FormerEMSLT297

DO NOT DO IT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES..... to quote Jay fitch an EMS system consultant who did a comprehensive review of the NYC-EMS system in the late 80's or early 90's ,,,, and he said this to me directly in a meeting when i asked about FDNY taking over EMS.... "Very few Fire Deptartments run a quality EMS system." He went on to say in part that with the exception of Seattle, and he named a few others that i forgot, MOST FD's, are forced into EMS, and do not do it very well... My personal experience with a "merger" I use the term HOSTILE TAKEOVER, is that it does not work ... When FDNY took over and NYC-EMS DIED on March 16, 1996, the firefighters did not WANT to do EMS, but were forced into it, I was a 10 year Paramedic Lieutenant, on the Captains Promotional list, and i was told, "this will bew good for you, you can take to "promotional" exam for Firefighter."..... I was a boss, and a medic for 10 years, and Probationary FF was a "promotion" I DONT THINK SO...... Ask most FF's in any combo dept. and EMS is either a burden, annoyance, or punishment, no one wants to ride the medic unit, "we were paid to fight fires"...... Didnt work in NY, San Fran, DC, and there are tons of other depts that are having major problems with it.

Christopher ,, sorry you are wrong,,, I was certified in NYS for 20 years, and NEVER held NR, (didnt need it) Only got NR after a NYS refresher cou rse when i went to work elsewhere.... Even though I could have sit for the NR exam right out of medic school (since NYS teaches to the National DOT standard) I never did because i didnt need it... Some states like N.Y. if you want to get NR after medic school, you have to pay an additional fee to the NR of 75-$100. and sit for a different NR test, practical and written.... you would think it is automatic, but that is not the case.... sorry

100% correct Richard,,,,, NYS is one of the few that does not recognize NR at any level,, there has been much talk about changing that, but as of right now,, no go.. I have cards in DC, MD, VA, and NY,,, and the key was two letter N.R. get NRT and you can not go wrong, I'm sure there are a few others that dont take NR, but they are few and far between... maybe others can post what states dont take NR.....

To medevac someone who is 8 miles away from a trauma center, seems a bit much,, but i dunno what the driving conditions are like there........ hindsight is 20/20

I TOLD YOU they were good for something ..... Manual labor ... Nothing more than blue collar construction workers with funny lokking uniforms... LOL

Thats why I went with a LE based flight service,,, I'm pulling tween 90-$100K per year. Federal governemnt, can't beat it,,, 10% night diff After 1800, 25% for Sundays, Double time for holidays,,,,, OT for special events,,,,, I have a great gig, but I am in the minority, and i know it.

What is the name of the school, maybe threaten to out them..... This is only 1 of the MANY problems qwith these programs that say find your own clinical rotations...... not being associated with a Hosp. EMS, or FD is BAD.... Thats why I think there will be problems with that full time 3 month live in school in the mid west... Good luck with your problem,, I for one would never just take on a student without having them properly vetted thru the system i work for.

"we dont need to go L/S to a dumpster fire" What if it is up against the house, and becasue you do not go L/S it extends to the house, and now you have a raging house fire.... This system is crap. Garbage in garbage out,,,

This is the STUPIDist idea in the WORLD. I agree with certain calls to the hospital you do not need L/S, but until you get there ,, you have no idea what is wrong. How many times have you/I gone to a Uncon. person only to find a homeless man asleep on the sidewalk, or an "unknown trouble" is actually a serious call, shooting/stabbing. Cardiac, etc. The county where I work AA county does thie hot, cold, warm, and it just does not work,, the first due engine to a gas leak is hot, the second is warm, the first truck is cold,,,, WTF,, you end up not knowing the players without a score card, and you rtake more time trying to figure out if you are supposed to be responding hot warm or cold, than worrying about the call ..... BAD, BAD, BAD, Idea.......

I was wondering wher he has been,, I truly miss his comentary ... Get well soon Dustdevil

Probably not .... is it "worth it" ... being a firefighter and running into burning buildings ? Being a cop and getting shot maybe killed for 40, 50 70 grand a year ??? Being an E-3 military person in Iraq, making i dunno 20K ? I could go on and on,, but what is your point ??????????????? At some point yopu just have to say, we are lucky that there are people like us, who like to take jobs like this. +

Is this controlled or uncontrolled air space?... Is there a tower calling out the location of other a/c in this area, or are you self announcing on approach... Seems to me that they failed to "maintain visual separation ".... Also do they have ADSB/ or a flight following dispatcher that can tell them the location and altitude of other A/C in the area .????? Very sad, prayers go out to the family members .

As an Example of the lack of Stability ... I personally have missed the last 15 Thanksgiving dinners , All of the July 4th for the past 12 years, Memorial day for past 15 years,, Have never been home for New Years eve, extra mandatory overtime for high call volume Christmas N/A cause I do not celebrate it, but ,,, for my co-workers that do,,,, they have missed about 8 out of 10 years,,,, not to mention kids special days at school, Karate demos, soccer, football, baseball games, Gymnastics demos, I hope you get the point.

"Stable and rewarding " are 2 words I would not use to describe the life of an EMT. Stable= bank teller, Mon-Fri 7-4 weekends and holidays off, no midnights, weekends, evenings holidays First, you work rotating shifts, at all hours of day/night, and weekends holidays too, so you can and will be away from your new family, not as bad as military, but a close 2nd or 3rd. Rewarding, sometimes, the question always is, do we cheat death, or merely prolong life? We do help people so, that can be rewarding. As far as salary do not expect to make more than $20-36K as a EMT-Basic, As far as where to start, I have no idea, in TN, try community colleges, local EMS/Fire stations they can steer you in the right direction. As for your 3rd question NO, you can not take EMT on line as far as I know, you need to be in class to practice patient assessment, bandaging, splinting, CPR and stuff like that, I am not aware of any EMT program that allows for on line study, you may get homework or extra stuff on line, but you'll need to be in class, either 2-3 days per week in evening part time or some are M-F full time for about 3-4 weeks. Good luck

Austin travis county looks good, if i were just starting out again i would give them some serious consideration

If you want to be on welfare, food stamps, and other forms of public assistance, FDNY*EMS is for you.. Pay sucks, working conditions sucks, FDNY sucks, since the HOSTILE TAKEOVER (aka "MERGER" most of your co-workers are interested in ONE thing, being a rubber dummy, and taking the so called "Promotional EXAM from Paramedic to firefighter. There are tons of jobs that: A: pay better, B: have a better retirement C: have a quality EMS system A little hint: Most are NOT run by Fire Departments. FDNY starting pay for EMT $28,000 EMT-P $36,000..... So you are basically living at the poverty level, and making les than a Garbage man ... Do not believe me ? check out this site... http://www.members.aol.com/fdnyemswebsite/index.html

First of all, I am a Federal Officer, and know of no Federal Law regarding lights and sirens. Most sirens laws are governed by the state law which says, that County, City, State and Federal LE, EMS, Police agenices may have them lights and sirens, and how and when they can use them. I will however echo what everyone else said. Where I come from there are several private, commercial, public, and even Volunteer ambulance squads that because of insurance will not let ANYONE, under 21, some under 25 drive... So, let me get this straight, you are 18 and you want a siren in your POV. Having been 18 once, and thinking (but now knowing better) that I KNEW EVERYTHING, I'll say this ..... BAD BAD Idea. 18 y/o's barely know have to drive without the distraction of a siren.. I know this casue I'm a cop and I ticket them all the time for 20,30 even 40 over posted.. So, now throw in a siren, some flashing lights, that distrtact, maybe a radio,,,,,, reciepe for disaster.. Spend your money on something worth while like Paramedic school, college, getting laid,,,, anything but L & S.... Ohh, and on Long Island we used to say,,, The bigger the light, the bigger the A$$*H%#.... Stay Safe,,,,

I NYC, the "privates" mean private hospitals that are contracted to do 9-1-1 calls,,, They are on the same radio freq. Unless you knew what you were listening to, you could not know that 13X is a FDNY ALS unit and 13W is a "private unit... they all sound the same and have direct comm with each other.

Look I understand that having a hospital based EMS has it's advantages, but,, when ALS is not getting to people that need it, and the appearent reason is a ALS monopoly that system needs to be reevaluated.. And I agree with hwat Asys said, of the ALS Police systems, they do as good, if not a much better job providing EMS than their FD counterparts. All I'm saying is opening up more opportunities to run ALS units, hopefully will increase the ALS that is available to arrive at a patients side in a timely manner. Also ,, I agree, I like to work in a 2 medic system as well, but if you can double the ALS coverage single ALS is something to consider,,,,, CONSIDER being the key word...

Some food for thought for all you FDNY and especially FDNY*EMS wannabes. I left the sytem 10 years ago as a Paramedic/Lieutenant. My base salary was about $55K per year. I initially took a $20K pay cut, but within a few years I have way surpassed my $55K base salary. Salary for EMT, starts @ 27 and goes up to 39 after 5 years. Salary for Medic is 37-50. An EMS LT makes around 55, and a Capt. makes about 1K more than a LT. Now, here is the SAD part. An EMS Deputy Chief makes $74K (salaried No overtime) and a Division Chief makes $94K (salaried).... If you get on to be an EMT and the the "promotional" exam to FF, your starting salary is $36K... Police officers in Nassau/Suffolk Co. LI, and MANY other places around the country are starting in the $50s or more, and go up to over $100K in most places, So, I ask you WHY would anyone want to work for FDNY ????

Medic 1 Seattle, Washington..... anyone please feel freeto add to the list .

WTF,, Obviously you did not read my first post on this subject..... What I said was the LAW needs to change to eliminate the MONOPOLY that is hospital based ALS in N.J. Allow any provider that has can show a need, to run an ALS unit, FD's FAS' PD's, They also need to reevaluate the 2 medic system, as there is nio evidence to support better patient outcomes.

So, If most systems can afford ALS , why not let FAS,'s hire medics if they can.... better to allow them than to prohibit FAS's from running ALS.

Ohh ,, and a 2 medic system is GREAT, but not at the cost of patients missing out on ALS if needed, At the very least they should do what Rockland Paramedics Do, and have a fly car with 2 full sets of ALS equipment... Then If you are transporting a diabetic that was hypoglycemic say,, and stable after being revived with D50, the other medic can go on the cardiac arrest if there is no other ALS availalbe.

.....edited for length. The bottom line is FD's and FAS's could HIRE Paid Paramedic providers just like a lot of VFD's on Long Island are doing...... Keeping a monopoly in the Hospital Based ALS system is preventing getting the much needed ALS to patients ... ALS for everbody i say ....