Fire and rescue professionals often work under dangerous conditions.
Careers in fire and rescue generally remain stable despite economic conditions; as long as natural disasters and unfortunate emergencies occur, people will need help from trained professionals. Fire and rescue careers---from hands-on firefighting to administering emergency medical care---present vocations that are satisfying and in-demand.
Firefighter
Perhaps the first career that comes to mind when thinking of fire and rescue jobs, firefighters generally work for local governments, protecting the public from fires and responding to other emergencies. According to the United States Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), firefighters work varied and irregular on-call hours---often under hazardous, dangerous conditions---and spend most of their time responding to medical emergencies. Some firefighters focus on special situations, such as fighting and controlling forest fires or tending to the transport or spillage of hazardous chemicals. When not in the heat of an emergency, fire fighters run drills, maintain equipment, train and record incident data at fire depots. Most firefighters attain a high school diploma---though degrees or studies in fire science increase chances of employment---and undergo weeks of training at a fire department or academy. Firefighting jobs show faster than average growth and median income comes in at about $44,260 per year, according to 2008 BLS data.
Search and Rescue
Search and rescue teams perform duties true to their title; if a person goes missing, search and rescue professionals meet the task of finding them. FireLink.com gives examples of search and rescue cases, "A grandmother with Alzheimer's wanders away from home, a snowboarder is missing, a group of school children is stranded in a flood." To rescue individuals and groups such as these, rescue teams begin with a profile and follow the missing persons' typical behavior patterns to locate them, resulting in a 98 percent success rate, according to Fire Link. Search and rescue professionals don't have to have a degree, but often benefit from a bachelor's degree in science, health or emergency management. BLS reports that in 2010 these careers show a median salary of about $52,000 in a very stable field.
Emergency Medical Technician
Working hand-in-hand with firefighters and search and rescue teams, Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) provide emergency medical care and transport emergency patients to medical facilities, often dispatched by 911 operators to automobile accidents, fires, childbirths, gunshot wounds, heart attacks and other emergency situations requiring immediate medical attention. EMTs work in teams to assess patients' needs on the scene, care for patients in transit, see them to the emergency room and report observations to hospital staff, according to BLS. EMTs work long, irregular hours in strenuous and active conditions. Most positions require a high school diploma, and EMTs train in progressive levels from EMT-Basic to EMT-Intermediate, both of which provide first-response care, to Paramedic, which provides more in-depth prehospital care. In a fast-growing field, EMTs earn a median hourly wage of $14.10, as per 2008 BLS data.
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