One of the things that I am most grateful for this holiday season is my job. I am fortunate enough to have a job that I love, I am able to support my wife and growing family, and it's a job that most people across the country volunteer to do. Especially in these tough economic times I feel lucky to have this job.
Here are some of the statistics on firefighters nation wide. While you're enjoying your day off with your family, take a moment to remember those that are working (fire, police, EMS, hospital staff, military personnel) to make you safe.
Happy Thanksgiving.
NFPA estimates that there were approximately 1,148,850 firefighters in the U.S. in 2008. Of the total number of firefighters 321,700 or 28% were career firefighters and 827,150 (72%) were volunteer firefighters. Most of the career firefighters (74%) are in communities that protect 25,000 or more people. Most of the volunteer firefighters (94%) are in departments that protect fewer than 2,500 people. There are an estimated 30,170 fire departments in the U.S. Of these, 2,315 departments are all career, 1,790 mostly career, 4,830 are mostly volunteer and 21,235 are all volunteer. In the U.S., 13,352 or 44% of departments provide EMS service, 4,418 departments or 15% provide EMS service and advance life support, while 12,400 departments or 41% provide no EMS support.
Hi there,
ReplyDeleteI just found your blog, pretty cool. I've just about completed a fire academy, and plan on starting NCTI paramedic school in March. Only problem i have is that I havn't had the chance to work as an EMT since i go my EMT cert (last year) what do you think? Also, check out my website.
Happy Thanksgiving, and thank you for your service! Interesting stats - I never knew the volunteer ff's were such a high percentage.
ReplyDeleteWe celebrated our Thanksgiving today, since my FF/medic DH was on shift Thursday, and got no sleep, so we waited til he could be conscious for the meal! He also volunteers with our own volunteer dept in our small farm town. It takes a lot of dedication, and I admire those who serve in addition to a full-time job.
Cheers!
Hey Erick, welcome to my blog. Congrats on finishing (or soon to be) your fire academy. Looks like your going through with Contra Costa County fire? Great department. As far as medic school without EMT experience. I think that all medic programs in CA require at least 6 months of experience. It's been a while since I looked into it but that's the way it used to be. Medic school (and being a medic) can be tough without a lot of experience from which to draw. Studying like crazy and doing everything you can in your clinical time helps but there is nothing like experience. Just realize this when you are going for medic school and figure out what you're going to have to do to get ahead of the curve. Let me know if you have more questions.
ReplyDeleteS- You're welcome. I'm happy that I have the opportunity to do this.