10-12-2009, 11:14 AM
Hi Jennifer, my wife and I also homeschool our four children. It sounds to me like your son is on the right track. Becoming a lifeguard would be a great start learning how to deal with emergency situations. You may also want to check into any Fire Explorer programs in your area.
There is no one path on how to become a Firefighter. There are as many different routes into the profession as there are people involved. Obviously I think that knocking out as many CLEP test as possible is a great idea, especially for General Ed. requirements.
Most paramedic programs I am familiar with do require EMT prior to admission. However I do not think that being a paramedic is a requirement for most departments. My department and most of those in my area require at a minimum EMT and Firefighter I to apply. All of the Firefighters in my department are EMT's and the county runs the paramedic ambulance service. Paramedic certification can however set a person apart in a crowded field of candidates if any of the departments he is interested in run the ambulance service. It also opens the door to working for private ambulance services as well.
As far as a Fire Science degrees go most are AA's and more and more of our new Firefighters are coming into the job with them completed or partly completed. So here again a completed BS in Fire Science degree would set him apart.
I know I have talked about setting himself apart from the crowd a few times, this is because there is usually a lot of competition for just a few spots with most departments. Which is easy to understand because being a Firefighter is the best job in the world.
One disadvantage he will have is that he will be young (20 yrs. old) if he follows this plan. While it is not unheard of to start that young most departments are looking for more maturity than that. A large part of that is how he presents himself in interviews.
One other thing is that I encourage in one interested in the Fire Service is to pursue their other interests as well. Having some other interests/ job options help fill the time while they work on getting in the service. Also, sense most career firefighter's work ten 24 hour shifts a month, you have a lot of time to do other activities as well as firefighting. So you are right everything you read on-line about becoming a Firefighter is little different because we all get there in different ways.
There is no one path on how to become a Firefighter. There are as many different routes into the profession as there are people involved. Obviously I think that knocking out as many CLEP test as possible is a great idea, especially for General Ed. requirements.
Most paramedic programs I am familiar with do require EMT prior to admission. However I do not think that being a paramedic is a requirement for most departments. My department and most of those in my area require at a minimum EMT and Firefighter I to apply. All of the Firefighters in my department are EMT's and the county runs the paramedic ambulance service. Paramedic certification can however set a person apart in a crowded field of candidates if any of the departments he is interested in run the ambulance service. It also opens the door to working for private ambulance services as well.
As far as a Fire Science degrees go most are AA's and more and more of our new Firefighters are coming into the job with them completed or partly completed. So here again a completed BS in Fire Science degree would set him apart.
I know I have talked about setting himself apart from the crowd a few times, this is because there is usually a lot of competition for just a few spots with most departments. Which is easy to understand because being a Firefighter is the best job in the world.
One disadvantage he will have is that he will be young (20 yrs. old) if he follows this plan. While it is not unheard of to start that young most departments are looking for more maturity than that. A large part of that is how he presents himself in interviews. One other thing is that I encourage in one interested in the Fire Service is to pursue their other interests as well. Having some other interests/ job options help fill the time while they work on getting in the service. Also, sense most career firefighter's work ten 24 hour shifts a month, you have a lot of time to do other activities as well as firefighting. So you are right everything you read on-line about becoming a Firefighter is little different because we all get there in different ways.
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