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Even though I'm wrapping up my associates in business, I've been thinking about becoming a firefighter/paramedic for a while now. My personal situation that I came out of made me think about it even more, as it was paramedics who had to come to my own rescue a few times. I've already put the applications in to three different counties (Arlington Co.,Fairfax Co., and Prince William CO.) I just wanted any feedback or advice from those who have been there and done that, also tips on possibly which county is the best and what not. I've gotten some grief from people about how I would make more money with my business degree, but money isnt important to me. It's about loving what you do. Any feedback would be great...

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LiveStrong -

I'm a volunteer firefighter in Connecticut, so I can't help you as far as which county is best to serve in down there....but I can tell you I wish I had chosen firefighting as a profession (ironically, I'm in business :)). I absolutely love everything about it.

As for the money aspect, it's true...you would probably make more money in business. However, you must also realize that the firefighter who is paid $40-$50K per year is making that while working 2 or 3 days a week. So a lot of career firefighters also have other jobs - some in business, some are plumbers, electricians, etc - and they supplement their income that way. Also, the career guys make boo-koo money in overtime and holiday pay. Some of our career guys (who also volunteer at our dept) brought home $70-80K last year.

All firefighters have to take the same state test (at least in CT we do) - volunteer or career. You would have to take the "practical" - which involves tests for actual on-the-job skills (ladders, water supply, fire suppression, etc). If you pass this portion, then you move on to the written test. You're a bright guy...you would not have a problem with the test...I'm sure. Our classes leading up to the test took 6 months - we would do 2 nights per week at 4 hours per class, and then 8 hours on Sunday. Over the 6 month period that got us the required number of class hours needed for certification.

In our town the paramedics are a separate unit...so I belong to an engine/truck company. We don't have to deal with the gory stuff (well, except for car accidents)....we just get to do the 'fun' stuff.

Only you know what career choice will make you happy. I make pretty good money at my job now....but I'd give that up in a second if I could so that I could pursue firefighting as a full time career. Problem is, it would be about a 60% paycut...and my wife and 3 kids wouldn't like that too much.

The satisfaction it brings in helping someone in their hour of need combined with the camaraderie which is typical in most firehouses bring great satisfaction. And believe it or not...the dangerous parts of the job are pretty cool too. Very exciting for sure.

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Even though I'm wrapping up my associates in business, I've been thinking about becoming a firefighter/paramedic for a while now. My personal situation that I came out of made me think about it even more, as it was paramedics who had to come to my own rescue a few times. I've already put the applications in to three different counties (Arlington Co.,Fairfax Co., and Prince William CO.) I just wanted any feedback or advice from those who have been there and done that, also tips on possibly which county is the best and what not. I've gotten some grief from people about how I would make more money with my business degree, but money isnt important to me. It's about loving what you do. Any feedback would be great...

Well...I am a NREMT-I. (Nationally Registered EMT-Intermediate). Down here in good ol Radford I can do the same as a Paramedic...I just dont get paid as much! :doh:

I love this field. I have been doing EMS for 10 years either volunteer or paid. They pay sucks, you will see more FDGB (fall down go boom) calls than gunshot wounds or nasty car wrecks, you will rarely, if ever get any kind of thanks or respect from anyone, your sleep schedule will get severly wrecked...

and I couldn't dream about doing anything else!

Which would you rather do? Fire or EMS? Or both? Personally, I could never get into the fire thing. It can be fun, but there is just so much more to learn in EMS.

Now I've mostly done EMS so anymore questions, shoot em at me.

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Do IT!!!

As a retired firefighter/paramedic, I can tell you that it is the most rewarding job you'll ever have. The personal satisfaction of having helped someone is immense. EVERYONE will admire you! All like to see the firemen or paramedics arrive and almost all HATE to see the police arrive.

Generally speaking, we arrived to HELP, and the police arrived to BUST somebody.

The hours are such that not only can you have a job on the side, but you will usually be FORCED to own your own business. How wonderful, since that it the true answer for getting ahead anyway. Many firefighters have their own plumbing, construction, remodeling, lawn care, pest control, and other types of businesses.

You carry a badge, and have authority, but you don't have to deal with the criminal element. Plus, you get paid while you SLEEP!

I say GO FOR IT!!

I sold satellite equipment, and had a business that rented out tables and card dealers for Las Vegas Nights for various fundraisers. The Catholic churches were some of my best customers.

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...and besides, do you need a better reason than this?

National Survey Ranks Firefighter As Sexiest Job

The results are in, and the people have spoken. Once again, firefighter is at the top of the list in the annual AOL/Salary.com sexiest jobs survey.

Our brave firefighters had some tough competition for the spot this year though, sharing the honors with the silver-spooned CEO, whose median salary of more than $600,000 seems to be compounding interest not only in the bank, but also with the ladies.

In the two male-dominated fields (more than 97 percent of firefighters and 96 percent of CEOs nationally are men), the fact that number one was a tie between the altruistic, brawny fireman and the bring-home-the-bacon CEO speaks volumes about what we find sexiest in men.

But are these jobs really sexy?

"Firefighting - no, it's not a sexy job," said Gulfport Fire Department battalion chief Dean Morrow. "We are here to do a job, provide a service, be helpful. Like during Katrina, our guys were chomping at the bit, because they knew there were people out there needing help and they wanted to get to it. Firemen really want to go the extra mile to help. There is a danger factor, but no matter who you are, if you make a successful rescue, that's your high."

Come on - bravery, dependability, compassion and humility all make for pretty heady stuff in the sex appeal department.

"It's true that when we arrive on the scene, we are all about helping them. If that makes us sexy, so be it," said Morrow's co-worker, Carl Washington.

And then there is the physique. Clearly, not every fireman in America has abs of steel, yet all must maintain a certain level of "fireman fitness," a combination of strength, aerobic conditioning and endurance. There's strong incentive to stay in shape.

"Our lives depend on it," said Gulfport Fire Department engineer Ryan Carter. Firefighter II Greg Landry said he doesn't believe the job itself is sexy but admits firemen may have a sentimental sex appeal.

"Chivalry isn't dead. It is a chance to sometimes be a hero, to ride in like a knight in shining armor," Landry said.

Why does Morrow think firefighters are considered sexy?

"Firemen are like comfort food; there when you need us," Morrow said.

While the jobs of the fireman, CEO, doctor, pilot and soldier highlight masculine ideals, the traditionally female fields noted in the survey conjure images of feminine beauty and attentive caring.

Despite the results, emergency triage nurse Holly Arnoult said she thinks the survey was way off the mark when it placed nurse as one of the sexiest jobs for 2006.

"It's a very rewarding job, but it's not sexy, not unless you think dealing with blood, germs and bodily functions is sexy," Arnoult said. "The nurses I know are trying to do their very best, but sometimes they are stretched so thin, taking care of eight or 10 patients, and they don't get a lot of credit for it. We do it because it is rewarding when you feel like you've helped someone. But the sexy job thing, the bed bath jokes, gosh no."

If the job is so demanding, thankless, and decidedly unglamorous, why is the nurse perennially perceived as sexy?

Arnoult says one reason may be because nurses have to be educated. Smart is sexy.

"Then there's the 'take care of me' thing. People like to be taken care of," she said, adding people find it sexy knowing that nurses are willing and able to mend their ills and make them feel better, even if that takes time.

Hollywood may play an even bigger role in the public perception. Soap operas and popular television programs such as "Grey's Anatomy," "House," "Scrubs" and "ER" are keen to show doctors and nurses portrayed by beautiful actors and actresses, racing against the clock to heroically save lives. Inevitably, the camera cuts to a steamy kissing scene in a hospital linen closet before the next commercial break.

"It's dramatized, and the mundane aspects are edited out on television," Arnoult said.

Television viewers see lots of romance and adrenaline-fueled drama, but no paperwork, no cleanup, and really very few sick people.

"I would love to be a TV nurse, but that's not realistic, not any of it," added Arnoult.

When television viewers aren't watching medical dramas, ratings indicate they might be tuned in to home improvement reality shows such as "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" and "Trading Spaces," or the HGTV network, where interior designers are seen strutting their stylish stuff on the small screen daily.

Gail Lowry, ASID, of Gail Lowry Interiors says she understands why the public may view interior design, which also made the Top 10, as a sexy job.

"Interior designers have always had a glamorous persona," she said. "There is an attention to detail, a sense of style, an artsy flair that interior designers must have. That is reflected not only in the way they look and the way they dress but also in personality as well. Whether male or female, designers tend to be very polished." Confidence and style are sexy.

While the public doesn't see the "blood, sweat, and tears" Lowry said goes into the planning, preparation and actual job site work, they do see the end result, which can be quite dramatic. To create an interior, designers invoke all the senses, drawing on materials and art that can move people emotionally, and in the process, they must become intimately aware of their clients' needs.

"There's a lot of psychology involved, working closely with people, really listening to what they are saying so you know what to design," Lowry said. "And everyone likes to be paid attention. That's not flirting, but it is intimate."

Truth is, the sexiest jobs survey isn't about what jobs are sexy, it's about what jobs the 8,000-plus respondents imagine are sexy.

Some experts, like evolutionary psychologist David Buss, believe that what we imagine to be sexy today is the result of eons of human history. Back in prehistoric times, our female ancestors figured out that attractive mates were men who could protect the family from danger and put that wooly mammoth on the table. Men wanted women who could bear them healthy children and take care of things back at the cave.

And despite all our claims of enlightened, politically correct, liberated 21st century ways, surveys such as the sexiest jobs poll reveal that what we find most appealing in the opposite sex probably hasn't changed all that much over the millennia.

In his book "Evolution of Desire: Strategies of Human Mating," (published by Basic Books), Buss discusses a landmark study of more than 10,000 people across 37 different cultures, which found that worldwide, women are still attracted by men who they believe can protect and provide for them, and that men seek physically attractive women who they think will remain faithful.

According to Buss, that is the human success story, how we have evolved to select mates in order to thrive.

JAMIE PAPPASSUN

The Sun Herald

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Thanks guys for the input. Thats what the guys from Fairfax were telling me. Alot of them do stuff on the side...I would like to be a certified personal trainer on the side. Money comes second to me... I have to do something that I love. (plus i have a sugar momma in training :laugh: )As long as I have a place to stay and I can live comfortably I am fine. To go to bed and say I helped someone through a tough situation will be my reward. I'm definetly going through with it. I just have to nail down which county I want to pursue it in. The pay and shifts are pretty much the same in all three.

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Thanks guys for the input. Thats what the guys from Fairfax were telling me. Alot of them do stuff on the side...I would like to be a certified personal trainer on the side. Money comes second to me... I have to do something that I love. (plus i have a sugar momma in training :laugh: )As long as I have a place to stay and I can live comfortably I am fine. To go to bed and say I helped someone through a tough situation will be my reward. I'm definetly going through with it. I just have to nail down which county I want to pursue it in. The pay and shifts are pretty much the same in all three.

for some reason, i also don't really care much about money. I just need a small place to crash at night, feed my fiance and i will be fine. I am going to go into the airforce and get a guareented job with the FD. Fire fighting has been something i have always wanted to do.

From the past I was really into music always wanted to help people so I went to college to major in music education and it sucked.:doh: (i could play the crap out of the sax and guitar and knew everything there was to know about anything musical but the education part was soooooo freakin exhausting) Dropped out 2nd week of school.:D

So I'm going with my gut and get a good foundation with the air force and when my term is up i'll get a career with the FD.

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for some reason, i also don't really care much about money. I just need a small place to crash at night, feed my fiance and i will be fine. I am going to go into the airforce and get a guareented job with the FD. Fire fighting has been something i have always wanted to do.

From the past I was really into music always wanted to help people so I went to college to major in music education and it sucked.:doh: (i could play the crap out of the sax and guitar and knew everything there was to know about anything musical but the education part was soooooo freakin exhausting) Dropped out 2nd week of school.:D

So I'm going with my gut and get a good foundation with the air force and when my term is up i'll get a career with the FD.

:cheers: Takes special people

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........the altruistic, brawny fireman ............. yet all must maintain a certain level of "fireman fitness," a combination of strength, aerobic conditioning and endurance...[ENDQUOTE=SkinsNut73]

This thread needs pictures.

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I have to go along with the rest here. I was a volunteer firefighter for 13 years, and it's very rewarding.

That being said............... Firefighter also is one of the toughest jobs you can do, and not for everybody. You have to be willing to put a strangers life ahead of yours in a split second. You have to be able to deal with tragic results, and keep doing your job. Physical, and mental sharpness are a must.

It's a great career, but it's not all bright and shiney. You often have to closely deal with peoples misery, and extreme loss. When I first joined the fireservice, my company was one of two departments that had the hurst tool (jaws of life) in our county and we would regularly have 7 to 10 seirous vehicle accidents to respond to per weekend. Vehicle extracations can be one of the most graphic sceenes on the planet, short of being in combat.

I've had to remove the lifeless body of one extremely close friend, and another barely alive from a wreck. I've had to remove the chared body of the younger brother of another close friend from a crashed and burned vehicle.

Looking into the eyes of a person while they watch their house burns can break your heart. Finding the dead body of an elderly person and their dog huddled in a closet seeking protection because the person was too febal to get out of the burning building will stay with you for a lifetime. Draging a pond and recovering the body of a missing little girl can give you nightmares..............for life.

I'm not saying it all that nasty, but it can be at times. Can you hack it? You need to really look deep inside yourself and ask yourself some important questions. Sorry to be so blunt about the bad part of the job, but it's not just squirting water.........

Still, when it boils down to it, I miss doing the job, and would do it again if I could........ The rewarding part is the people and property you save.

:2cents:

:cheers:

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I have to go along with the rest here. I was a volunteer firefighter for 13 years, and it's very rewarding.

That being said............... Firefighter also is one of the toughest jobs you can do, and not for everybody. You have to be willing to put a strangers life ahead of yours in a split second. You have to be able to deal with tragic results, and keep doing your job. Physical, and mental sharpness are a must.

It's a great career, but it's not all bright and shiney. You often have to closely deal with peoples misery, and extreme loss. When I first joined the fireservice, my company was one of two departments that had the hurst tool (jaws of life) in our county and we would regularly have 7 to 10 seirous vehicle accidents to respond to per weekend. Vehicle extracations can be one of the most graphic sceenes on the planet, short of being in combat.

I've had to remove the lifeless body of one extremely close friend, and another barely alive from a wreck. I've had to remove the chared body of the younger brother of another close friend from a crashed and burned vehicle.

Looking into the eyes of a person while they watch their house burns can break your heart. Finding the dead body of an elderly person and their dog huddled in a closet seeking protection because the person was too febal to get out of the burning building will stay with you for a lifetime. Draging a pond and recovering the body of a missing little girl can give you nightmares..............for life.

I'm not saying it all that nasty, but it can be at times. Can you hack it? You need to really look deep inside yourself and ask yourself some important questions. Sorry to be so blunt about the bad part of the job, but it's not just squirting water.........

Still, when it boils down to it, I miss doing the job, and would do it again if I could........ The rewarding part is the people and property you save.

:2cents:

:cheers:

I absolutely went into this knowing I would see all of the above. During the year I went through treatment for cancer I watched several close friends suffer and lose their lives, and while it isnt as graphic as a car wreck the fact is I've had more than enough practice dealing with death. I mean I've watched babies die, young school aged children who even in their last hour are asking when can they go back to school. The hardest to deal with was my close friend who I went to high school and played basketball with. He coached me through my situation only to later lose his own battle with Leukemia. My emotions have hardened so to speak. And while I fully recognize things can get real ugly in this field at the drop of a hat, it's the possibility of saving that one life that gets you going from day to day. I feel that this decision is my way of saying "thank you" for a second chance at life. You cant save everybody,but I'll damn sure try.

Thanks alot Pete for the feedback. I applaud you for your service because it really does take a special person to do this.

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Sounds like you'll be just fine :) Knowing about your past for some time now, I figured you've been near enough to some tragic happenings, but I don't assume anything.

I'm always easy to find if you need an ear to chew.

Best of luck, and God bless.

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Sounds like you'll be just fine :) Knowing about your past for some time now, I figured you've been near enough to some tragic happenings, but I don't assume anything.

I'm always easy to find if you need an ear to chew.

Best of luck, and God bless.

:cheers: I'll let you know how the process goes. Up here its pretty lengthy but I take my written test May 5th. It's the national test I'm taking. I've been studying hard for it, but just off of your experience... what type of questions am I looking at? I feel I have all the information I need... I'm just wondering what type of stuff I'll see on the test.

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:cheers: I'll let you know how the process goes. Up here its pretty lengthy but I take my written test May 5th. It's the national test I'm taking. I've been studying hard for it, but just off of your experience... what type of questions am I looking at? I feel I have all the information I need... I'm just wondering what type of stuff I'll see on the test.

Hopefully I will be in the academy in like 4 months in Fairfax I'm halfway done with the process (Its a longggggggg process). Hurry up and applly so we can start a buisness on the side Personal training sucker.

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Hopefully I will be in the academy in like 4 months in Fairfax I'm halfway done with the process (Its a longggggggg process). Hurry up and applly so we can start a buisness on the side Personal training sucker.

:laugh: Man I had no idea you were doing the same thing. I guess our coversations are 90% Redskins related. :laugh: I actually already applied with Fairfax County. I mailed it out already so I should be hearing back from them pretty soon. I'm gonna wait it out with Fairfax County. Did you take your test and everything?

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:cheers: I'll let you know how the process goes. Up here its pretty lengthy but I take my written test May 5th. It's the national test I'm taking. I've been studying hard for it, but just off of your experience... what type of questions am I looking at? I feel I have all the information I need... I'm just wondering what type of stuff I'll see on the test.

When I took the test it was 160 randomly selected questions. All were multiple choice with 4 different answers to choose from. The topics varied - fire suppression, ventilation, water supply, chain of command, etc, etc, etc.

If interested, I have the National Firefighter Practice Test book put out by ARCO. It has 5 full-length practice exams in it. I used it as a study tool before I took the test. I'd be happy to send it down to you - you can keep it. I'm done with that test and will never look in that book again :laugh:

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When I took the test it was 160 randomly selected questions. All were multiple choice with 4 different answers to choose from. The topics varied - fire suppression, ventilation, water supply, chain of command, etc, etc, etc.

If interested, I have the National Firefighter Practice Test book put out by ARCO. It has 5 full-length practice exams in it. I used it as a study tool before I took the test. I'd be happy to send it down to you - you can keep it. I'm done with that test and will never look in that book again :laugh:

Hey man that would be great... Do you still have my address from the preseason tickets... or do you need me to PM you.

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Hey man that would be great... Do you still have my address from the preseason tickets... or do you need me to PM you.

PM me your address (I cleaned out all old PM's to free up space). I'll get it out to you tomorrow....maybe today if my wife isn't doing anything :)

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