California Highway Patrol Paramedic/Officer

[vcfd35s]

As most of you are aware, I am searching around for the many jobs I can hold as a Paramedic in the state of CA. My choices have been narrowed down to either the FD or PD. After becoming interested in the California Highway Patrol (CHP), i noticied that they have an Air Operations Division that staffs Helos with Flight/Medics. Everyone that I have spoken with has spoke highly of this position. Can anyone provide me with more insight? Are there any medics on the board that have held such a position? Its seems like a better deal than a medic for an Sheriffs department due to the fact that aftetr two years of service you may promote to the Air Division.

Thanks in advance guys and gals.

[WolfmanHarris]

I don't know about California specifically, but I was always under the impression that to work flight generally called for an experienced provider. Up here getting on rotary wing involves being an ACP getting a flight course with ORNGE and working in the middle of nowhere for awhile before getting a spot in CCP school and potentially snagging a job in a more urban centre. Not something you do right out of school usually. But I could be wrong.

[EMT Foose]

An old partner and I had a chance to chat with one of the crew of L.A. County Sheriff's Air 5 after a drop off at an L.A. trauma center a while back. That thing is huge!

The average time put in trying to get on that chopper is about 15 years. There's quite a bit of additional training they require, and they are very experienced paramedics.

[Dustdevil]

There is essentially NO difference between this thead and the almost identical one you started last week. I know three CHP medics, and all three spent a lot of time paying a lot of dues before they got there. There is no shortcut. Paramedics are a dime a dozen in California, so the patrol is not going to be impressed just because you show up with a patch on your shoulder. They hire dozens of medics a year.

First, you are going to have to get several years of medic experience somewhere before CHP is going to take a chance on you embarrassing them as a flight medic. That means you you're going to need to get it before you even apply, because once you're hired, you're going to be working full-time writing tickets and not have the time or inclination to go work part-time for some private ambulance service, being the FD's bitch. But then you're still going to have to do it to keep your knowledge and skills up for the years you are on the streets, trying to get into the air. If you think there is the slightest chance of this happening before you are 30, think again.

[Richard B the EMT]

Isn't Air 5 that 45 or more year old humongous big helo that surprises everyone because it still works, sometimes better than newer helos?

[Richard B the EMT]

OK, I just looked it up via Google, and the bird I was thinking of must have been replaced by one of those newer helos.

[Dustdevil]

Isn't Air 5 that 45 or more year old humongous big helo that surprises everyone because it still works, sometimes better than newer helos?

You're probably thinking of the old CH-34s they flew in the 80s, which were originally built in the early 60s. Now they fly the SH-3, which isn't much newer, but significantly bigger and more powerful. However both have been extensively rebuilt, including state-of-the-art powerplants and avionics. People may have been amazed in the same way they'd be amazed by a beautifully restored classic car. But I don't think anyone who knows anything about aviation was amazed that they were still working. They were essentially new aircraft.

The current SH-3:

The former CH-34:

[Richard B the EMT]

I was most definitely thinking of the CH 34. While looking it up, I saw the same type helo, with a way different paint job, used in a 1980s TV show called "Riptide". You never know what you're gonna find on YouTube.

[Dustdevil]

For comparison, here is a shot of a CH-34 as it was new in the 1960s. You can see the significant modifications of the airframe between the 60's and the 80s.

[EMT Foose]

Isn't Air 5 that 45 or more year old humongous big helo that surprises everyone because it still works, sometimes better than newer helos?

It's the one that has you running to get behind the ambulance as it's landing/taking off so the gale force winds don't impale you with random objects. Even around a frequently used helipad, it kicks up quite a bit of debris.

Pretty awesome!