Chicago

[Severen]

Chicago is my favorite Fire Dept..I was just wandering if anybody hear is from the CFD.And what do I need to do when I'm ready to become a Chicago firefighter.Thanks

[ChicagoFF]

Chicago is my favorite Fire Dept..I was just wandering if anybody hear is from the CFD.And what do I need to do when I'm ready to become a Chicago firefighter.Thanks
Test coming in the spring. All you gotta do is be 19yo and pass the test.

[MemphisE34a]

Chicago,

C'mon pal. You couldn't even tell him to work on his spelling? The "a" and the "o" are nowhere close on the keyboard. Thats no typo!! lol

[JHR1985]

I have a question about Chicago. I want to try out and I'm from Texas. I've been on a paid deparment for around 2 years with my paramedic patch. I expect to be treated like a rookie up there. But my question is this: with my paramedic patch, say on EMS calls with a bunch of EMTs, are they gonna do what I say or still treat me like crap.

[Severen]

Sorry about the WONDERING mistake.I"m not perfect.

[smokeNphyer]

Chicago,

C'mon pal. You couldn't even tell him to work on his spelling? The "a" and the "o" are nowhere close on the keyboard. Thats no typo!! lol

I'll back you up 100% on this one. People will be the first one to start b*tching and moaning, "OMG, how can the fire department require college degrees"?

Luckly, Chicago isn't making this a requirement, because you would probably fail the written test.

This isn't a personal attack on you(severen). Just a little insight, that alot of stereotypes can be made just from the way one speaks or writes. Think about the sentence, when you're filling out your application.

[Severen]

Thanks for pointing out that error.I don't usually look over my work.

[ChicagoFF]

I have a question about Chicago. I want to try out and I'm from Texas. I've been on a paid deparment for around 2 years with my paramedic patch. I expect to be treated like a rookie up there. But my question is this: with my paramedic patch, say on EMS calls with a bunch of EMTs, are they gonna do what I say or still treat me like crap.
No one will treat you like crap. If you are a good guy and jump in on all the work, then you should sail through your candidacy. If you are the medic on an ALS engine, believe me you are welcome to all the pt. care you want. I certainly wont get in your way!

[Mikelev69]

I dont know anything about Chicago, but I am a driving iron's distance from New York. Their requirement is that you have to live there. In the 5 boroughs or one of the bordering counties. No Paramedic requirement, they teach you CFR-D (which is MRT to the rest of us) at Probie School. Now, getting hired is another story. Imagine how many thousands of people are testing for maybe 30-40 seats at a time at Fort Totten. You gotta get perfect scores on everything just to be anywhere near the game, or know someone, or be a legacy. Once again, I know nothing about Chicago, but you said youre a medic. FDNY is the primary EMS provider in New York. It runs EMS as a separate division, so if youre a medic, you do not fight fire. If youre a fireman, you dont touch patients any higher than CFR-D level because youre there for the fire, not the patient. Now, the reason I explain all that is because FDNY is short on medics and the pay is fairly decent with city benefits. Getting hired only involves getting a state license and passing the NYC regional protocol test, and then going to a short orientation class at the FNDY's school house. Once there, a medic can take a separate test to become a firefighter, which is much easier to do because you get in ahead of people coming in off the street, since you already work for the city. Chicago MIGHT be the same way, depending on who runs EMS there. I can tell you that driving up from Texas, West Virginia, etc just to test without ever having been there is just NOT going to work. You can close your eyes and wish on all the pixie dust in la-la land, but at the end of the day you'll be right back on your tail at the end of the driveway. These big big city fire departments know that every 10 year olds dream is to be a Chicago or New York City fireman. They know that every single spark in the entire world has seen Backdraft, Ladder 49 and Towering Inferno enough times to wear out the tape. I used to be one of those kids. Ive been working career EMS for about 8 years in a busy city now and have absolutely NO desire to be a firefighter any more. Perfectly content giving people noxious injections full of poison they dont need and certainly are not wise enough to refuse.

[ChicagoFF]

Imagine how many thousands of people are testing for maybe 30-40 seats at a time at Fort Totten. You gotta get perfect scores on everything just to be anywhere near the game, or know someone, or be a legacy.
Legacy and clout mean nothing here as far as the hiring process goes. It is all handled by an outside firm to avoid that kind of thing. Once you get hired, clout is a great thing.
Once again, I know nothing about Chicago, but you said youre a medic. FDNY is the primary EMS provider in New York. It runs EMS as a separate division, so if youre a medic, you do not fight fire. If youre a fireman, you dont touch patients any higher than CFR-D level because youre there for the fire, not the patient. Now, the reason I explain all that is because FDNY is short on medics and the pay is fairly decent with city benefits. Getting hired only involves getting a state license and passing the NYC regional protocol test, and then going to a short orientation class at the FNDY's school house. Once there, a medic can take a separate test to become a firefighter, which is much easier to do because you get in ahead of people coming in off the street, since you already work for the city. Chicago MIGHT be the same way, depending on who runs EMS there.
Commonly refered to as backdooring your way onto the fire department. I guess you could do it that way, but why would you want to when an entrance exam is coming up? Then you will be stuck riding ambos until you get a chance to cross over.

I can tell you that driving up from Texas, West Virginia, etc just to test without ever having been there is just NOT going to work. You can close your eyes and wish on all the pixie dust in la-la land, but at the end of the day you'll be right back on your tail at the end of the driveway.
I'm not sure why you think it won't work, but I think you are wrong. I can see no reason to discourage this guy from taking the test. If you pass then you have as good a chance as the next guy. It may take a few years (or just one year) but if I were you I would roll the dice. What the hell, worst case scenario is you have a really good time in Chicago for a couple of days.

These big big city fire departments know that every 10 year olds dream is to be a Chicago or New York City fireman. They know that every single spark in the entire world has seen Backdraft, Ladder 49 and Towering Inferno enough times to wear out the tape. I used to be one of those kids. Ive been working career EMS for about 8 years in a busy city now and have absolutely NO desire to be a firefighter any more. Perfectly content giving people noxious injections full of poison they dont need and certainly are not wise enough to refuse.
Your lack of desire to be a firefighter sould not be used to discourage JHR1985, severen, or anyone else. You may be "content" at your job, but I wouldn't trade mine for anything. JHR1985 knows this and severen will find out if he is lucky enough to get on. I say take the test!

[captjab]

Severen

You will regret not giving it a chance. Go for it, what do you have to risk. Don't allow other people to S**T on your dreams, just give it 100%. Some people we not ment to be Firefighters for what ever reason, some people just came up short either on points on the exam, lack of desire. If you really want to be a FDNY or CFD then all there is blocking you from doing it is your lack of follow through or the people saying it's not worth it. Just ask the FF in hear if it's worth it.

[PFDTruck18]

"I dont know anything about Chicago, but I am a driving iron's distance from New York. Their requirement is that you have to live there. In the 5 boroughs or one of the bordering counties. No Paramedic requirement, they teach you CFR-D (which is MRT to the rest of us) at Probie School. Now, getting hired is another story. Imagine how many thousands of people are testing for maybe 30-40 seats at a time at Fort Totten. You gotta get perfect scores on everything just to be anywhere near the game, or know someone, or be a legacy. Once again, I know nothing about Chicago, but you said youre a medic. FDNY is the primary EMS provider in New York. It runs EMS as a separate division, so if youre a medic, you do not fight fire. If youre a fireman, you dont touch patients any higher than CFR-D level because youre there for the fire, not the patient. Now, the reason I explain all that is because FDNY is short on medics and the pay is fairly decent with city benefits. Getting hired only involves getting a state license and passing the NYC regional protocol test, and then going to a short orientation class at the FNDY's school house. Once there, a medic can take a separate test to become a firefighter, which is much easier to do because you get in ahead of people coming in off the street, since you already work for the city. Chicago MIGHT be the same way, depending on who runs EMS there. I can tell you that driving up from Texas, West Virginia, etc just to test without ever having been there is just NOT going to work. You can close your eyes and wish on all the pixie dust in la-la land, but at the end of the day you'll be right back on your tail at the end of the driveway. These big big city fire departments know that every 10 year olds dream is to be a Chicago or New York City fireman. They know that every single spark in the entire world has seen Backdraft, Ladder 49 and Towering Inferno enough times to wear out the tape. I used to be one of those kids. Ive been working career EMS for about 8 years in a busy city now and have absolutely NO desire to be a firefighter any more. Perfectly content giving people noxious injections full of poison they dont need and certainly are not wise enough to refuse."


LOL! Just a load of garbage. You want the job, take the test! This guy picked a different path, dont allow others to pick your path. What will make you most happy and go with it.

[JHR1985]

This is just my opinon, but having someone who has several years of experience with a medic patch that is offering himself to move to Chicago just to work there would seem like a pretty good deal to be hired, but thats just my opinon

[NDeMarse]

I dont know anything about Chicago, but I am a driving iron's distance from New York. Their requirement is that you have to live there. In the 5 boroughs or one of the bordering counties. No Paramedic requirement, they teach you CFR-D (which is MRT to the rest of us) at Probie School. Now, getting hired is another story. Imagine how many thousands of people are testing for maybe 30-40 seats at a time at Fort Totten. You gotta get perfect scores on everything just to be anywhere near the game, or know someone, or be a legacy. Once again, I know nothing about Chicago, but you said youre a medic. FDNY is the primary EMS provider in New York. It runs EMS as a separate division, so if youre a medic, you do not fight fire. If youre a fireman, you dont touch patients any higher than CFR-D level because youre there for the fire, not the patient. Now, the reason I explain all that is because FDNY is short on medics and the pay is fairly decent with city benefits. Getting hired only involves getting a state license and passing the NYC regional protocol test, and then going to a short orientation class at the FNDY's school house. Once there, a medic can take a separate test to become a firefighter, which is much easier to do because you get in ahead of people coming in off the street, since you already work for the city. Chicago MIGHT be the same way, depending on who runs EMS there. I can tell you that driving up from Texas, West Virginia, etc just to test without ever having been there is just NOT going to work. You can close your eyes and wish on all the pixie dust in la-la land, but at the end of the day you'll be right back on your tail at the end of the driveway. These big big city fire departments know that every 10 year olds dream is to be a Chicago or New York City fireman. They know that every single spark in the entire world has seen Backdraft, Ladder 49 and Towering Inferno enough times to wear out the tape. I used to be one of those kids. Ive been working career EMS for about 8 years in a busy city now and have absolutely NO desire to be a firefighter any more. Perfectly content giving people noxious injections full of poison they dont need and certainly are not wise enough to refuse.


Wow, how the hell did I get on the FDNY then? I took the test in 1998 living in Westmont, IL (right outside of Chicago), didn't have the residency points, no legacy and just had the drive to get on the job here!

Take whatever test you want. If you want it bad enough, you will get it. Don't worry about the "square-rooters" that tell you it can't be done or after 10 years of trying they "never wanted to do it anyway"! Good Luck!

[nyckftbl]

Cmon Nate, you know that no one outside the five boroughs is entitled to our job! lol

[NDeMarse]

LOL, very true Chris, very true!