RN and firefighter

[dfullen]

I am currently a nursing student. I've always wanted to be a nurse & I've always wanted to be a firefighter and even took fire science courses last semester, untill I found out i was accepted into nursing school. Ive heard that you can join the fire department while still working as a nurse. I have been working out fo r the CPAT, I'll have my certificate in nursing in 18 months. Im wondering if I should apply to a deptarment when they have an opening, after i get my certificate, since my LPN to RN degree will be online, other than my clinicals. (since they only hire about once a year). Im not sure if the 24 hours on and 48 off will be to hard to finish my online nursing degree. I just wanted to see if anyone knows anything about this or can direct me to where I can find out some more information. thank you.

p.s. also I like to know about flight nursing; how you get into that specialty, what are the requirments, what kind of schedule do you have, ect.

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[MedicFL]

You will have to obtain your EMT/Medic cert to work for a fire department. You will also have to go to the fire academy. They will not hire you with just you RN cert. Fire departments are fulltime most work 24 hours on 48 hours off, you could still work as a nurse part time or pool, I know one or two guys who do this. Flight nursing is way off in your future, you must have a min of 5 years critical experience before they will look at your app, and then you must know somebody. Flight jobs are among the most hard to get. In FL the fire academy is a 3 month fulltime program...

 

[howelljolly]

To add to that... Some states do have a PHRN or MICN certification, which authorizes you to work as a medic. But the requirements are RN (not LPN), with a certain amount of ER experience, or CEN certification. Additionally you'll have to take the ~120 hour EMT course, and the alphabet soup (ACLS, PALS, NRP, PHTLS...). On top of that, you'll have to get sponsored by a paramedic school, and do just the Anesthesia rotation, and the field internship. Its actually not as bad as it sounds.

The requirements for flight nursing are about the same, but you'll need more hospital experience... at least five years in ER and critical care, plus critical care nursing certification, and you'll probably have to take the critical care paramedic course as well. You'll also probably need some certification that shows you know flight physiology, something equivalent to the certified flight paramedic exam.

This is all assuming that you want to do street medicine in the FD. If you want to stick with fire supression on the FD, then thats a different story. Its really up to your individual schedule, and how you study, esp with the online course (which I started myself, but didnt get anywhere near finishing).

As far as working as a nurse and a FF. Ive got a friend that does that, and he has about a half dozen friends that do the same. They do 24 hour shifts on the truck, and do some 12 hour shifts in the hospital on their days off.

 

[psychbender]

There are also RN to Paramedic courses (seen some ~9 months) to consider. Also, I have met some flight nurses who are RNs, though most are RN/EMT-Ps. As for working for the FD/EMS and as a nurse, I have several friends who do that. Most of them work in the ED full-time, and also run on a volunteer EMS squad (most EMS in this area is volunteer), while a few others work EMS full-time, and as a nurse part-time. Both careers are rather flexible, so you shouldn't have a problem finding some combination that works well for you.

 

[MedicFL]

As far as I know to be a flight nurse you also must be a paramedic. This is in order to allow a nurse to do invasive procedures that they would otherwise not be allowed to do.. Per the DOT in order for a helicopter to do scene calls there must be a paramedic on board. This can be a nurse who is crossed trained.

 

[howelljolly]

As far as I know to be a flight medic you also must be a paramedic. This is in order to allow a nurse to do invasive procedures that they would otherwise not be allowed to do.. Per the DOT in order for a helicopter to do scene calls there must be a paramedic on board. This can be a nurse who is crossed trained.

Well, duh!

The usual pathway to becoming a flight medic is EMT-P, 5 years of experience, the critical care emergency medical transport paramedic course (CCEMT-P), and the Certified Flight Paramedic exam.

Medics learn things like retrograde intubation and tube thoracostomy in the CCEMT-P course. The nurse is there because in many places the political lobby for nurses is stronger, and there are blanket rules in the law books that say things such as "a paramedic may never perform a duty which has traditionally been performed by a nurse". The nurse is also there because they have more in-hospital critical care experience, especially with invasive monitoring, and things like IABPs, and ICP catheters. So, for interfacility transports (primary ICU to tertiary ICU transfers), they're in their element.

Somehow, the nurse really can do a whole lot. Im not really sure how some nurses go from the med-surg floors where they arent even allowed to start an IV, to where they fuction independently as NPs or flight nurses. When I was doing my nephrology elective, I ran into this older floor nurse who routinely ignored non-routine orders. On a particular patient we ordered a whole bunch of sodium, creatinine, and cytology studies on the blood and urine, and started treating with a whopping 180mg dose of Lasix, and a bunch of other fluids, electrolytes, and meds. The only order the nurse felt like carrying out was the tub of lasix. The patient ended up in the ICU the next day, and everyone was too baffled to write the nurse up.

But I digress...

Being able to make scene calls really hasnt got much to do with paramedics being on board. However, the flight nurse is EMT-B certified, if not higher. Thats for the spinal immobilization and traction splinting junk.

 

[Farmer Jane]

If you want to be a flight nurse, go into critical care ASAP. You'll need plenty of experience there before going to flight.

 

[MedicFL]

I meant to say to be a flight nurse you must be medic certified. This is in order for a nurses to be able to do invasive procedures that they would otherwise not be able to do because of the noninvasive nurse practice act. Per the DOT in order for a helicopter to do scene calls there must be a paramedic on board. I fly for a program that is hospital based, CCEMT-P is not required many of us have it and many do not. The state of Florida requires a 32 hour flight course that was pretty much a joke but beyond that there are not any special requirements.

 

[dfullen]

I appreciate all the help from everyone! I think one thing I really want to know is about when I'm joining the fire dept and when to get my RN. I dont want to wait to long to get my RN and at the same time I dont want to wait to long to join the fire dept. All of the fire depts. only hire about once a year in Indianapolis. Ill be done with my LPN certificate in July of 2010, my LPN to BSN through Indiana State University will all be online. So, Im trying to figure out if I should join the fire department after my LPN program is completed and then work on my RN-BSN, while working as a firefighter; or wait untill I have my RN and then join the fire deptartment. Also, somebody told me to work as a LPN and get my EMT and Firefighter 1 & 2 certification or atleast firefighter 1 certification and then apply to the fire dept., while obtaining my BSN-RN.

 

[howelljolly]

Really cant help you wth that. Again, it depends on how you like to study, and what your class schedule, both for FF and RN will be like. On thing i can think of tho, is that in most places, if you get hired by the FD, they pay for your school.... if you do FF-1 before you get hired, you pay your own tuition.

 

[chimichanga]

I meant to say to be a flight nurse you must be medic certified. This is in order for a nurses to be able to do invasive procedures that they would otherwise not be able to do because of the noninvasive nurse practice act. Per the DOT in order for a helicopter to do scene calls there must be a paramedic on board. I fly for a program that is hospital based, CCEMT-P is not required many of us have it and many do not. The state of Florida requires a 32 hour flight course that was pretty much a joke but beyond that there are not any special requirements.

not in AZ...most flight nurses are just that...nurses...