r/Firefighting • u/Obviouslythrowaway_- • 3d ago

General Discussion Fire vs Fire/EMS Departments

What has your experience been in either department? All I keep hearing is guys complain about how EMS departments are dreadful and miserable but get paid more. When, in my area I hear that the big City (fire only) gets paid the most and has the best benefits. Have I been lied to this whole time? Are there ANY benefits to EMS departments?

10 Upvotes

71% Upvoted

60 comments sorted by

View all comments

3

u/1chuteurun 2d ago

Around where I work, you'll get paid more to do both, but the guys I know are generally happier not doing EMS transport unless life/death emergencies are involved. It's pretty clear that there has been, and will continue to be a drastic increase in low acuity calls, and no one is in a rush to do anything about it.

That being said, some all hazards departments have very robust and proactive preventative/ health education programs that cut down on these, making working there much more enjoyable, but that sort of thing is rare around here.