Careers in ES?

[proveritas]

I've been involved in some facet of ES on a limited (unpaid volunteer stooge) for about two years. Lots of training opportunities, but no real missions/disasters yet. I'm seriously thinking about making the jump to big girl ES, but really know very little about the field beyond EMS/paramedic, firefighting, etc. I have looked at emergency management, but I'm not really interested in admin-type stuff. I'd like to get my feet wet with something hands-on. I've also talked to a couple of military recruiters, but I'm more interested in serving at a local/state level.

Obviously, this is a very broad question ;-) , but I'd love to hear to hear about your experiences in ES, since many of you seem to be involved in the field. Thanks in advance!

[cadet cmsgt dotson]

i am a  volunteer firefighter i just joined in january because of my age but i suggest to become a firefighter  because there is nothing like have to go to a house fire at 2 in the moring and getting home at 7 the beast job ever.

[mikeylikey]

Check out your National Guard.  There are some State Active Duty/ AGR jobs in each State that are primarily ES oriented. 

I also hear there is a new US Ranger Corps forming nationally.  Not sure of the website.......

[JohnKachenmeister]

I spent 25 years as a cop.  I hated the local politics, but I loved the job.

You get to drive fast, shoot people, and you get free donuts.  What's not to like?

[Flying Pig]

I spent 25 years as a cop.  I hated the local politics, but I loved the job.

You get to drive fast, shoot people, and you get free donuts.  What's not to like?

Oh for crying out loud Jack....your going to get this thread locked before it starts.

I have been in Law Enforcement for 11 years.  If your interested in police work, in most states, the Sheriff has a SAR team.  Depending on where you go, it can be a few guys in orange shirts who get called out to look for missing senile adults, to full blown SAR teams with helicopters who work full time doing it.  There is nothing better than being paid to do SAR. 

As far as the military, anything directly SAR oriented will probably require you to attend some serious and extensive training, or be an aircrew member. In CA we have the 129th Air Rescue Wing.  Unless you are a PJ or a Black Hawk crew chief your not really going to be out there doing the cool stuff.

As far as local ES, Id look at your Sheriff or State Police or look into the fire service.  There are very few places who actually do SAR for a full time job much beyond very large Sheriff's Depts and the military.  Also, look into the Coast Guard.  When I was in the Marines we always joked that if you wanted to shoot people and jump out of helicopters, you shudda joined the Coast Guard!  (This was Pre 9-11 of course.)

[sarmed1]

You just have to find out a little more about your local fire and EMS system.   Many states have a tiered USAR system, usually state or regional specific units to fill the hole made by a federal deployment of their states USAR team.  I joined the county team that provides Primarily highangle and confined space rescue as well as trench and collapse and supports the Hazmat team, as a byproduct of our rescue capabiliteis and equipment we also get called out to do some SAR work and its paid (at least for call outs) otherwise it pretty much functions as a volunteer fire department.

mk

[IceNine]

Much like with anything else, SAR and Emergency Management jobs are VERY few and far between.

You would have to be a part of say your Local/State EMA, and even then a full time position almost always requires a degree, and even they to play in the mud you will probably have to do quite a bit of admin, instruction, hand kissing, baby shaking type work.

It's a tough one to get a job doing ES, but best of luck

[proveritas]

Wow, thanks to everyone to who took the time to read.

Our local SAR team and fire/EMS is all voluntary, so that tells you how big this community is. (Generally, they respond to lost senior citizens, treed cats, and the leak in Billy Bob's distillery. )

Shoot, I just want to do something "fun". I'm ok with hand kissing, cat chasing, babysitting, etc., but after a while, ES-type training reaches critical mass and you want to go out and test your skills.

[Flying Pig]

Let me throw another thing out there.  A professional career in SAR in most cases requires a pretty high standard of physical fitness as well when it comes to being an actual "action guy/gal"  I think that is often one of the most overlooked, or misunderstood parts.
I talk to people quite a bit who want to do the "fun" stuff, but don't realize they may be required to hike for long periods at high altitude, run, swim, and ski.  CAP can give a false sense of reality in some cases because we really have no physical requirements.  Many cadets grow up in CAP being a Master Super Commando Ground Team UDF'r sporting a blue beret and an arm full of patches but can barely walk to the refrigerator without taking a break.
If your going for a paid gig, there will be huge competition, and PT is usually the first hurdle that weeds out the day-dreamers.
Those who try out for my agencies SAR Team find themselves right out of the gate on a 2 day try out that is usually held in the winter, and starts out with a timed, several mile cross country ski in the Sierras at about 8000 ft with full gear.  What happens from their is pretty much up the imagination of the existing team members.

[RiverAux]

Some counties have paid emergency management staff and many cities may have as well.  Of course, there are state-level emergency management agencies that have varying degrees of hands-on duties.  I've heard that the Air Force is hiring a bunch of civilian emergency management people for their air bases. 

[mikeylikey]

Those who try out for my agencies SAR Team find themselves right out of the gate on a 2 day try out that is usually held in the winter, and starts out with a timed, several mile cross country ski in the Sierras at about 8000 ft with full gear. 

Have you ever had to go find lost "applicants" who failed to show up at the end point?  That would be ironic?? (right word I think...) 

[PhoenixRisen]

As mentioned previously, SAR-related jobs can be found in organizations such as sheriff's departments, as well as county and state emergency management organizations.

Here are a few examples for San Diego & California:

San Diego County Sheriff's Department Search & Rescue

San Diego County Office of Emergency Services

State of California Office of Emergency Services

Good luck!

[Flying Pig]

Those who try out for my agencies SAR Team find themselves right out of the gate on a 2 day try out that is usually held in the winter, and starts out with a timed, several mile cross country ski in the Sierras at about 8000 ft with full gear. 

Have you ever had to go find lost "applicants" who failed to show up at the end point?  That would be ironic?? (right word I think...) 

No, none of them get lost.  The regular SAR members do the tryout with the applicants.

[bosshawk]

Just to keep the record straight, Flying Pig's county has one tremendous
SAR team.  I am on the SAR team in my nearby minature county and have worked with the Fresno County SAR team on active searches.  Listen to what he has to say.

[JayT]

I've been involved in some facet of ES on a limited (unpaid volunteer stooge) for about two years. Lots of training opportunities, but no real missions/disasters yet. I'm seriously thinking about making the jump to big girl ES, but really know very little about the field beyond EMS/paramedic, firefighting, etc. I have looked at emergency management, but I'm not really interested in admin-type stuff. I'd like to get my feet wet with something hands-on. I've also talked to a couple of military recruiters, but I'm more interested in serving at a local/state level.

Obviously, this is a very broad question ;-) , but I'd love to hear to hear about your experiences in ES, since many of you seem to be involved in the field. Thanks in advance!

Did you ever think about *why* you're an unpaid volunteer in CAP in regards to SAR?

[proveritas]

^ Not trained in any form of SAR yet, just some of the general emergency services training available through local CERT.  Their focus is more on "this is 'mild' structural damage, this is how you turn off a gas valve in someone's basement, if someone is spurting blood, apply pressure here" etc. Common sense stuff.

Flying Pig, the people running your county's SAR program sound like they have their act together. It's been around for a while?

You gotta wonder why NHQ hasn't instituted PT requirements for GTM and GTL by now (that's a whole different can of worms).

[JayT]

You gotta wonder why NHQ hasn't instituted PT requirements for GTM and GTL by now (that's a whole different can of worms).

Because it hasn't been needed up until now.

[mikeylikey]

^ Will it?  We would lose many members I think. 

[lordmonar]

You gotta wonder why NHQ hasn't instituted PT requirements for GTM and GTL by now (that's a whole different can of worms).

Because it hasn't been needed up until now.

It's needed? 

[Flying Pig]

^ Not trained in any form of SAR yet, just some of the general emergency services training available through local CERT.  Their focus is more on "this is 'mild' structural damage, this is how you turn off a gas valve in someone's basement, if someone is spurting blood, apply pressure here" etc. Common sense stuff.

Flying Pig, the people running your county's SAR program sound like they have their act together. It's been around for a while?

You gotta wonder why NHQ hasn't instituted PT requirements for GTM and GTL by now (that's a whole different can of worms).

Our Team has been around for over 20 years.  There are about 30 members.  Some full time, most are collateral duty to their regular jobs as Deputies.  One of the things that contribute to the success of the team is that they are used all the time in real world SARs.  High Angle rescue, swift water rescues.  My county has a large part of the Sierras with the John Muir Trail, and the Kings and San Joaquin Rivers.

As far as PT requirements for CAP?  Ehhhhhhh....In a perfect world maybe.  In real life..not very feasable.  I think you would see us loose many of our members.  Its near impossible to keep a bunch of cops in decent shape.

Just out of curiosity, how old are you?