Any emt's or paramedics on the board?

[8mpg]

As discussed, find you a community college or otherwise program and get certified WHILE searching for a position. Many departments will hire on the condition of completion. However, this is usually for Paramedics currently attending fire school, or FF/EMT-B currently attending Paramedic school. Find the deparments around where you live and CONSTANTLY check their HR/Employment pages. In addition to this you can check here: TCFP Job PostingsFire Departments don't always make a big deal out of a hiring process, the ones that pay well will typically only have a couple spots come open so sometimes it seems hush hush.

I'd say 95% of DFW is fire based EMS. So you will be required to be FF/EMT-B and most and moving towards FF/Paramedic systems. Some of the larger ones (i.e. Dallas) will put you through school but there are typically hundreds if not thousands of people that apply when they open up for a hiring process and sometimes only for 10-30 spots. The days of hiring people without any training and gone for the most part. Volunteering is also an in, but also hard to find in the metroplex, you'll have to go out to a rural FD and they typically want volunteers who live in district.

As far as I know, MedStar has the 9-1-1 contract for FtW and is largest private provider in the area with a 9-1-1 contract. This one be a good place to get your EMT and start working. If fire based is your goal, start here, work and keep your eyes on the departments who you would like to work for. On a side note, MedStar was the Texas EMS Service of the Year last year. If you are only looking to be a Paramedic and have no interest in fire, they are a great company. If you don't want to get stuck running transfers you'd have to find a third service.... Good luck with that in Dallas. We have them down here in Austin.

Since you are in Houston, there are a TON of transfer services their. Also, this is a good fire school.. http://www.fireacademyonline.com/index.php?

Good Luck.

Death Star pay was crap the last I knew. My buddy was a medic for them for a few years (I actually rode out with his crew on one of my EMT shifts). This is a crappy job but I guess its a good place to start. Sitting in a box for a 12 or 24hr shift in a parking lot just waiting for a call SUCKS. Their pay was $13/hr for a medic back in '03. Im sure it has come up a ways, but I still hear their pay is a bit low. The paramedics I work with in the ER make more.

Not trying to rag on MedStar to much but at the time, they were paying EMT's $8/hr. Walmart was paying more than that.

[LS1Goat]

http://www.dfwmustangs.net/forums/showpost.php?p=233095&postcount=9

[SLVR04GT]

Their pay was $13/hr for a medic back in '03. Im sure it has come up a ways, but I still hear their pay is a bit low.

When I "promoted" up to Paramedic FROM being a EMT-B and the same company I had already been at 2 years, I made $12... at a 9-1-1 third service...

[Oldman&Moody]

It will be good to see you ,hope it all works out.
And Fitzwell and myself will be glad to know that we have a paramedic so close at hand, to bandage us and tend to our burns, after you SET US ON FIRE YOU ASSHOLE !!!
Hurry home my friend,We all miss you.
Pop's

[Jester]

It will be good to see you ,hope it all works out.
And Fitzwell and myself will be glad to know that we have a paramedic so close at hand, to bandage us and tend to our burns, after you SET US ON FIRE YOU ASSHOLE !!!
Hurry home my friend,We all miss you.
Pop's

Be there as fast as I can get there, cuz!

[qk03cobra]

Just started my EMT-B today!! Then doing my fire academy training and hopefully getting on somewhere. I am tired of doing hot shot work. Good money but time away from family is not worth it.