FF academy - N Texas

[fire49]

sredish

glad to see you have done your homework and not wlaking into this blindly

[fire49]

pewter98

not from texas just live here

from my previous post

"""""for most depts in your area they require tcfp certification which requires medical certifiaction, and alot want emt -B at least, and some will not talk to you if you are not a paramedic."""""

sorry I copied off the tcfp site, and know not to trust the government


fort worth takes people off the street with NO certs????


EDUCATION: High school diploma (or) GED Certificate (or) 12 semester hours from an accredited college or university.

[fire49]

sredish

talk to HazCo and they can explian the medical cert process to you


http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/emstraum...s/default.shtm


http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/emstraum...directory.shtm



http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/emstraum...s/NewCert.shtm

[pewter98]

cdafd49: Thank you Mr. Obvious for reposting already covered info.! Just remember that most F.D. written exams do not allow internet-capable devices in the testing area, so you won't be able to copy and paste your test answers! LOL JKD

F.W.F.D. does hire applicants without prior experience or certifications. There are more fire departments in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex that will hire this way too, you just have to know where to look. Here is something to think about:

http://www.firehouse.com/forums/showthread.php?t=113438 (Why go to a basic fire academy?)

[sredish]

damn, no internet capable devices... well, there goes that.

My issue with hiring on with no certs is 1) can't expect much pay with that, 2) you're on their schedule for training (i'm assuming) and 3) can't see how that option would work when you have a family and a very demanding business to tend to. I think the ideal scenario is to get all the training and certs necessary on your schedule, hope you get enough training to be efficient in your duties and then apply / test like mad and try to get hired as quickly as possible. Going the HazCo route, i'll start with 0 and finish with my FF and EMTB certs (as long as I can pass the exams of course but thats on me) and hopefully enough training to stand out from the rest a little.

Maybe it's my business mind coming out but I'm very nearly OCD with soaking up information, especially when it involves big life changing decisions (which i have to make regularly in my business). I want to know every aspect of every angle and have no dead spots or areas that don't quite get; that will drive me nuts until I know. The internet is perfect for people like me and I'm very good at knowning nothing about a subject, educating myself overnight and quickly becoming proficient in it becasue we have to be adaptable.

I'd like to go back to the DSHS forms for a second. As stated earlier, I've been scouring everything and this is really the first I've read about that. Is the DSHS EMT cert technically the license to allow you to work as an EMT, like you pass the exam, register with NREMT and then apply for your DSHS to begin working as EMT in TX?

Lastly, once hired (or even when remaining unhired), what continued education to maintain licensing is required? I'm sure this is in the forums as well but I find when searching, I get a lot of unrelated stuff. I know when unhired, you must maintain 40 hours a year, but when hired the depts cover that for you. What about EMT, do you simply take one of the refreshers or is there something else mandated?

After I get the certs, I know me, I'll be wanting to press forward as hard as possible. Was considering working on obtaining a few more certs like Driver/Operator and maybe for my own benefit, ACLS. Am I missing something (other than medic) that will help propel me forward or stand out a little more? Medic is a possibility but I want to see how things unfold in the EMTB and get hours there first. How much schooling time is needed to reach medic once you've obtained EMT?

[fire49]

sredish

you ask to many questions!!!!!!!!!!


if you look at fort worth, they pay while you go through training and a little more after you get out:::

Base Salary - $3,104 monthly during training (approximately six months) / $3999 monthly upon graduation ($47,986 annually)


cannot say much on medical cert, except I think you can get emt through the state of texas and or the nation registry and either is good to work in texas

suggest once again talk to hazco and they will tell you for sure,


or justwait and someone will but me straight



sounds like in your case you want to play it safe on get the certs first and then apply what ever works for you


as far as follow on training kind of depends on the dept you work for and where you want to go,

for medical paramedic would be a good thing to get.


on the fire side there are so many classes you can take that you will be doing it the rest of your career.



most departments either do thier own training, have instructors come in, or send you out to get the needed hours on both the fire and medical

[sredish]

i've seen the fort worth fd page several times, the one thing that gets me there is: "Must live within thirty (30) minutes of designated report-in station; must be accomplished within six months of employment.".... unless they have one in Denton, I'm screwed on that one. I have some friends that live here in the area and work in Lewisville and Mckinney and Addison, all past 30 min, so that may be a Ft Worth thing.

As far as the Ft Worth training, "The normal work day for recruit school is 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. – Monday through Friday..." which doesn't work. Otherwise, I'd really enjoy trying to get on with them. That's the main reason I'm trying to get my certs myself, because I can do it around my schedule and maintain my current responsibilities.

And yes, I love questions......

[fire49]

sredish

did not know that about fw, I wonder if they enforce that?'????

I thought a lot of cities got away from where you can live rule

if you drive fast you can hit the thirty minute mark!!!!!!!!!!

good luck in your endeavors!!!!!!!!!

[sredish]

sredish
if you drive fast you can hit the thirty minute mark!!!!!!!!!!

good luck in your endeavors!!!!!!!!!

oh, i can drive fast but I may not be employed very long... and thanks.

[pewter98]

sredish

you ask to many questions!!!!!!!!!!

Your one to talk!

[txchf1]

sredish I dont think you understand what they are telling you about Fort Worth. They hire you then send you to the training. You will be a full time employee of the fire department if they send you to the training. You dont do the training then get hired. Even if you have your certs I think Fort Worth will still send you to their academy.

[pewter98]

sredish I dont think you understand what they are telling you about Fort Worth. They hire you then send you to the training. You will be a full time employee of the fire department if they send you to the training. You dont do the training then get hired. Even if you have your certs I think Fort Worth will still send you to their academy.

Read this entire thread. Sredish was initially asking how to obtain certification/training on his/her own. Fire49 felt he had to post one of his gem of a spam post which had nothing to do with the questions Sredish was asking.

[txchf1]

My bad. I assumed he was wanting the certs in order to get hired. He stated:

As far as the Ft Worth training, "The normal work day for recruit school is 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. – Monday through Friday..." which doesn't work. Otherwise, I'd really enjoy trying to get on with them. That's the main reason I'm trying to get my certs myself, because I can do it around my schedule and maintain my current responsibilities.

I guess the part "I'd really enjoy trying to get on with them." threw me.

[agavegrove]

i've seen the fort worth fd page several times, the one thing that gets me there is: "Must live within thirty (30) minutes of designated report-in station; must be accomplished within six months of employment.".... unless they have one in Denton, I'm screwed on that one. I have some friends that live here in the area and work in Lewisville and Mckinney and Addison, all past 30 min, so that may be a Ft Worth thing.

As far as the Ft Worth training, "The normal work day for recruit school is 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. – Monday through Friday..." which doesn't work. Otherwise, I'd really enjoy trying to get on with them. That's the main reason I'm trying to get my certs myself, because I can do it around my schedule and maintain my current responsibilities.

And yes, I love questions......

They do have that rule but it's not enforced.

Ft Worth's training is a career. You get paid with benefits while in the academy, graduate, then go into operations as a firefighter.

As someone who's applied everywhere and worked for 2 different department, don't just get a cert and try to get on "just to get a job." Then, when you hear of how much better the guys at BFE FD have it than you, you end up trying to switch.

[sredish]

My bad. I assumed he was wanting the certs in order to get hired. He stated:

As far as the Ft Worth training, "The normal work day for recruit school is 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. – Monday through Friday..." which doesn't work. Otherwise, I'd really enjoy trying to get on with them. That's the main reason I'm trying to get my certs myself, because I can do it around my schedule and maintain my current responsibilities.

I guess the part "I'd really enjoy trying to get on with them." threw me.

don't forget this one also:

"Must live within thirty (30) minutes of designated report-in station; must be accomplished within six months of employment.".... unless they have one in Denton, I'm screwed on that one.

I'm 100% unable to leave my current situation, so I have to work around it. I am looking for a career change, in the fact that career is my stable dependent livelihood. But, the bills have to get paid and that won't get done with me being in an 8 to 5 class every day... being in construction, i have contractual obligations with people that I must follow through with. i totally understand what Ft Worth is about but, besides the mileage thing, it still won't work.

Other than that, correct me if I'm wrong, but most everything else I've looked at has some cert requirements to get hired, whether they send you to school or not. Other than vol and Ft Worth, i haven't seen a single one that says, "no exp. necessary"...

I've pretty much decided to start Haz Co next month, go through their Fire Academy, follow on with their EMT-B and then start looking to get hired. I have a good friend who's been an 18 year FF/Medic and is in Denton (or maybe Euless); he's giving me excellent guidance on how to proceed. Once I get my certifications, I'm going to think about moving into medic school next fall somewhere. If I get hired, great, I'll work through it but doesn't sound like it's a quick process to get hired, so I'm going to get as much training as possible and if necessary, start work as an EMT somewhere close until FF kicks off.

[agavegrove]

Just bear in mind most departments have a cut off at age 35. You've got to be complete hired before your 36th birthday. I remember you stating you were 32. You can go to academy, get out, and start applying but it'll be close.

Hiring process quick? Sometimes it is but you should be prepared to wait 6 months (and that's real rare) to a year between applying and actually starting.

Getting your FF cert (with EMT-B along with it) and possibly your medic will be a good start. Padding your resume with certs isn't necessarily bad, but I'd be more focused on my test taking skills since you've got to score high enough on the entrance exam to progress further.

A good civil service dept is as stable as it comes. Unless I commit some gross felonious act, or just go AWOL I can't get fired. Paycuts, layoffs, and furloughs aren't something I worry about either. Chapter 143 civil service is where it's at.

That's my $.02. There are others on here that have gone through more hiring processes than I have. I understand you gotta do what you gotta do. Good luck to you.

[sredish]

cool thanks. the age thing does bother me a little and i feel a little rushed, like the clock is ticking. starting the process on the FF/EMTB in a couple weeks, so I'll at least feel like I'm progressing forward then. I also have a couple applications out to some local volunteer depts to start getting some experience. My hopes are up, I'm putting a lot into this, and to not get hired by the age cutoff would be, well... i'm not sure what the best words are to explain but it will damn sure not be good.

[pewter98]

Hiring process quick? Sometimes it is but you should be prepared to wait 6 months (and that's real rare) to a year between applying and actually starting.

Nearly the same situation I was in. It seems that at least in the DFW area, many of the civil service F.D.'s utilize an eligibility waiting list. I can see how this would greatly benefit a department by only needing to test 1-2 times a year, instead of being caught off guard and having to scramble to fill a vacancy everytime someone leaves the department. In my testing experience, most of the non-civil service F.D.'s I tested with had a very fast hiring process. One non-civil service F.D.'s entire hiring process was less than 2 months!

[sredish]

Nearly the same situation I was in. It seems that at least in the DFW area, many of the civil service F.D.'s utilize an eligibility waiting list. I can see how this would greatly benefit a department by only needing to test 1-2 times a year, instead of being caught off guard and having to scramble to fill a vacancy everytime someone leaves the department. In my testing experience, most of the non-civil service F.D.'s I tested with had a very fast hiring process. One non-civil service F.D.'s entire hiring process was less than 2 months!

pros/cons of civil vs non-civil? I'd feel extremely lucky to get hired w/in 6 months of completion.

[agavegrove]

From my previous post: "A good civil service dept is as stable as it comes. Unless I commit some gross felonious act, or just go AWOL I can't get fired. Paycuts, layoffs, and furloughs aren't something I worry about either. Chapter 143 civil service is where it's at."

It's what allows a fair promotion system, a fair step-by-step disciplinary system. No at-will employment. No promotions based on the "good ol' boy" system.