Volunteering in the City of Chicago HELP!

[ambodriver]

Don't matter where you are from, your in in the windy city now, and we don't have volunteers. In order to be a CFD medic you have to pass the whole process, medical, physical, PAT abd then gruel through the academy. You come out tough and ready for Chicago. No volunteer is going to do that. Your best bet to do what you'd like is to work a part time job at an ER. I can't say I reccomend working at a private.

Comparing EMS in Chicago VS NY as far as career goes, there isn't a comparison. NY is an obvious cluster fuck. God bless those FDNY medics though. I heard some don't even have firehouse, that they post on corners in their rigs....and that mutiple agencies work 911 including volunteers/scabs who steal jobs. Yikes.

Good luck.

Edited June 27, 2012 by ambodriver

[paramedicmike]

Will this turn into another paid vs vollie thread?

[Just Plain Ruff]

methinks this just might be ome of those my volunteer can beat up your career guy thread.

this isnt a volunteer over paid, its a thread on whether there are any volunteer ops available in chicago

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[ambodriver]

and although i may have fanned the flames I have clearly stated there are 0 volunteer oppurtunities to do 911 in the Chicago land area.

The ER would be your best bet...contingency part time with no required hours. The new childrens ER is hiring paramedics, not sure if you have the cert yet. They pay around 20 bucks an hour or so.

Good luck

Edited June 28, 2012 by ambodriver

[Just Plain Ruff]

No worries. but Yeah with my Google search skillllllz, I found absolutely zero hits on volunteer ops for anywhere in chicago area. I did find some hits outside chicago but that was not his original question and he clarified that he was only interested in volunteering in chicago due to school.

So I think he's out of luck.

So my advice, stay in school, your skills won't deteriorate to the point where you will forget your bls stuff.

Then once the OP is out of school he/she can go and do the save the world one volunteer job at a time.

[Eydawn]

So, those of us who do event standby aren't real EMT folks, eh? I'll tell you that I've seen quite a bit of useful calls working event standby. Someone's gotta hold the fort until the ambulance gets there....

My suggestion was going to be along the lines of looking into event standby, Boy Scout groups, etc... but since that's beneath you and only ambulance time will do, then you're SOL as others have stated.

Also, if you don't have a car, what makes you think you can be a volunteer? Volunteers in EMS need to be quickly and readily available. Most volly rural/suburban groups will need you to be able to respond AS A CALL COMES IN. Good luck doing that with the train system.

What magic "skills" can you only hone in an ambulance? I can package a patient, take vitals, get a history, and hand other people shit just fine working in a non-rig environment... I happen to have a wee bit more assessment ability than some, but that's because of my other jobs/learning experiences... so what is it about 911 that MUST BE IT for you? If it's that important, TRANSFER. Go to an area that allows you both. What are you in school for?

Just saying.

Wendy

CO EMT-B

RN-ADN Student

[mobey]

Oh and for the record, volunteers are certainly not "joe schmoes". Where I live the people who get the most respect from the authority are the volunteers. They have to have the same qualifications as the paid staff, and they are giving their time to a charitable cause Do, for free, a job that some people rely on to feed thier families.

Just because you receive money for a service other people donate does not mean you're more qualified or more prepared, and it certainly doesn't mean you're more generous.

Nope, it means I chose a rewarding careerpath in which to provide for my family, and myself through to retirement. Volunteers do not have a place in my service area. Why don't you try going to a trade school.... say plumbing.... then volunteer to do free plumbing in the community?

I do realize I'm coming off as a prick, and I can assure you, that's only partly true.

I do want you to see the other side of the coin though. Yeah yeah volly's are noble and generous yadda yadda, but at the end of the day, I am trying to make a carrer of EMS and I don't need to compete with people in the job market who are willing to do it for free.

"If you're good at something, never do it for free"

[Just Plain Ruff]

I appreciate the concern for my monetary well-being, but I can assure you that I'm strictly interested in volunteering. I am going to be a full time student and I won't have any time for a job, and I'm not interested in being an ambulance driver. I've had wonderful EMS experiences volunteering in NY and I have to say that if I have to resort to being a taxi driver than I have to say I'm sure my time would be better spent doing something else. I am not looking to earn a salary or work at a boring 9-5 job, I'm only looking to volunteer in the field of EMS because it is a very interesting experience, and there's no reason for me to be as least productive as possible driving a taxi if I'm only looking to volunteer for the experience. To me, that doesn't make any sense.

EDIT:

Oh and for the record, volunteers are certainly not "joe schmoes". Where I live the people who get the most respect from the authority are the volunteers. They have to have the same qualifications as the paid staff, and they are giving their time to a charitable cause. Just because you receive money for a service other people donate does not mean you're more qualified or more prepared, and it certainly doesn't mean you're more generous.

so if you are only going to volunteer and not do this for pay, what are you going to school to be?

i really dont like competing with those giving their services away for free while my colleagues out of work are competing with those who do it for free.

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Edited June 28, 2012 by Captain ToHellWithItAll

[LordDonut]

I did some searching of my own for volunteer positions, intending on finding things outside of Chicago, but one thing came up that was actually IN Chicago, and seems appropriate for your issue. Here's the link:

http://www.luc.edu/ems/responder_program.shtml

If the link doesn't work it's the Loyola University of Chicago EMS Programme's "Responder Programme". Give it a look, and see if it's along the lines of what you're thinking of. It may not exactly be 9-1-1, but from what I can tell it's still actively responding and still good field experience. Give it a shot, and let me know how it works out.

Cheers!

[Resqmedic]

Now I'm sure this is one of those volunteer vs full time debate that I'm sure have been a battle in every EMS/Fire forum everywhere. But as a person that has chose EMS/Fire to be my profession, I have a certain sensitivity to people saying they would gladly do my profession for free. Where I work they are currently attempting to replace the career FF EMT-P with part time personnel, and yes they do have the same minimum qualifications, but I do see a significant difference between the career professional and the people who have this as a second hobby job.l

I am also a volunteer FF in my home town, and I can tell you I certainly treat the 2 jobs quite differently.