Taking your EMT Career to the Next Level: Current and Past
Emergency medical technicians know how stressful and rewarding their career of choice can be. They deal with daily crises from fatal fires to a child choking and more wide scale situations from natural disaster to terrorist attacks. If you love the rush and the rewards of this career, then you might consider moving up the ladder to an emergency management specialist.
Like EMTs, emergency management specialists are the first on the scene when disaster strikes. However, not only are they responsible for saving lives, but they are also in charge of maintaining order and handling the situation in the calmest manner possible. To become an emergency management specialist, you need to be excellent at your job as an EMT and prove that you can handle the situation. Many
EMS also have emergency management training and courses at a university or speciality college.
If you are considering moving up the career ladder and obtaining the education to become an EMS, then it"s important that you consider the past, present and future trends of the career.
The Past: In our recent history we have been through some pretty horrible battles. The World Trade Centre bombing caused a 40,000 people evacuation and hundreds of injuries. Furthermore, the Florida Hurricane costs $25 billion dollars in damages and left six dead. These are only two of the recent disasters that those on the emergency service management team deal with every day.
The Present: While there are over 200,000 EMTs across America, there are currently 12,000 emergency management specialists, 75 percent of which work for the government. In 2007, an emergency management specialist made an average of $51,470; however EMS in California made well over $70,000.
The Future: A future as an emergency management specialist is promising to say the least. Due to the terrorist attacks and natural disasters in the past decade, The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defence are planning on hiring an additional 82,000 people and will spend $65 billion on wages alone by 2012. State and federal governments across the nation are expanding their emergency management specialist force and most of these jobs are going to certified and professional EMTs In fact, EMTs can expect a 17 percent increase in job openings for emergency management specialists within the next five years. For anyone in the EMT field, now is the perfect time to look into moving up into an emergency management position.
By Neil Whitehall
Get EMT Jobs, Contributing Editor
Get EMT Jobs, Contributing Editor