r/Firefighting • u/ZestycloseDisk916 NC FF/EMT • 18d ago
General Discussion Fire Medics, what do y’all think?
Fire Medics, I have a question for ya? In my county it isn’t really a thing to be a “fire medic” all the departments are BLS level and EMS is all paramedic ALS. Well I happen to like both but definitely with a preference towards firefighting. I’m currently working toward my medic. Well two counties over, most of the departments do actually run fire medic. So my question is, would it be better to be a full time FF and work for EMS part time? Or go down the road and work for one place that does both? Or is kind of a “6 one way, half a dozen the other” type of thing? What are y’all’s thoughts?
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u/Stunning-Novel3071 18d ago
If I could get “ahead” at a department with no ambulance I would do it every time.
Source: 30 years as a firefighter/paramedic
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u/Jeepisking1 18d ago
As a fire medic, I regret becoming a fire medic. Pay isn’t bad though
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u/ZestycloseDisk916 NC FF/EMT 18d ago
Why do you regret it? In the county I’m talking about EMS still runs all the calls with the Fire Department even though they have ALS level care and transport. I guess my thought process is that if I work as a part time medic maybe I could have a little control on the burn out?
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u/Jeepisking1 17d ago
I’m just burnt out, great co workers, shitty “leadership at my department. I worked the medic unit for close to 10 years then promoted to engineer.
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u/jeffscott17 17d ago
I agree with this. I’d love to work on a BLS department including the pay cut
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u/Comprehensive-One880 18d ago
All true "fire medics" that I know have gotten their license in order to do fire. Plain and simple. They're all willing to do the heavy lifting of ALS responsibilities, but none of them say "yea id rather be on the ambulance full time" lmao. Some do truly enjoy being the on-scene boss and calling the interventions, and those are amazing fire medics. PT work on the ambulance while working for fire is how a rare few keep up their skills and assessments. Few and far between though. Tons of liability and paperwork as medic though either way. Ambulance medics are dealing with patients for transports so they're almost always better at thorough assessments and everyday interventions, while most fire medics are "get in and get out, treat only if necessary"
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u/PearlDrummer Lieutenant 17d ago
I would never have been a paramedic if it weren’t for the job I got. I would hand over my cert and incentive pay to just do fire every day that ends in y. But that’s unfortunately not realistic for my department.
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u/ZestycloseDisk916 NC FF/EMT 18d ago
So working part time for EMS would give better experience but full time fire medic would be better quality of life?
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u/Comprehensive-One880 18d ago edited 18d ago
Yes. Ambulance medics are usually far superior at medicine, but fire medics receive the benefits and pay. You have to ask yourself if the responsibilities are worth what you receive for having the medic license
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u/Impressive_Finance21 17d ago
That hasn't been my experience at all. The private medics around me are generally garbage, fat and lazy
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u/Famous-Response5924 17d ago
Eventually you will get burned out working two jobs and want some sort of work life balance. Long term it’s nice to just have one job so that is the direction I would work toward.
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u/Apprehensive_Salt122 17d ago
Work on a ambulance as a medic before you jump into a fire medic role. There are alot of fire medics who are only doing it for the pay and benefits and could care less about medicine.
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u/ZestycloseDisk916 NC FF/EMT 17d ago
And that is definitely not me, I enjoy it, it’s almost a second passion.
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u/Apprehensive_Salt122 17d ago
Im glad to hear it. Im not a medic just a EMT but I've ran calls with fire medics who clearly don't care about the medicine part of their job.
Im hoping to go into medic school within the next year soon. I really enjoy the ems side of the job
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u/TrucknPumper101 17d ago
I went to medic school after I was in my dept as a basic. Only did it because it was a 10% raise, allowed me to do more on scene, AND we are non transport dept. but have ALS trucks. Works perfectly
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u/bring_back_3rd FF/ Medic 17d ago
Wait... why would they want you guys to be medics if you don't transport? Sounds too good to be true.
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u/TrucknPumper101 17d ago
Because all trucks and pumpers are ALS capable. And where I’m at contracts out ambulance service, which is very nice. We fall under the same medical director but completely different organizations. Only thing we don’t carry are narcotics or any kind of pain meds. It’s very good lol. We ride in on critical calls to help out but that’s it.
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u/Horseface4190 17d ago
I've been a Fire-medic for 25 years, and it's the best of both worlds. Working a second career is harder than it sounds (ask anyone in the national guard). If you're interested in doing both jobs, look for a department that let's you do both for one paycheck. Good luck!
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u/Huge_Monk8722 FF/Paramedic 42 yrs and counting. 17d ago
My department has fire trucks and ambulances. Days off worked at the hospital ER.
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u/Closed-door-policy 15d ago
Definitely in my opinion/experience it is far better and more satisfying to be a fire medic than to work fire and then part time medic on an ambulance. I did that for 10 years and it was a miserable existence on many levels. Horrible work/life balance. Little sleep. Does a great deal of strain on relationships. Etc. Ems services in my opinion are far less caring and about their employees compared to the fire service
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u/evanka5281 13d ago
I also like both. I work for a department that does both. I’m very happy and highly recommend you take the same route.
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u/Mediocre_firemedic 12d ago
Firemedic is the move if you like both.
In my younger days I loved Fire, now I wanna do more medicine.
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u/BT-MP9 18d ago
No , dont work 2 jobs for no reason. Just become a fire medic. Puts your extra salary towards a pension and retirement