Prince George's County,Maryland Firefighter/EMT 2010

[SeagraveBaby]

the application process is NOW OPEN...

Good Luck to all..


http://agency.governmentjobs.com/pgc...FwddxPacket%3E

***Just in. PGFD is hiring Firefighter/EMT's for 2011*** ***Closes on may 20th***

[FFEMTlieut804]

nice been wanting to up the app. in now im guessing its a good time to do it

[Alex77]

Can someone explain to me how the system in PG works. How many stations are all career? How many are all vol.? How many have both? How are the relations between the career and vols?

[SeagraveBaby]

Can someone explain to me how the system in PG works. How many stations are all career? How many are all vol.? How many have both? How are the relations between the career and vols?

only 2 stations in PG are all Career. Tuxedo-Cheverly station 22 and Chillum sta 44 being the 2. There are currently 5 100% volunteer stations. Every other station in the county is combination. The relations between career and volunteer were better in the past than they are now. most stations that have 4+ career men around the clock have little or no volunteer participation.

[steve17]

do they require residency in the county during employment?

[Alex77]

How do they staff the ambulance? Is it staffed by seniority or on a rotating basis? Basically, if you are hired should you expect to spend a lot of time riding the ambulance?

[SeagraveBaby]

yes, expect to spend a lot of time on the ambulance until you are promoted to Lieutenant or Technician or until you become the senior firefighter on your shift.

[pipeman1822]

How do they staff the ambulance? Is it staffed by seniority or on a rotating basis? Basically, if you are hired should you expect to spend a lot of time riding the ambulance?

O yea. Things change since all fire houses are different depending on the vollys and staffing, but in a lot of them you can expect to be on the ambo for the most part.

[somebody509]

If you don't like the ambulance don't apply. You will get to spend time on the supression pieces and you will go to fires, but you will spend a lot of time on the ambulance, as PG(most stations) is a very busy department and on busier ambulances you can expect to run 10-15 calls a day on it. Some stations have vollies that will take it(sometimes), and some stations don't.

[MANOFSTEEL]

So instead of responding in the fire truck you ride along in the ambulance?

[MANOFSTEEL]

How come the salary has such a wide gap? I tried looking for when the test will be given and couldn't find any info, does anyone know?

[somebody509]

So instead of responding in the fire truck you ride along in the ambulance?

It depends. Some stations don't have the staffing they need to meet minimum staffing. (Ex: station has 4 career guys, an ambulance call comes up. 2 take it, 2 stay behind for the engine. Ambulance clears and a first due box comes out. The ambulance will respond with the engine to make up staffing on the box.) PG does NOT staff units like most departments in the area do. Each station works differently depending on staffing.

Not sure what you mean about the salary gap...that's about average for the area I believe.

[MANOFSTEEL]

It depends. Some stations don't have the staffing they need to meet minimum staffing. (Ex: station has 4 career guys, an ambulance call comes up. 2 take it, 2 stay behind for the engine. Ambulance clears and a first due box comes out. The ambulance will respond with the engine to make up staffing on the box.) PG does NOT staff units like most departments in the area do. Each station works differently depending on staffing.

Not sure what you mean about the salary gap...that's about average for the area I believe.

What is a first due box?

[eaglesrule1024]

Think of it as your first due area...any place that you will get there first ahead of any body else.

[MANOFSTEEL]

ok so your saying that an ambulance took the first call and finished it. As they are returning to the station they receive another call and respond, the two remaining firefighters at the station also respond just to make sure there is sufficient coverage?

[pipeman1822]

You don't have to worry about most of your questions until you actually get the job first. Going to have plenty of competition.

Sounds like it might be your first time applying for a job. That's a very common salary range. Are you asking if you can start anywhere in that range? Because that's not how it works. It's showing the starting salary and top salary(takes years to get) for that position.

Like mentioned before, of course there's fire trucks. However, you need ambulances to be staffed too. Someone needs to transport the patients. The career guys HAVE to be at work and do their job. So if a run comes in for the ambulance, they need to go. Some houses have vollys that like the ambo and will volunteer to ride, but many have vollys that refuse to ride it.

[FFEMTlieut804]

hey, if its your first time just do you damn best, if you get on you will have the questions anwsered, ya know. Best of luck to ALL that put the app. in. Yes EMS is a big part of the fire service and needs to be a important part of the departemnt, tho PG does see fire, EMS calls still come in a need to be answered. Im a FF/emt and my dept. runs more ems that fie and I love it, ems is a challenge at points, but its a awsome time.

[somebody509]

Also something to keep in mind is that PG has, and will continue to furlough its employees. This is a good department that will run a lot of fire, but job security isn't the highest.

[PGPipeMan]

Somebody509:

Do you work for PGFD?


Furloughs are finished per the current county executive. The first year of furloughs is being decided by judges in richmond Va.


Firehouses that have a paramedic ambulance get minimum staffing for the fire suppression apparatus. Example: If its just an engine co. and medic/ambulance in the firehouse, you have 2 on the medic/ambo and 3 for the engine company. If its a special service house(truck/rescue squad) the medic/ambo gets 2 and the fire truck gets a staffing of 4.

There's about 100 vacancies, 200-250 eligible to retire and a new county executive headed for office in january.

[somebody509]

Somebody509:

Do you work for PGFD?


Furloughs are finished per the current county executive. The first year of furloughs is being decided by judges in richmond Va.


Firehouses that have a paramedic ambulance get minimum staffing for the fire suppression apparatus. Example: If its just an engine co. and medic/ambulance in the firehouse, you have 2 on the medic/ambo and 3 for the engine company. If its a special service house(truck/rescue squad) the medic/ambo gets 2 and the fire truck gets a staffing of 4.

There's about 100 vacancies, 200-250 eligible to retire and a new county executive headed for office in january.

Sorry, I confused furloughs with the volunteer VSU days.

And no, I do not work for PGFD. I was a live-in and volunteer in the county while I work for another department.

For anybody who wants a better idea about thigns that go on in the county you can check out the watch desk forum. You'll be able to find a lot more people who work/volunteer in PG to give you info.
http://thewatchdesk.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=13