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?

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u/Previous-Leg-2012 TX FF/Paramedic 3d ago

Benefit to EMS departments? You get to help people, far more often than you ever will as single role fire.

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u/MuscularShlong 3d ago

See we have the best of both worlds. We do fire and EMS but respond in the truck, no transporting. If its a heavy trauma or full arrest we hop in the ambulance and drive for the medics to the hospital. But we dont have to deal with transporting all the BS calls.

With our new contract we’ll also be over $90k in a mid-low COL area with just FF2 and EMT basic.

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u/BasicGunNut TX Career 1d ago

This is the way, we don’t drive the boxes though, we do ALS stuff in the back if they need it and our engine picks us up at the hospital, unless its a long transport, then the medics bring us home.

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u/MuscularShlong 19h ago

Yea we’re just EMTs so the EMS medics are always in the back and one of us drives.

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u/BasicGunNut TX Career 19h ago

We are about 50% medics but run BLS engines. We generally have 1-2 medics per rig so if the ambulance crew needs a rider they just specify what they need. We technically aren’t authorized to drive their boxes since we aren’t on their insurance lol, but we do what we have to in a pinch.