Police or EMT OR Police EMT together?

[gabriel.h.rodri]

hey guys, i have a question that i still dont decide on myself, right now i am making the EMT certification in NY but there is a problem.... i Like NYPD too, so my question is: is there a way that i would be able to work as a cop and EMT at the same time? or what do you think i can do in order to be able to perform both things, cuz to be honest... those 2 options its what i really like and wanna do.

thanks

[BP348]

As a police officer you will have plenty of chances to put your EMT skills to good use.

[Kimball]

Some dept's will pay you a little more if you have your EMT- it's a good thing to have!

[Reapp]

I am a Police Officer/Paramedic but I am not paid extra for my Paramedic cert. I do however function as a Tactical Paramedic for our SRT team and there is an incentive for that (SRT).

[Hockey9019]

Why don't do a few things here (pick one?)


Are you an EMT-Basic?


You want to be a cop, and yet you also expressed interest in the fire department.

So, not sure what NY has, but here in Michigan, some agencies have what they call Public Safety Officers. PSO's do it all. Depending on what agency you are with, some will have you run fire/ems one day and another day you will run police. It runs REALLY good here in Michigan. Have you thought about leaving New York?


Also, not sure where you live so here is another option if possible. If you want to be a Police Officer, then do that. A LOT of Fire Departments have On-Call status. Which mean, when you are not working your other job, and you get a page/call, you respond in your POV to the fire station. And respond to calls that way. Some even do medical runs. I know several police officers who do this. Just remember, when you are a police officer, you are not a firefighter. Same thing vice versa.

Your final option would be to get hired full tile on a Fire Department. IMO, I would go elsewhere then FDNY. You will get better pay, better conditions, and work with better people (just IMO). Like I said, if you can leave NY, then do so. Not sure what the rest of the state offers though. Once you get hired full time as a Firefighter (Many require at least EMT(BLS) if not MORE require Paramedic(ALS) you could go and be a Reserve Police Officer. Again, not familiar with how NY runs as for that.

I seen your question in AAC. Picking a job shouldn't rely 100% on pay. Correct, but you need to live. Picking a job, should rely on if you will be HAPPY. If you are happy at work, then good.

So again, have you looked outside NY? Or NYC? I'm sure plenty of agencies are out there will. I have only heard of a handful in Michigan if I recall correctly, that will give you a percentage boost if you have medical training. I know a medium sized town agency actually trains their officers as EMT's.

So you need to think of what you really want to do. If you want to do everything, check out Public Safety Officer Departments. Or Full time police and vollie fire/ems. Or finally, Full time fire/ems and reserve police officer.

[gabriel.h.rodri]

wow i really apreciate that tremendous answer its true what you say, i cannot do everything and i need to decide what to do. to be honest i just moved to NY and i am not gonna live here for the rest of my life, yes i am looking into other places to see where i can find that good place to live. I want to be a LEO because of my grandfather. he loves that, and i want to make him happy, not only that. i love guns, police, all that stuff that has to be with law enforcement. but also at the same time i like helping people, you know, emt, emergency calls, so i am going to take on consideration what you said about looking another places... i thought about doing Police full time and my 2 or 3 days off that i have, work it as an EMT on a private company or hospital.

[mcsap]

I chose NOT to obtain any EMT creds.

I am a cop. I am required to have Standard Firat Aid and adult/infant CPR. I am also within 10 min of 2 hospitals.

I do NOT want to be legally repsonsible to provide advanced EMT care to someone at a police incident when there it is a crime scene. There may be persons who need to be checked out, taken into custody , pursued etc. and I do not want the repsonsibility to provide care until someone else equally cert comes along.

I'll call dispatch and request whatever level of care is needed to repsond but I dont want or need to have any other repsonsibility to do more than what I am required to do.

[CACBAND]

I say go for the National Park Service. You can be a cop, EMT (or Park-Medic), and firefighter all in one! It depends somewhat on the park you got to but if you look on USAJobs.opm.gov (Series 0025) most if not all of the full-time park rangers need to be an EMT and some are also firefighters (wild land and structure).
The bad part, though, is that full-time positions are hard to come by if you haven’t worked as a seasonal ranger first. There is at least one NPS ranger on here that I know of, and I work for the NPS but not in law enforcement.

[JDS]

At my last job, at a University, we were first responders and were given a $2000 bonus for being vertified as an EMT. At my current job they could care less. Needless to say it is a good skill to have, you never know if a family or friend may need help.