in colorado will send you through their own academy so start applying and getting good at the testing process. The other things listed above are also very good pieces of advice.