Na I dont think EMT should be required but if your dept runs EMS calls 1st Responder should be...At my dept we are all 1st Responders. Im takin my EMT startin next month
We dont require emt or paramedic to be on the department, but since most of our calls are medical it is helpful to have as many EMT's or medics as we can get.
EMS is at the discretion of a dept and how they want to operate. If they require EMT or paramedic then that is what it is going to take. Many times a volly dept doing EMS may offer to send someone to school or at least help out with tuition somehow. EMT isn't so bad to maintain if not affiliated, but it does get harder if you are a paramedic and not affiliated. One has to do 48 hours continuing ed every 2 years to maintain a license and an extra 24 hours on top of that to maintain National Registry.
EMS is a big part of many fire departments and many require their members to have some form of EMS cert. In today's world you are seeing more and more depts requiring EMT and or paramedic just to get on the job. Budgets have tightened for so many career depts it is easier to take on people with such certs than to send members to school.
It is up to the individual on if they want to do EMS or not, but it helps to have something if looking to go career.
No...You are a "volunteer" and to be honest not everyone nor every firefighter is cut out to be an EMT or a Medic...it takes something special to do that part of the job....Paul
I think it's helpful given the nature of the business, but forcing volunteers to take on extra training just to volunteer, seems unfair and counterproductive. With so many departments hurting so much for volunteers, I think if someone wants to serve only in firefighting capacity, then that's there right, and the dept. benefits another firefighter. If they want to go on and get their EMT, that's a plus and better for the dept., but to require anything beyond essentials, haz mat, evoc, and nims, I think is over the top for a volunteer dept.
I don't think they should have to take the class(s). In our dept most of our calls are EMS so someone like myself who is not a EMT should take the class because it will be a little bit more beneficial to my dept as a whole I think. Even though we literally have like 15 EMT's and 1 medic but in my dept it's volunteer and 1/4 of those 15 show up because some may not have the time or whatever ect. Now if I was to ever become a EMT I'd be a Firefighter before a EMT.
No, definately not. We wouldn't have anyone volunteering if they had to spend money on an EMT/Paramedic course. Our FD wouldn't pay for it. we have 1 EMT, 1 EMR and about a dozen first responders. (The first responder course is free from our health region) The rest of the members only have first aid/cpr/aed. Some ppl aren't cut out for EMS, so they leave that up to guys that like to do it.
NO you don't have to take the EMT or the paramedic class.We do have an incentive program set up that allows two FF a year to take the EMT class that the dept. will pay for.We thought this would benefit the FF,the community and the dept.It's their choice.
it's helpful for anyone to have their emt or paramedic. the more hands that are trained in that field the better your scene can run. as volunteers it's hard for pepole to try and take classes in the medical field. what i'm talking about is we all have family's some have kids and then it take money if the dept. doesnt pay for it. soi really think it's up to the person if they have medcal or not. now i think all people should be cpr cerf.
I think that they shouldn't be required, unless it is stated somewhere in the company's by-laws or SOGs that it is mandatory. In my company, we run a medical service side-by-side with the local ambulance company, and yet we are not required to get medical training. We can if we want to, but it should be the first priority of the fire company to train firefighters, any medical training should be optional. While beneficial to the company for any type of call you may get, there will usually be an ambulance en-route if deemed necessary. So, should it be required, I don't think so. Beneficial, without a doubt.