NEED SOME HELP, FIREFIGHTERS!!!

[93gtstang]

Ok well as you may remember i was thinking about enrolling in the LEVEL 1&2 at scarlet, Well i finally did and i start April 16 and ends May 26, The thing is i really want to get on as soon as possible, dont know if its possible before you actually go through training? This is where you guys come in and answer my questions, I am going to take the EMT-B is there anything else i should take besides this? Will a firehouse hire me without a EMT if i am going to get it? Whats my best route to go as getting a job? I would really like to get a full-time position but i know this is hard so heres one more favor, ask around for me and see if any of your fire houses are looking for a hard, strong worker?

I appreciate all the help i can get
Thanks guys Brandon

[89notch]

Ok well as you may remember i was thinking about enrolling in the LEVEL 1&2 at scarlet, Well i finally did and i start April 16 and ends May 26, The thing is i really want to get on as soon as possible, dont know if its possible before you actually go through training? This is where you guys come in and answer my questions, I am going to take the EMT-B is there anything else i should take besides this? Will a firehouse hire me without a EMT if i am going to get it? Whats my best route to go as getting a job? I would really like to get a full-time position but i know this is hard so heres one more favor, ask around for me and see if any of your fire houses are looking for a hard, strong worker?

I appreciate all the help i can get
Thanks guys Brandon


Come to franklin we are always hiring. The only card you need here is a FF1 if your looking for a fulltime job you will also need your EMT-P. Your best route for getting a job is just applying everywhere. Part-time fire jobs are a dime a dozen. Full-time jobs have become scarce.

[aperacer]

i believe it is a state requirement that you have firefighter 1-card and emt-card to be employed. if you are at a volinteer dept. i think you dont need the emt-card. but check at scarlet to make sure. i dont know of any dept. in hamilton county that will put someone on part time with out the cards...
i dont know if this helps.

[89notch]

I think franklin is one of the very few departments that dont require a emt-b card for part time and I think thats about ot change when we take over the EMS

[Steves LX]

Most fire dept's want you to have your EMT-B also before thay will hire you but it doesn't hurt to try. You need to have your EMT-B before you can go to medic school and if you so choose medic school give up you life for a year unless your that type that can grasp and comprehend everything the very first time. But it doesn't hurt to apply everywhere. I am no longer on a paid dept. I run fire and squad out in Sardinia, east of Cincy. When I worked at Colerain TWP and Green TWP back up in the city it was required by the state that to be a part-timer you needed at a minimum your FF1B and EMT-B. Things have changed since then this was back in the 90's before we moved out to jolly volly land but I enjoy it less politics. FF1b is now what is called FF1. At one time it use to be FF1A, FF1B, and FF1C now its just FF1 and FF11. It all adds up in the end to 240 HRS. Another thing is most dept's anymore are looking for people with their medic cards or if they hire you in as a basic they will give you 12 months to get you medic card but dont let any of that discourage you everyone has to start somewhere and it sounds like your pretty eager and motivated I am sure you will do good. If you need any more advise or help feel free to call me anytime at (513)464-2436 Steve.

[67Terror]

I'm taking fire classes at cincy state now and everybody i talked to has said that if you get your medic you can get on just about anywhere. as for just having an emt-B i would apply at as many places as possible. good luck!

[ffmueller81]

i believe it is a state requirement that you have firefighter 1-card and emt-card to be employed. if you are at a volinteer dept. i think you dont need the emt-card. but check at scarlet to make sure. i dont know of any dept. in hamilton county that will put someone on part time with out the cards...
i dont know if this helps.


Volly doesn't require an EMT card. I am fire only on my Volly Dept.

Get the basic EMT as you will need it to get even a part time job.

Check with the dept. before getting the job if they plan on getting a medic unit (if they don't already have one). When the time comes to get more medics, they like to hire from within usually. They can send you to medic school, cover the costs, and you are in for full time then.

I have three friends that have done it this way. And yes I didn't see them for that year of medic school either

[Steves LX]

Something else since you are in the Mason area you are close. I know you said you are going to go thru Scarlet for all your schooloing but I would keep an eye out for Cincinnati Fire. You can call down to city hall to find out when they will be hiring. The only thing that sucks about that is you will have to back thru everything again. I know places like Sharonville and Loveland only take FF/Medics but they both pay half way descent for Full-Time.

[93gtstang]

Thanks to everyone that replied, it really means alot to me that you replied so fast, I am going to try and get the F.D. to pay for the medic card i am going to get my EMT-B, FF1&FF2 through scarlet, What are part-time hours like for a FF? I would like to get on somewhere local but i really dont care where i get on at, I contacted the city of cincinnati and He said they dont require any CERTS but the surrouding suburbs do?? What the heck does this mean? again i appreciate all the help guys it means alot to me

[Steves LX]

When you apply to the city there's a hiring process that you go thru. They will post a job announcement and then beleive it or not people will go downtown and camp out until that morning and then you will recive a packet and you and hundreds of others yes I did say 100's will come back down on a designated date and take a civil servise exam. I beleive you need at least a 70or 75% on that to continue. If you pass that you then take a physical agility test on a designated date. If you pass that you then go onto a oral interview 3 to be exact. If you get pass that you then go and get polygragh tested. And from there if you get thru that they will normally do a home visit and all that fun stuff make a job offer to you upon completing a medical physical successfully. You will then be put in a recruit class and that is where you will learn to be a firefighter/Emt. That includes running every morning physical training everyday and stuff like that. You are actually a full time employee but remember you have to pass successfully. During this time frame you are paid as a recruit. I dont know if the salary has went up or not but it was around $39000.00 and then once you graduated recruit class your salary jumped to like 41 or $42,000. From there you are assigned a company to run on. Thats what they call it. Its a station you are assigned to and you work 24 on 48 off. The reason people camp out is on the day they issue packets they give everyone a card or ticket with a time of day you were issued itstamped on it. In case there is a tie on the civil service test they go off of the time stamped on those individuals tickets. If you score in the 80 or 90's you wont have to worry about that time stamp crap. Also if you are prior military you get xtra points andded on to your scores. For instance if you score a 90 on the exam and you are a veteran you will get 10 xtra points which now means you scored a 100%. The whole hiring process if there is no hold ups generally takes a few months to do.

[CinciCobra]

The city isn't bad to work for either - our health care is getting rather flimsy at best, but the civil service unions (police and fire) are strong and we all take care of eachother. They get a good structure fire every couple of months at least....and I mean 5 story apartment blazes!!! I have watched some pretty awesome structure fires in the ghetto.

[snotzs135]

I would say unless you are getting hired at a bigger city like ciny or columbus some place like that don't count on a dept to put you through medic class as just a part-time person so get it as soon as you can because it really helps alot! But as stated before just apply everywhere you can to get your foot in the door somewhere good luck:cool1:

[ffmueller81]

I don't know about a lot of depts. but part timers I know run in a 12 hour shift. 6 am to 6 pm.

I pretty sure all depts. run on a unit shift schedule. You have a Unit 1, Unit 2 & Unit 3 day. (which revolves around 24 on 48 off). You get assigned a unit day to work and work that day every time. So lets say you were assigned to work a 12 hour day on Monday (unit 1), you would work another 12 on thursday(unit 1 again)

Part timers then get scheduled on a rotating basis to pick up the shifts that don't have a full crew. So you could work a 24 hour shift if you were scheduled on a unit 1 night.

Hope that helps

[aperacer]

as stated above....." You have a Unit 1, Unit 2 & Unit 3 day. (which revolves around 24 on 48 off). "

we are the a-holes messing that up.. we have the 24-72....four units:D

[firestang70]

aperacer so you are a more in sycamore guy? Congrats on the schedule I wouldn't mind that all. To the original poster. Just worrying about finishing your fire class. When that is completed, get your EMT, then worry about getting a paid position. My advice is work your tail off in classes, each day is a job interview. I get calls weekly from contacts asking if I know candidates. A good work etic/attitude can open dorrs and bad ones will lock them shut forever. Don't even consider full time till you have a medic card in hand. Most depts do not pay for parttimers to go thru school. Just getting your foot in the first door is diddicult. Full time jobs are hard to come by. Look for depts that have the option of hiring full timers in the future. Most depts like to hire within. Good luck

[66efistang]

I know a couple of the instructors at Scarlet so hit me up when you start. If you get in good with them it will help to at least get your foot in the door at depts. like Sharonville, Forest Park, etc...

[93gtstang]

Sweet guys thanks again for all the help, i am going to work my A** off cause i want out of diesel mechanics BAD!!! Right now Full-time mechanic i make 30,000 a year if i could make that part-time as a firefighter i would be estatic and work my way up from there, would DEF. Like the go full-time ASAP but understand its not going to happen overnight, The only problem with getting my Medic card is that i cant take that time off my current job, What all is required to get a Medic card. 66EFI, i start in april so i will get ahold of you then and my dad knows the chief of fairfield from his fire-fighting days, he also knows the chief of colerain and i have a colerain firefighter living down the street from me, all these connections are gonna help BUT I AM GOING TO WORK MY TAIL OFF TO DESERVE WHAT I GET, Thank you again guys your clearing up alot of confusions on my part.

[93gtstang]

Just a few more questions guy's
1. What all is involved in getting a medic card?
2. How much on average does a part-timer make?
3. What type of stuff is on the civil service test?
4. Most likely will they hire part-timers with just there EMT-B

Thanks again I CANT WAIT im soo excited

[firestang70]

1. 10 months of lecture,clinical studies. I can't remember has been awhile approx 1000 hours.
2.$8 for FF/EMTs to $15 FF/Medic, depends on dept.
3. Go to websites and study.
4. Some depts like to hire EMT/FFs, its cheaper to fill a spot on the roster. Depts are always looking for mercenaries. FT jobs can be scarce and are very competitive.