Hey guys, I'm so bummed.

[Want2BAFF.]

hey FFMedicMiami,

Hey man, yeah I remember you. Thanks for the reply. Although I know it's a very tough road to get to where I wanna be, I'm all in. Whatever it takes. I have an obsessive personailty, meaning once I get something in my head, it's very hard for me to stop until I get there. I've been that way since I was a little kid. It's kind of a curse, actually.

My problem isn't so much with the time it may take to achieve my dream, it's more of a "I'm stuck and don't know what to do" because my wife's decision to move back to FL has changed. Being born in FL, I have a big time attachment to it. It's very hard to live in a place when you long to be somewhere else. I feel like a finally found my niche, my passion. I had a plan, and I feel like my plan has been busted up. At least I can be an EMT in FL while voluteering and getting certified, etc. Where I am, basics are very few and far between, and very few are actually paid.

I want to show my wife how serious about this I am about this career. I think she would be more willing to discuss moving back if I were marketable and hireable. The problem is, only EMT's are easy to transfer to FL from another state. Medic and FF are very tough from what I understand.

[layinonair]

hey FFMedicMiami,

Hey man, yeah I remember you. Thanks for the reply. Although I know it's a very tough road to get to where I wanna be, I'm all in. Whatever it takes. I have an obsessive personailty, meaning once I get something in my head, it's very hard for me to stop until I get there. I've been that way since I was a little kid. It's kind of a curse, actually.

My problem isn't so much with the time it may take to achieve my dream, it's more of a "I'm stuck and don't know what to do" because my wife's decision to move back to FL has changed. Being born in FL, I have a big time attachment to it. It's very hard to live in a place when you long to be somewhere else. I feel like a finally found my niche, my passion. I had a plan, and I feel like my plan has been busted up. At least I can be an EMT in FL while voluteering and getting certified, etc. Where I am, basics are very few and far between, and very few are actually paid.

I want to show my wife how serious about this I am about this career. I think she would be more willing to discuss moving back if I were marketable and hireable. The problem is, only EMT's are easy to transfer to FL from another state. Medic and FF are very tough from what I understand.

Look bro, I know I have talked to you about this as well. To me, it sounds like your problem is more your wife than anything else, forget the job and focus on whatever is going on with you and your wife, if she is not in for the long haul to let you have the career you want, it may be time to make a change, clearly if someone is going to hold you back from what you claim is your dream and nothing will let you stop achieving it, you are going to have to work on that first. You shouldn't have to get the certs and make yourself "marketable" to prove to her you are serious. You are married to this woman, if she doesn't know you by now, she never will, vice versa.

It's all about compromise bud, you can't make everyone happy, but you need to do what you can to make yourself happy, if you are truly unhappy with the situation, MAKE THE CHANGE! Sorry to be direct but I think this is what you need, people are going to be less inclined to listen if you keep on like this, if it important to you, do it, don't wait because there are a 1,000+ tossing around the idea everyday, probably for the wrong reasons, but if you claim to want it for the reasons other than the perks, you better get going. Not getting any younger friend! Good luck.

[Want2BAFF.]

Hey man, thx for the reply. Hey guys I dont want to turn this into a pitty party by any means, so no worries. I'm gonna get **** done, get whatever certs I can, etc. and go from there guys.

Thanks for the comments everyone. I appreciate you guys reading it and we'll see what happens. I'll keep you guys posted and continue posting.

PS - she's totally cool with me chasing my dream, she just doesn't want me to do it in FL.

[JMCFF]

Hey man, thx for the reply. Hey guys I dont want to turn this into a pitty party by any means, so no worries. I'm gonna get **** done, get whatever certs I can, etc. and go from there guys.

Thanks for the comments everyone. I appreciate you guys reading it and we'll see what happens. I'll keep you guys posted and continue posting.

Hey man... How old are you? I don't know what to tell you other than what everyone else has...

Only advice I can give is if you love your wife and kids they need to be put first... Some things are just not meant to be... If this is for you it will happen... If not it won't.....

There are 6,000 + fully certified guys in the state of Florida trying to make this their dream.... The reality is there just is no "marketable" situation you can get yourself into... Everyone going into the testings for jobs that do open are pretty much equally "marketable". From that point is about how well you test.. and a LOT OF LUCK!!!!

I will give this advice... If you uproot your family to come down here and go after this.... Be prepared there is a good chance you still may never get the Job here... I don't want to deflate you because if you do and stay at it you very may well get a job... but the odds are NO WHERE ON ANYONES SIDE....

There are only so many depts in Central florida and if you strike out here you could be trying to uproot the family again to move somewhere else in Fl or out of state chasing a job...

Do you want to put your family through this... What is more important to you...

Fire Service was not my first choice of career.. I have over $75,000 invested into being a commercial Pilot.. Flying was my dream.. As I got married and started a family I realized it was just not going to work for many reasons... I went with this after some things in my life led me here... I worked hard and lucked out... Things aligned at the right time for me...

Basically what I am saying is keep your heart and mind open... You might think this is your calling but there may be something else that may be out there that you have not discovered yet...

Anyways man... Good luck and if it's meant to be it will happen... If it does not... It was for a reason you may not even know or se eyet...

[flashpo1nt]

Yes, I'm aware. It's certainly tough. But getting my EMT and Medic, I was hoping to get some experience first, and just keep applying througout Central FL. That would have been fine. I was prepared to wait, for sure. I actually got an offer from a family member of mine to work with him, while using my EMT.

Are you volunteering anywhere? There ARE COMBO DEPARTMENTS IN CENTRAL FLORIDA. PM me if you need the scoop on some.
If you go to NC find a combo department you can be a volunteer with and join up there, get your foot in the door.

As far as classes go, take them. I'd stay away from pump ops as that is likely to be a waste of time as most departments require you to have time vested in before you are eligible to operate apparatus, same thing with fire officer classes. I'm talking about rope ops, hazmat ops, etc.

What ARE you doing to try to get a job...other than applying everywhere.

[Want2BAFF.]

mdresku1,

How in the world were you able to get reciprocity in FL? You were able to transfer FF1 and FF2 and medic? How? I've read/heard it's darn near impossible.

I'm trying to get my certs in NC and transfer them to FL, and I've heard I'm waisting my time.

[mdresku1]

First you need to contact the the Florida State Fire College and get a challenge package. Then fill out all the paperwork. You need paperwork from you state fire academy and the instructional hours for each subject must match Florida's. You can challenge FF1 or FF2. If you challenge FF2 and only pass the written and fail the practical you will receive FF1 and must take FF2 here. You only get two tries to pass the practical. FSFC has a 3 day refresher just before testing dates and it will help. If you don't know the Florida way and just show up you probably will not pass.
Paramedic is different depending on whether yo have National Registry or not. Believe it or not it is easier without it. That is done through Tallahassee.

I don't know the NC standard hrs for firefighter but Florida is pretty extensive. If the hours for each subject don't match it will be a no go.

Hope that helps
Mike

[Want2BAFF.]

hey man, i've tried to message you privately but am unable to do so. it doesn't give me the option when i click on your name for some reason. i didn't want to bother others with my sob story (this thread) so i was gonna just message you.

Please see below... I copy and pasted the subject matter and number of hrs. The thing is, the dept head of the comm college here in NC gave me the figures (below), but then the brochure I received from the same community college has a larger number of hrs. I'm so lost...

[Want2BAFF.]

October 19th, 2009 FD Orientation & Safety 8hrs
October 20th, 2009 FD Orientation & Safety 8hrs
October 21st, 2009 FD Orientation & Safety 8hrs
October 22nd, 2009 PPE 8hrs
October 23rd, 2009 PPE 8hrs

October 26th, 2009 Forcible Entry 8hrs
October 27th, 2009 Forcible Entry 4hrs
October 27th, 2009 Fire Behavior 4hrs
October 28th, 2009 Fire Behavior 8hrs
October 29th, 2009 Ladders 8hrs
October 30th, 2009 Ladders 8hrs

November 2nd, 2009 Ventilation 8hrs
November 3rd, 2009 Ventilation 8hrs
November 4th, 2009 Ventilation 8hrs
November 5th, 2009 Hose Streams, Appliances 8hrs
November 6th, 2009 Hose Streams, Appliances 8hrs
November 7th, 2009 Hose Streams, Appliances 8hrs

November 9th, 2009 Water Supplies 8hrs
November 10th, 2009 Water Supplies 8hrs
November 11th, 2009 Water Supplies 2hrs
November 11th, 2009 Fire Extinguishers 6hrs
November 12th, 2009 Overhaul 7hrs
November 13th, 2009 Salvage 7hrs

November 16th, 2009 Fire Alarms 8hrs
November 17th, 2009 Fire Alarms 8hrs
November 18th, 2009 Sprinklers 8hrs
November 19th, 2009 Sprinklers 8hrs
November 20th, 2009 Building Const 8hrs
November 21st, 2009 Building Const 8hrs

November 23rd, 2009 Foam Fire Streams 7hrs
November 24th, 2009 Ropes 8hrs
November 25th, 2009 Ropes 4hrs

November 30th, 2009 Rescue 8hrs
December 1st, 2009 Rescue 8hrs
December 2nd, 2009 Rescue 8hrs
December 3rd, 2009 Fire Prevention 8hrs
December 4th, 2009 Fire Prevention 8hrs
December 5th, 2009 Fire Prevention 8hrs



December 7th, 2009 EMC 8hrs
December 8th, 2009 EMC 8hrs
December 9th, 2009 HazMat 8hrs
December 10th, 2009 HazMat 8hrs
December 11th, 2009 Hazmat 8hrs
December 12th, 2009 HazMat 8hrs

December 14th, 2009 HazMat 4hrs
December 14th, 2009 Fire Control 4hrs
December 15th, 2009 Fire Control 8hrs
December 16th, 2009 Fire Control 8hrs
December 17th, 2009 Fire Control 8hrs
December 18th, 2009 Fire Control 8hrs



I just copy and pasted from the community college's website. It's weird though, this adds up to like 370 hrs (from list above), but then the email I received from my instructor (same school) says it totals 561 hrs. The 561 hrs consists of FF1 and FF2 program which, according to the brochure, is "between 336-402 hours." Then we have Tec Res at 31hours, wildland, chainsaw safety is another 40 hrs, mayday/RIT is 48 hrs, and then EVD is 16 hours.

So I'm confused... big difference between 370 hrs and 561 hrs. I guess the original 370 hrs doesnt include the chainsaw safety, rit, and evd. (???)
So freaking confusing.