How do you compete, and what are the next steps to ensure that you will be able to care for yourself professionally, your family financially, and your future securely?

Paramedics have struggled for years to establish themselves as professional, skilled clinicians, who deliver patient care in impossible situations and against almost insurmountable odds. We have gone from ‘load and go ambulance drivers’ to professionals that are part of the primary patient care system, but that is only the beginning. Peter O’Meara (2009) advises, “… the future development of the profession has been the progressive move from a vocationally based training system to university based undergraduate education, with Bachelor degrees as the entry-level qualification.”

Speak with any of your contemporaries and you will hear stories related to ‘going back to school’. The days of getting settled into a job and retiring at that same level 30 years later are gone. Aside from keeping current on professional practices and literature, we need to continue to grow and learn beyond mandated Continuing Education for licensure and certifications. Not taking that next step may cost you; rationalizations of why you cannot improve your education and marketability will decrease your competitive edge. Managing money, time, stress, academic challenge, and sheer exhaustion is not easy, but doable.

So what are your options?

Actually, they are almost limitless; we have more choices today than ever before. For those who wish to stay in direct patient care but come out of the uncontrolled environment of the streets, there are several options for becoming a registered nurse, including bridge programs for Paramedic to RN transition. For those whose professional exposure sparks a desire to handle crisis from a managerial perspective, there are bachelor and master’s degree programs in Emergency and Disaster Management, EMS Management, Public Safety Administration, Public Personnel Management, and Disaster Medicine Management.

Which one do you choose? Talk to your coworkers; ask if their networking includes anyone who has already completed a degree program in which you are interested for experiential insights. Perform online research to see what is required of each program, as some requirements may be far more (or less) interesting to you personally. Ask your employer about educational reimbursement; sometimes they will pay only if the program directly relates to your current job description. You also want to know about employer-paid maximum dollar amounts (and in what time period) for your educational compensation package.

Inquire about the fit of your desired degree program to your workplace or community structure. If you are debating between programs, talk to the university’s enrollment advisor (online programs have them, too), and include a conversation with the university’s financial advisor regarding student loan information if you will not receive an employer contribution. Network with local emergency management groups; they may offer personal and historical perspectives to gauge the need for the types of programs that interest you.

Your future depends on your marketability in an economic downturn. Do your homework. Find a program that suits you, and take control of your future before the economy or your lack of education makes that decision for you. This paramedic RN is completing an undergrad program (online, Bachelor of Science in Management) and will soon enter a graduate program (online, Health Psychology) which are hardly predictable degree programs, but evidence of innumerable choices. The road is far from easy, there are always challenges, but where will you be if you do nothing? I once had a coffee cup that provided daily motivation in addition to caffeine. It read, “Take charge of your life, you can do what you will with it.” And you can.

Be vigilant and be aware. Never take things for granted, and never let yourself believe that “It can’t happen to us”.

We will NEVER forget.

Let’s start of by acknowledging that inner child in all of us that wanted to be a policeman or fireman when we were little. That is exactly what the Kids Firefighter blog is. It is a blog by a child that absolutely loves everything having to do with fire service or firemen.

I really liked this blog from the first time I visited, and have gone back many times to see what 5 year old Mathew was up to. Now obviously Mathew gets help writing his blog, but hey, the thought is there and I think that a blog for kids is an awesome idea.

Examples of some things written in Mathew’s blog are a Donald Duck Fireman Video, which really is fun to watch as an adult too, and Fire truck pictures. The Kid’s Fire Fighter blog even takes the time to publish reminders of upcoming events and fire recognitions. As a parent, I really respect the parent/s of this young blogger, and I wish more families would be this involved in what their kids do and view on the net. Kudos!

Up next, we get a bit more serious with The Average Jake Firefighter blog. Though this blog is not a very “old” blog, I like to read the updates because the writer incorporates a lot of fire fighting and training tips. He also adds in a few fire fighting related product reviews and even a few personal opinions. As long as this blogger can keep finding things to post about, I believe he will be a great resource and interesting read.

And now, we get into a bit more “hard core” fire fighting blogs. The Kitchen Table takes business serious, and it is one of those blogs that you could lose a lot of time in and before you know it, you have been there for hours. Put together by several writers, this blog has pretty much everything you could want. From tactical information, to standards and regulations, to articles of inspiration, I think anyone interested in fire service would like this blog.

Anyone that reads the blog here at publicsafetydegrees.com, should also know how much I appreciate good stories and accounts of real life incidents. In fact, I think I would have to say that personal blogs are my favorite, especially if I can read and identify with the story being told. So, blogs like Into the Fire are definitely blogs I frequent a lot. Although there are posts extending back a few years, I actually wish there were more. There are stories about electrical fires and even a post about a fellow firefighter death. Blogs like this actually inspire me to keep on writing my own stories.

I saved my favorite for last. The Fire Critic is my favorite fire related blog, and I know I am not alone in this thinking. The Fire Critic’s blog is way too in-depth for me to just single out a couple of posts, and say, this is what the blog is about. The blog covers everything, and I really mean everything. However, a couple posts that ring out in my mind are a topic about tunnel vision, which we can all associate with. The top ten lists, featuring this firefighter dance video, and some very personal topics covering fallen fire fighters, memorials, and even discussions about aging, in the Line of Duty category. The Fire Critic is a “must read” for anyone seriously interested in fire/ems, and I highly recommend it.

So, those are some of my favorites. I could only hope to put out the quality of content that many of you do. I do try, but I must also give recognition to those that inspire me, such as the ones I have mentioned here. Keep up the good work fellas!

I'm gonna eat ya!!

One of the many jobs our small 16 man municipal fire department was to do maintenance on all 138 hydrants in our district. This included greasing,sanding,tagging and painting each hydrant with a high gloss oil based red paint. After doing this most of the day we would all come back to the station, clean the equipment, and throw the empty paint cans in a dumpster.

At night the person who had the watch was required to take the garbage out, the way was poorly lit and one had to be careful not to become injured. On this particular night a raccoon had been rooting around in the dumpster and had stuck his head down inside a paint can. When the watchman had thrown the garbage into the dumpster it must have startled the coon. The coon began hissing and growling while it became airborne, I was told it’s entire face was red, even by moonlight the color was easy to discern. The rest of us were about 30 yards away and on the second floor of the department when we heard a shrill scream made by the watchman. We all ran outdoors to see what the commotion was and was able to catch a glimpse of the red faced coon. After learning what had happened I laughed so hard my jaws began to hurt. Once in a lifetime.