EMT-B Pay Scale

[mrsmall]

So cost is your primary concern over quality of education?

You seriously can't afford a community college education? :?

It took me a year and a half to save the money to do EMT-B, program cost: $1,500 with books and supplies EVOC etc.. But I've spent about $3500 total because I've had to pay bills with saved money due to work loss. i'm only 20 years old and I cannot apply for financial aid by my self until i'm 24. I don't get aid with parents because of my father's income... If I don't find someone to pay for my paramedic I can forget it for a few years. Community college or not, thats a lot of money for someone just getting out on their own. My plan is to volunteer with the fire dept. get my fire standards, and then they will pay for any education I want as long as I'm full time. The medic program here is also fire department friendly (any shift you work allows you to still attend class)

[Redcell19512]

For the California people, how about a Federal job with Federal benefits?

Title: Emergency Medical Technician Agency: Federal Bureau of Prisons

Salary: $ 49758 - $ 64203 Sub Agency: Bureau of Prisons/Federal Prison System

Open Dates: 06/07/2007 to 06/28/2007 Pay Grade: GL-09/09

Location(s): FCI Terminal Island (California ) Openings: 2

Duties: What are the Major Duties of this Position? The Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) is often the first responder at the scene of sudden illness or emergency and sometimes encounters situations which may be life threatening. Upon arrival at the emergency scene, the incumbent must be able to assess the situation to determine the nature, extent, and seriousness of the emergency, assume primary responsibility immediately,and tactfully gain control and support of any bystanders. The incumbent must select from a variety of protocols the protocol which is appropriate under the given circumstances. Provides treatm ...

As long as the prisoner's are all CEOs and accountants there for white collar crimes, no problem. However I have a feeling there are people in federal prison system that would make Charles Manson say "damn, that dude is messed up".

[cosgrojo]

My plan is to volunteer with the fire dept. get my fire standards, and then they will pay for any education I want as long as I'm full time. The medic program here is also fire department friendly (any shift you work allows you to still attend class)

Well theres your problem.... No wonder you can't afford to go to school... you are volunteering your time when you could be WORKING and MAKING MONEY! I still simply do not understand the mind-set of a volunteer. Now if you are an established person in the community and have made some money and set up a career, I can see why you might want to give back to your community. But volunteering when you can't even provide for yourself!?!?!? This is sheer whackerism that has HERO-complex written all over it. How long are you going to volunteer and take classes before you get all of your school paid for by the dept and they start paying you? Go get a job, learn something new, make some money, pay for your own schooling, and (here's a new concept) EARN yourself a spot somewhere.

[weasel 108]

Well theres your problem.... No wonder you can't afford to go to school... you are volunteering your time when you could be WORKING and MAKING MONEY! I still simply do not understand the mind-set of a volunteer. Now if you are an established person in the community and have made some money and set up a career, I can see why you might want to give back to your community. But volunteering when you can't even provide for yourself!?!?!? This is sheer whackerism that has HERO-complex written all over it. How long are you going to volunteer and take classes before you get all of your school paid for by the dept and they start paying you? Go get a job, learn something new, make some money, pay for your own schooling, and (here's a new concept) EARN yourself a spot somewhere.

[mrsmall]

2 days a month volly while I work full time for my county's ambulance company... If I want to work for my counties fire department anyway, how will I not be earning my spot? Either way I want to get my Medic and Fire standards.. Fire college is 4 months, they provide no time for you to work, so all of my bills will be paid out of pocket. If my ambulance company will pay for my medic that would be great, other wise I'll have to save for a year or two before I can go to medic school. Are you saying I should just save up all the money I need for a few years, then go to school full time, get my medic, get my fire standards, then try and get a job at the fire department?

[cosgrojo]

You had implicated on your post that you were going to be volunteering full-time. Now I don't know anything about your system out wherever you are, but it seemed a bit ridiculous to volunteer that much just to try and ingratiate yourself to a FD. Now I know that that wasn't the case. I applaud you for having a plan and trying to work toward it with as much haste as possible. You suggested that I implied that you should work, save, then school full time. That's not what I was going for, but it's better than your previous plan.

Being new, you apparently have no idea what all this is about, and this is not a slam, it's impossible to have experience in something that you have no experience in. EMS is a physically dangerous profession, as well as fire-fighting. It is not out of the realm of possibility that you might get injured while you are working full-time and going to school. How easy is it going to be to try and afford school while you are injured and unable to work? The landscape of EMS is littered with people you over-extended themselves for the sake of speed and reaching their goals. I know many people who pushed too hard, and ignored their bodies and families, and relationships, and friends, and now they are not where they ever intended to be. When you push so hard in one direction, you open yourself up for a big fall.

My official advice to you... you are young, so you are lucky. If at this time that you cannot comfortably afford to go to school because of financial and familial complications, I suggest that you work. Not just to get money (though that is a major plus), but to gain perspective and learn new skills. Please... do not pigeon-hole yourself into EMS and fire. You will not be the person you CAN be if you do this. Work somewhere else. Do you have any other interests? Even if it is using your EMT license to get an ED tech job, or become a CPR instructor and help kids and the general public learn CPR, or work at a grocery-store, or anything! Do some different things. You will learn more, make some more money, hopefully save a few years of hard labour on your body, and make you a better more reasonable person in general.

If you are in this for the uniform and the so-called "glory." You are in this for the wrong reasons. If your perspective on life is out of sync this industry will chew you up the second it figures out how.

[paramedicmike]

Mrs Mall:

First, I think you should make a decision as to what you want to do. Pick either fire or EMS. There is enough involved with the two that trying to devote yourself to both full time will only produce a mediocre FF and paramedic. You will not excel at either.

If you are dedicated to a particular program, specifically EMS, there are student loan options out there to help you achieve your goal. This is something that thousands of college students do every year. Speak to the financial aid office at the community college you'd like to attend. Why a community college? Because I know you're smart enough to want to do right by yourself and get the college education that will hopefully form a foundation for a successful future.

As to getting a job with a fire department, most agencies run their own training academy once you're hired. Prior experience is generally not required. In fact, in many cases, it's undesirable because then they have to break you of all your bad habits and put up with the out of control ego developed while being a whacker.

I fully understand wanting to take advantage of the educational benefits offered through whatever organization to which you belong. There is some benefit to this. But to take advantage of these opportunities to the detriment of being able to support yourself is not only dangerous but irresponsible.

Good luck.

-be safe

[mrsmall]

Thanks for the advice guys... Taking out a student loan has crossed my mind a few times, but I'm not sure if thats what I want to do...

In highschool this is the last career I thought I would pursue, medical? fire? yeah right lol.. I was geared to engineering! Didn't take long to figure out I didn't want to do that...

I picked up like 20 career pamplets at my community college and EMS and Fire are the only ones that I seemed interested in.

I was making more money waiting tables but much happier now...

And I still don't think i'm being clear enough, I want to work for the Fire department. However, our FD only hires people with EMT-B and Firefighter II certification. After being hired you have 2 years to become a medic or you lose your job. They pay for the schooling. Our system is 100% ALS. I don't plan on working for both FD and EMS for the duration of my career. I suppose the reason I am trying to rush through my certifications is because I don't want to fall behind... We have a lot of new EMT/Firefighter coming in all of the time.. But maybe thats just me being young and scared lol...

[Dustdevil]

And I still don't think i'm being clear enough, I want to work for the Fire department. However, our FD only hires people with EMT-B and Firefighter II certification. After being hired you have 2 years to become a medic or you lose your job. They pay for the schooling. Our system is 100% ALS. I don't plan on working for both FD and EMS for the duration of my career. I suppose the reason I am trying to rush through my certifications is because I don't want to fall behind... We have a lot of new EMT/Firefighter coming in all of the time.. But maybe thats just me being young and scared lol...

This is the kind of thing that Cosgrojo was talking about when he talked about "pigeon holing" yourself. Step back and take in the big picture. It seems like you are getting tunnel-visioned on "the" one fire department you are bent on working for, when it sounds like that department sucks. It's cheap and lazy and let's wankers do the job for free so they don't have to hire more professionals. That isn't the only fire department on earth. As Mike mentioned, most professional departments (Floridia notwithstanding, for some bizarre reason) don't give a rat's arse about the "fire standards" you volunteered part-time to get. They will send you to THEIR acadamy, no matter what your background is. And they aren't much more likely to hire you with "fire standards" than they are the next guy who just spent four years working in a grocery store. And they're probably LESS likely to hire you than the guy who just spent four years in college.

Spread your wings. Nothing wrong with being a fireman. It's a good gig. But take it seriously as a career, not just your next job. Do a thorough job market research. Talk to all the other fire departments in your area and see what their hiring standards are. See what their pay is. See what other benefits they offer. Find out if they are a professional, career minded organisation that you can lock into for a long-term future, or if they are just another "job" site, like the department you seem to be so focused upon.

There are enough unhappy people in fire and EMS as it is. Don't be another one. Start off on the right foot.

[mrsmall]

This is the kind of thing that Cosgrojo was talking about when he talked about "pigeon holing" yourself. Step back and take in the big picture. It seems like you are getting tunnel-visioned on "the" one fire department you are bent on working for, when it sounds like that department sucks. It's cheap and lazy and let's wankers do the job for free so they don't have to hire more professionals. That isn't the only fire department on earth. As Mike mentioned, most professional departments (Floridia notwithstanding, for some bizarre reason) don't give a rat's arse about the "fire standards" you volunteered part-time to get. They will send you to THEIR acadamy, no matter what your background is. And they aren't much more likely to hire you with "fire standards" than they are the next guy who just spent four years working in a grocery store. And they're probably LESS likely to hire you than the guy who just spent four years in college.

Spread your wings. Nothing wrong with being a fireman. It's a good gig. But take it seriously as a career, not just your next job. Do a thorough job market research. Talk to all the other fire departments in your area and see what their hiring standards are. See what their pay is. See what other benefits they offer. Find out if they are a professional, career minded organisation that you can lock into for a long-term future, or if they are just another "job" site, like the department you seem to be so focused upon.

There are enough unhappy people in fire and EMS as it is. Don't be another one. Start off on the right foot.

thanks for the advice, i suppose maybe I should just take a step back and try not to rush through something at least without thinking it through a little more

(and I do live in FL lol, although relocating is a good possibility)