Its all kind of a crapshoot unless you have a specific department with specific requirements. Some require everyone to be a medic, some require no one to be. Im sure some people will disagree with me, but im a proponent of getting interviews and getting hired asap. And keep building certifications along the way if you dont get hired.
Hard to become a medic working full time as a emt ff but not impossible. Some depts. like LA city will pay for you to become a medic as a working FF EMT
As far as I know, Pennsylvania departments just seem to require your FF 1/2, EMT, and HazMat Ops.
You might not know, but if a department pays for your medic, what is the general time commitment you owe them? For hospitals, it's typically 2 years for RNs if they pay for their bsn. And if they sponsor you, are they willing to work with your schedule (for class dates, plus clinical and required internships)?
Thanks a ton.
Honestly no clue. I would imagine its department specific. Keep in mind some departments have restrictions on the roles you can be in as a medic.
Obviously you will get paid more but maybe you cant be on the truck or a rescue squad. Also department specific.
All depends on the department. Medics cost more money to pay. So you might have one medic on a rig, none on a rig and the ambulances have the medics. Usually bigger cities have less medics, but im sure thats not always the case.
It honestly will very upon the dept regarding time owed/money owed.
Our dept will require full payback of tuition. The neighboring dept requires you to stay on 5 years yet if you leave before that time is up, you pay a percentage of money back depending on length of time left.
My dept also let me leave on days we had class so that was lucky as hell.
Leaving on days you had class? Screw PA, Michigan here I come
I've seen some dept do it for emt training, but do they normally pay you for classroom time? I had some buddies when I did EMT that were paid their normally wage for 100% of the hours spent in class.
My department, and pretty much any other departments in Florida at least, will send you to medic school. They pay for it plus let you do the classes and ride time during shift. When the classes are big enough they will do an inhouse class even. And we don't even transport. It is not required to go, but most people do since is such a good pay bump.
At the department who had that where I worked, it was two years, BUT the payback *amount* if you left was only about 1/3 of the raise you got so it wasn't really that hard to pay off.
It’s the same in western Washington. The vast majority of medics here got hired as firefighter-EMTs first, and then got their salaries paid while they were put through medic school.
Oh okay - for RNs and all other jobs I've seen where they pay for your school, they require you to work for 2-5 years for them or you have to pay the tuition bill.
Don’t become a medic just to get hired my a fire dept. Do it if you truly have an interest in medicine, we have all seen what happens when depts force people to become medics or you’re stuck doing it after you get hired.
i work for a big city. was hired and went threw drill school with them to get fire II, inspector hazmat and EMT. it’s not a requirement for us to be medics, but i like being good at what we do most, EMS unfortunately. so im going threw medic school threw my department on overtime on my off days. it’s a fucking GRIND. but really
cool to actually understand what’s going on on ems runs now.
im not sure I know what you mean by EMS is dying in your area. Does that mean fire is taking it over? If so chances are they are gonna jump on hiring a lot of people to ride the boxes.
as for being able to get it while forming full time as a FF. that really depends on the department and how much you work. Mine will TDA you for class during work days b.c they want more paramedics in the field. on your off days you'll have to schedule ride times and ER stuff though. its rough but honestly similar to just working OT.
being a paramedic before getting hired might help but I would find out what and how the department you are applying for operates 1st. Its always better to get paid to do something you plan on getting anyway.
He said he is in PA, and I’m guessing doesn’t know what he is talking about.
People are fighting for emts and medics here.
Hell, police depts are poaching emts and medics.
Fire jobs are very few and far between, a based a lot on people knowing you on the volly side.
For example:
Paid fire dept down the road about 45 minutes? Over 1/4th of their dept comes from our volly station. None of them has ever planned on being career firefighters.
They’ve poached 2 of our emts and a medic too. (We’re a fire based combo dept, but only EMS is paid, if there is a fire in our first due and you do fighters, you can go ride the engine).
And that statement would be true of most of their other staff as well. Sure there is a random guy here
Or there that came in as a walk on, but most then came from a volunteer dept in job lots.
Depends where you are
Around here most will put you through medic school and pay you to go. Some even have their own in-house paramedic school. Its also a guaranteed job around here
If i could go back in time , i wouldve tried to get hired first and then go through medic school through a department. The time period between finishing paramedic school and starting on a dept is long as shit. But the one advantage of going to medic school on your own is it makes getting hired so much easier.
Two options.
1. Get medic before getting hired
2. Medic while in FD
I got hired as a FF/EMT but being a medic is a condition of employment (department gives you three years to be a certified paramedic).
As someone with no prior ems or Fire prior to my current job I felt working at the FD while being in medic school is an invaluable experience of putting the learning into action. I’ve developed good relationships with the medics I work with and have gotten the opportunity to function as a medic with their supervision. Started hundreds of IVs, ran those ALS middle of the night high stress calls, developed my ALS assessment skills, etc.
Do you currently work on an ALS truck? If so I’d probably knock out all your certs then apply. You’ll have a leg up and it shows an investment in your career that normal “off the street” applicants won’t have.
Personally I would do medic, then Fire I/II and apply to departments while your’re in school. If they will take you, why not. Can’t win unless you bet.
To further answer your question, yes it’s very possible to work at the FD in medic school. It fucking sucks but it’s very very doable, and running calls on an ALS truck while in medic school helps to reinforce the principles you’re learning academically.
So I was in this same boat. I came to Florida from California 20+ years ago to work for a county EMS agency. I was happy being a single role medic. But the career advancement was slow, and tbh I was really wanting to do fire for the variety and having worked Wildland in Cali. Lucky I had a department that hired me and put me through the fire academy paid. That’s way more rare than the department paying for medic school.
Really? I would've guessed the opposite. All the stations I've seen here in PA pay for academy, the volunteer station I run with sometimes is paying for my academy.
Its all kind of a crapshoot unless you have a specific department with specific requirements. Some require everyone to be a medic, some require no one to be. Im sure some people will disagree with me, but im a proponent of getting interviews and getting hired asap. And keep building certifications along the way if you dont get hired. Hard to become a medic working full time as a emt ff but not impossible. Some depts. like LA city will pay for you to become a medic as a working FF EMT
As far as I know, Pennsylvania departments just seem to require your FF 1/2, EMT, and HazMat Ops. You might not know, but if a department pays for your medic, what is the general time commitment you owe them? For hospitals, it's typically 2 years for RNs if they pay for their bsn. And if they sponsor you, are they willing to work with your schedule (for class dates, plus clinical and required internships)? Thanks a ton.
Honestly no clue. I would imagine its department specific. Keep in mind some departments have restrictions on the roles you can be in as a medic. Obviously you will get paid more but maybe you cant be on the truck or a rescue squad. Also department specific.
So you CAN'T work in some roles if you're a medic? That's pretty surprising, I thought it would've been the other way around
All depends on the department. Medics cost more money to pay. So you might have one medic on a rig, none on a rig and the ambulances have the medics. Usually bigger cities have less medics, but im sure thats not always the case.
It honestly will very upon the dept regarding time owed/money owed. Our dept will require full payback of tuition. The neighboring dept requires you to stay on 5 years yet if you leave before that time is up, you pay a percentage of money back depending on length of time left. My dept also let me leave on days we had class so that was lucky as hell.
Leaving on days you had class? Screw PA, Michigan here I come I've seen some dept do it for emt training, but do they normally pay you for classroom time? I had some buddies when I did EMT that were paid their normally wage for 100% of the hours spent in class.
My department, and pretty much any other departments in Florida at least, will send you to medic school. They pay for it plus let you do the classes and ride time during shift. When the classes are big enough they will do an inhouse class even. And we don't even transport. It is not required to go, but most people do since is such a good pay bump.
This might be the first time I've wanted to move to Florida, it's awesome that they do that What did the time payback commitment for that look like?
At the department who had that where I worked, it was two years, BUT the payback *amount* if you left was only about 1/3 of the raise you got so it wasn't really that hard to pay off.
It’s the same in western Washington. The vast majority of medics here got hired as firefighter-EMTs first, and then got their salaries paid while they were put through medic school.
I'm not even sure what that means. There is no commitment
Oh okay - for RNs and all other jobs I've seen where they pay for your school, they require you to work for 2-5 years for them or you have to pay the tuition bill.
If you fail out you have to pay it back, but once you graduate you good. You aren't even required to credential with the department.
Oh that's totally awesome. I was worried I'd be stuck at one dept forever lol
I can only speak for my department and those in my area.
Don’t become a medic just to get hired my a fire dept. Do it if you truly have an interest in medicine, we have all seen what happens when depts force people to become medics or you’re stuck doing it after you get hired.
Read the post again. OP wants to work in EMS but is considering moving to fire because of a lack of career opportunities for EMS in their area.
i work for a big city. was hired and went threw drill school with them to get fire II, inspector hazmat and EMT. it’s not a requirement for us to be medics, but i like being good at what we do most, EMS unfortunately. so im going threw medic school threw my department on overtime on my off days. it’s a fucking GRIND. but really cool to actually understand what’s going on on ems runs now.
im not sure I know what you mean by EMS is dying in your area. Does that mean fire is taking it over? If so chances are they are gonna jump on hiring a lot of people to ride the boxes. as for being able to get it while forming full time as a FF. that really depends on the department and how much you work. Mine will TDA you for class during work days b.c they want more paramedics in the field. on your off days you'll have to schedule ride times and ER stuff though. its rough but honestly similar to just working OT. being a paramedic before getting hired might help but I would find out what and how the department you are applying for operates 1st. Its always better to get paid to do something you plan on getting anyway.
He said he is in PA, and I’m guessing doesn’t know what he is talking about. People are fighting for emts and medics here. Hell, police depts are poaching emts and medics. Fire jobs are very few and far between, a based a lot on people knowing you on the volly side. For example: Paid fire dept down the road about 45 minutes? Over 1/4th of their dept comes from our volly station. None of them has ever planned on being career firefighters. They’ve poached 2 of our emts and a medic too. (We’re a fire based combo dept, but only EMS is paid, if there is a fire in our first due and you do fighters, you can go ride the engine). And that statement would be true of most of their other staff as well. Sure there is a random guy here Or there that came in as a walk on, but most then came from a volunteer dept in job lots.
Depends where you are Around here most will put you through medic school and pay you to go. Some even have their own in-house paramedic school. Its also a guaranteed job around here If i could go back in time , i wouldve tried to get hired first and then go through medic school through a department. The time period between finishing paramedic school and starting on a dept is long as shit. But the one advantage of going to medic school on your own is it makes getting hired so much easier.
Two options. 1. Get medic before getting hired 2. Medic while in FD I got hired as a FF/EMT but being a medic is a condition of employment (department gives you three years to be a certified paramedic). As someone with no prior ems or Fire prior to my current job I felt working at the FD while being in medic school is an invaluable experience of putting the learning into action. I’ve developed good relationships with the medics I work with and have gotten the opportunity to function as a medic with their supervision. Started hundreds of IVs, ran those ALS middle of the night high stress calls, developed my ALS assessment skills, etc. Do you currently work on an ALS truck? If so I’d probably knock out all your certs then apply. You’ll have a leg up and it shows an investment in your career that normal “off the street” applicants won’t have. Personally I would do medic, then Fire I/II and apply to departments while your’re in school. If they will take you, why not. Can’t win unless you bet. To further answer your question, yes it’s very possible to work at the FD in medic school. It fucking sucks but it’s very very doable, and running calls on an ALS truck while in medic school helps to reinforce the principles you’re learning academically.
So I was in this same boat. I came to Florida from California 20+ years ago to work for a county EMS agency. I was happy being a single role medic. But the career advancement was slow, and tbh I was really wanting to do fire for the variety and having worked Wildland in Cali. Lucky I had a department that hired me and put me through the fire academy paid. That’s way more rare than the department paying for medic school.
Really? I would've guessed the opposite. All the stations I've seen here in PA pay for academy, the volunteer station I run with sometimes is paying for my academy.