Interested in becoming a Paramedic in So. Cal.

[BigMike80]

I am interested in what it takes to become a paramedic in So Cal. Right now I live in San Diego and would prefer to stay here but I have heard that it is not easy to get started here. So if I have to move to L.A. I would be fine with this as well.

From what I have read so far, the way I understand the steps are: First I need to take the EMT-B courses at a local college. Then I would need to work for an ambulance company as an EMT for approx. 8 months. Then I could take the courses for a paramedics license and once passing that go to work for a Fire Dept as a Paramedic.

Are these the correct steps to take in order to become a paramedic? Am I missing anything? Do any of you have any advice for someone who has just started researching what it takes to become a paramedic?

Thanks in advance

Mike

[AnthonyM83]

That seems about right. The schools around LA that I've seen require 6-12 months of EMT 911 experience.

The tough part is that only FD runs 911 medics and getting onto FDs around here takes quite a long time...people wait years to be hired. With a paramedic license, your chance will improve, but I imagine it would still take awhile. I recommend working as a medic in a county where they have private medics responding to 911s...

[BigMike80]

For the course needed to get the EMT-B license could anyone make a recommendation as to where I should take it? Should I be taking it at a community college or 4 year university...does it matter where I take it?

Also about how long does the EMT-B course work take?

[AnthonyM83]

UCLA has a three week EMTB program (full-time). I know some of the staff there and they're top notch. I've had some recent ride-alongs from the school and their students seem pretty on top of things. The only criticism I've heard is that it's so short, but then again my EMT class was a semester and it was pretty bad. These students know stuff that it took me a lot of outside research and questioning on this site to learn.

I don't know if you'd want to work in San Diego or here in LA, but we do have one guy in our company who commutes from San Diego. As an EMT, you basically take VS, help load, and transport the patient.

The rare times you get to use your critical thinking skills is when the FD medics send patients BLS with us (meaning medics don't ride aboard b/c they deem patient 'stable' enough)...in those cases you can practice your assessments and often discover things the medics didn't.

[paramedicmike]

I don't know. To hear some people talk about it (people who are in and around CA), if you want to get involved in EMS and you live in CA the first thing you need to do is get as far away from the State as possible.

But that's only what I gathered from reading here. I don't live in CA.

-be safe

[AnthonyM83]

It's hard to assess not having experienced EMS outside the state, but I think we do have some good areas. Scopes of practice here go by county. San Bernardino and Riverside have great scopes. The medics I've met from there (we have some who work as part-time EMTs for our company and I've met some as PHTLS instructors) seems top notch.

Los Angeles County (and I've heard San Diego) are the exact opposite.

[Dustdevil]

...if you want to get involved in EMS and you live in CA the first thing you need to do is get as far away from the State as possible.

That's about the size of it. Almost all of California is still stuck in the 1970s, EMS wise. Some rare exceptions have actually progressed into the early 1980s. Either way, it sucks to anybody who knows better.

There are two paths available to you in SoCal. There is the firemonkey path you laid out, and there is the non-fire EMS path that Anthony explained. It will vary everywhere you go. There are no real professionally related positives to fire based EMS. However, especially in SoCal, there are definitely some personal positives to it. The primary positive is that the job is more secure and better paid. After that, it's all downhill. Non-fire EMS in SoCal doesn't really have much more potential than fire-based EMS because of the way systems are set up in California. But at least those working private EMS are mostly there because they actually want to be paramedics, and it is their primary interest. That is a real positive thing for a system, over a system full of people who really care nothing about the medical profession, and were just looking for a civil service job they could retire from, regardless of what it was.

Although the plan you laid out in your original post is relatively accurate from a flow-chart perspective, I wouldn't want you to get the idea that all one must do is follow those steps and be guaranteed to ever reach the goal. It doesn't work that way. It is extremely competetive, with thousands of people applying for the same job you are after. Most of them are the civil-service slugs I mentioned above who could care less about being a paramedic. Paramedic certification does give you a bit of an edge with most of those departments. Paramedic EDUCATION (like a 2 or 4 year degree) gives you a much bigger edge. As does being in excellent physical condition, being well spoken and literate in interviews, and having intelligence and common sense when you take civil service exams. If you lack any of those, then you will flounder at the bottom of the eligibility lists with the rest of the losers. Most of those losers never get hired, even after years of applying with every department from Anaheim to Tijuana. If you are determined to stay in California, definitely don't put all your eggs in one basket.

I would recommend that you take an honest assessment of two things. First, what are your personal characteristics? Are you smart? How well did you do in high school? Why, or why not? Do you have an exceptional scientific aptitude? Do topics like biochemistry, physiology, and microbiology worry you? Are you in excellent physical condition? Why, or why not? Those are the characteristics that -- IF you ever get hired -- lead to success as a Paramedic and/or firefighter.

Second, what do you really want to be, a Paramedic or a firemonkey? Which one, and why? Or do you just want to do anything for a thrill, because they both look fun? What is more important to you, practising medicine, being a hero, or just having a steady, secure job that you can be assured of retiring from someday? Are you looking for the sure-deal career position, or is medicine your primary focus, regardless of the career rewards?

What I am trying to say is, even though California has this weird thing about turning firemonkeys into Paramedics, they are two very, very different careers. And the future of EMS is moving away from the fire service, although So Cal is the very last place the future will ever come to, lol. If what you really want is to be a fireman, but being a medic kinda looks fun too, then concentrate on getting into the fire service. As long as you have all of the above qualities and don't mind moving, you'll get hired somewhere eventually. And whoever hires you may even send you to paramedic school without you having to shell out the big bucks to do it yourself. Then you'll be a medic for a few years and realise that you have to work a lot harder than the rest of the firemen making the same money as you, and you'll get off of the rescue wagon and move to a nice ladder truck where you can do nothing all day. After thirty years, you'll retire to a cabin on Lake Arrowhead.

On the other hand, if medicine is your primary interest, and the fire service is just a means to that end, then what Anthony talked about (or better yet, what paramedicmike said -- leave California) is more applicable to you. Put 110% effort into becoming the very best educated Paramedic you can be. Find a professional opportunity to practise paramedicine in an atmosphere where it is your ONLY function. Someplace where you were hired to be a paramedic, not where they just make you be a paramedic as a side duty to earn your salary. Someplace where your promotion comes based upon being a Paramedic, not your knowledge of hydraulics and friction loss. If you stay in SoCal, then you will be seriously underpaid, your professional practice will be seriously limited (whether you are fire or not), and your education will be seriously underutilised. And, worst of all, you will always be a second-class citizen to the firemonkeys who think they are better than you because their paycheque comes from the city. But you'll be pursuing your primary interest, which is something that way too many people in this world cannot say. You'll have a steady job, even if not well paying. And you will be in a position to contribute to the growth of our profession, which we all hope will become a TRUE medical profession, no longer attached to the fire service, before you are ever ready to retire.

After letting us know what you really want, we can advise you better on how to do that.

But yeah... the best plan is still to get out of California. :wink:

[BigMike80]

Although the plan you laid out in your original post is relatively accurate from a flow-chart perspective, I wouldn't want you to get the idea that all one must do is follow those steps and be guaranteed to ever reach the goal.

I do understand that this will be competitive and I need to work hard to reach each of those steps. I just wanted to make sure I had the basic plan of attack correct.

I would recommend that you take an honest assessment of two things. First, what are your personal characteristics? Are you smart? How well did you do in high school? Why, or why not? Do you have an exceptional scientific aptitude? Do topics like biochemistry, physiology, and microbiology worry you? Are you in excellent physical condition? Why, or why not? Those are the characteristics that -- IF you ever get hired -- lead to success as a Paramedic and/or firefighter.

I have a degree in biology from SIU so the science aspect is something I have a pretty firm grasp on. Physically I am getting into pretty good shape and I train 5 days a week trying to get in better shape. I also have been training for a triathlon coming up at the end of this month.

Second, what do you really want to be, a Paramedic or a firemonkey? Which one, and why?

I want to be a paramedic because I like the idea of practicing medicine and actually doing something with my life that is helping people who really need it. I also want a steady secure career that I can retire from with good benefits. I want to do something that I will enjoy and I think being a paramedic is that something.

And finally So. Cal is where I want to live. I love it here, my friends and family are here and I really dont want to live anywhere else. I grew up in the midwest and I just cant imagine going back.

That is basically where I stand why I want to be a paramedic and why I want to stay in So. Cal.

[Dustdevil]

Geeze, dude! Please stand up and go to the head of the class! You just made it a lot harder to give you any advice. :?

I'll begin by saying that I wish everybody entering EMS had what you have to offer in education, maturity, goals, and attitude. You are the kind of person that can help us change the future for the better of the profession. Although, again, Kalifornia is a very, very long way from ever seeing the future, EMS wise.

I would love to see you take the professional EMS route. Get into a good, long, solid, comprehensive EMT-B programme and milk it for every bit of foundational training you can. Then move straight on to a paramedic programme, with quality being the primary focus. With a biological BS behind you, your foundation is set, so calendar length of the programme -- or even degree status -- are really not important factors. It is damn rare that I would endorse an accelerated (not shorter, just faster) programme for a n00b, but it is something I would recommend that you consider. The good thing is, many of them don't have the same EMT-B experience requirements that the community college programmes do, so you can move up faster. I won't rehash the whole argument about needing years of EMT-B experience before going to medic school, because that silly theory has been pretty thoroughly trashed here so many times before. If you can work that, I'd do it.

After that, then it is job time. Of course, you can get some EMT-B work with AMR or somebody while you attend paramedic school, and that would be beneficial for you on several levels. Not only will you get a lot of valuable exposure to reinforce concepts you are learning, but you will also get a look at the non-fire end of things in Kalifornia. It'll give you a chance to see if it holds any career potential for you or not. Believe it or not, some people do make it work well for them. And somebody with your qualities certainly has the potential to move into supervision and education without undue delay. I have friends in private EMS who actually do quite well, so the potential is there. Just not for the guys who don't have what it takes to move up from the bottom of the scrotum pole.

Quite honestly though -- as much as I would love to -- I don't see you staying there in Kalifornia private EMS, or even in EMS education, unless it is as a side-job to the FD. I think your future -- with the satisfaction, rewards, and security you want and deserve -- lies either in the fire service end of EMS, or moving forward into a PA programme to practise some real medicine.

Unless you have some serious medical problems or other skeletons in your closet, you'll be on with an FD in short order. Again, your chances will be much better -- and your medical education and competence also better -- if you get that schooling out of the way first, so definitely get on that right away if you can afford it. But even without it, you're the kind of guy they are looking for. If medicine is your bag, then I would certainly do serious research into the types of EMS programmes each department runs and choose some priorities accordingly. I'd steer clear of places like L.A. County and other departments that run the "squad" concept, because it seriously cuts down on your patient contact and hurts your overall medical competence in the long run. You end up being the king of gunshot wounds and CPR, but not knowing the difference between appendicitis and kidney stones because you never see any medical patients. Those guys are one-trick-ponies with very limited competencies. You're cut out for greater things.

Unless you get in a nice, posh little suburban department, burn-out becomes a factor quickly in SoCal. You won't be on EMS duty for more than two years before you want to move to the ladder truck, where you can do less, and have more fun doing the few jobs you do get. I hate to see that, but it is the rule in fire based EMS, not the exception.

With your educational background, and a few years working as a paramedic, there is no doubt in my mind that you would be a shoe-in for a PA programme somewhere soon. From what you tell me, that may well be more suitable to your interests and goals. It's a career, and a darn well paying one, but with a professional focus on medicine. Yes, firefighting is a career, but certainly not a profession. It's just a life-long job you can retire from. I'd hate to see a guy like you wasting away on the union roster just for a retirement cheque, when you have so much to offer our profession.

Whatever you do, I hope it meets your expectations, and I hope it contributes to our future. Good luck, Bro. Let us know!

[AnthonyM83]

Mike, do try to stay clear of Los Angeles County. With your education and outlook, I think you'd eventually grow frustrated in a such a system, both as far as limited protocols (aka lack of trust in your competence as a medic) and coworkers (most who seem like they were 'sent' to paramedic school against their will by admin).

You might be able to get around the latter at some 'posh' departments, as Dust said, such as Redondo Beach FD. All FFs there are medics, take their times with patients, all seem to truly care, make transport decisions based on patient's best interests, and actually live up to the image of firefighters I grew up with...exact opposite of most other FF contacts I've had.

I don't know if San Bernardino County and Riverside County are too far north for you, but I feel like you'd feel better about what you're doing there. It's not a very populated area and medics don't make much at all (probably not enough to support a family unless you live IN those counties with the lower cost of living).