Cobb County, GA

[amazing_8's]

Does anyone know anything about Cobb County, GA? I am interested in testing there when i get out of the army next year. How busy they are? the busiest station? so on so forth. Thanks in advance.

[L-Webb]

Cobb is a good dept. They run ALS engines, Ambulance transport is done by a private called metro atlanta. The last time they hired they got over 700 apps. I will find out more and get back to you.

Are you an EMT?

[amazing_8's]

thanks alot. I am not an emt yet however I will be taking the NYS EMT starting this spring semester and then taking the national test after that. I am currently in the army so it is hard for me to get alot of certs done, however this is my last 9 months so everything is going pretty smooth... is it important to get the EMT before I come down? I herd it may not cross over.

[L-Webb]

thanks alot. I am not an emt yet however I will be taking the NYS EMT starting this spring semester and then taking the national test after that. I am currently in the army so it is hard for me to get alot of certs done, however this is my last 9 months so everything is going pretty smooth... is it important to get the EMT before I come down? I herd it may not cross over.

Yes, almost every paid dept around atlanta requires you to be an EMT. If you are going to have national registry then it will cross over fine. Are you going to be an EMT-B or EMT-I?

[amazing_8's]

EMT B, because by the time the basic class ends I will only have 2 months left before i am out and move to Cumming, GA. However, I am going to work on my paramedic once I get to Georgia.

[GTRider245]

EMT B, because by the time the basic class ends I will only have 2 months left before i am out and move to Cumming, GA. However, I am going to work on my paramedic once I get to Georgia.

FWIW, Basic won't get you far most places in GA. We still do Intermediate here, and that's what most departments require.

[L-Webb]

EMT B, because by the time the basic class ends I will only have 2 months left before i am out and move to Cumming, GA. However, I am going to work on my paramedic once I get to Georgia.

As a basic up there do you do Ivs, Give fluids, combitube, and give drugs? I'm not trying to be negative I just want you to know what you will face. If you can get your paramedic done then you can have any job you want. My wife and I just started paramedic class this week and I can say it is going to be a hell of a year.

As soon as you can get enrolled in paramedic school, some schools have a waiting list just to get in.

Good luck and keep in touch I will help you in anyway I can.


On a side note, at my school there is a paramedic class that just got done with registry.
Fairfax county VA had two people that they sent down to try to get paramedics to come to work up there.

[amazing_8's]

As a basic up there do you do Ivs, Give fluids, combitube, and give drugs? I'm not trying to be negative I just want you to know what you will face. If you can get your paramedic done then you can have any job you want. My wife and I just started paramedic class this week and I can say it is going to be a hell of a year.

As soon as you can get enrolled in paramedic school, some schools have a waiting list just to get in.

Good luck and keep in touch I will help you in anyway I can.


On a side note, at my school there is a paramedic class that just got done with registry.
Fairfax county VA had two people that they sent down to try to get paramedics to come to work up there.

As a basic in New York they dont not administer IV's or anything. However, in the army through our combat live saver course you have to give them to pass the course, which i have taken many time. As well as in iraq our doc's used to give us the bags and iv's so we could give them to each other for hydration puposes after long days. i am by no means in the medical field of the amry. I am a 13 B (field artillery) who has done nothing but infantryman stuff the whole time i have been in the army. Im not saying lol any of that counts for anything, im just saying that being able to give IVs and adminster drugs in an EMT-I or paramedic class wont be hard part for me in the least lol im used to getting poked and returning the favor. As for you good luck in paramedic school and thanks for all the help.

[IronsMaiden]

Dave,

I work for Cobb and could probably answer most of your questions. Unfortunately, Cobb is under a hiring freeze and will probably stay that way for a while. The last class started 3 months ago, which will put us well above minimum staffing once they graduate. The only situation that might change that is if they offer another early retirement option, but there's no talk of that happening. We just had a mass exodus of 35 firefighters from the last early out. That, of course, was coordinated with 50 or so new hires.

I will tell you to continue to visit cobbfire.org and click on the Employment tab on the left. A testing date will appear and it will stay up for 30 days ONLY. Otherwise it'll say, "To Be Announced". The hiring process for Cobb is extremely competitive. Thousands apply online, but only 400-600 actually get invited to take the written. The top 200 scores then go on to the physical agility test. If you pass that, then you go on to the polygraph, medical exam, psychological exams/interview (I swear I answered 3,000 computer based questions in one sitting), background checks, and the interview portion. That group of hurdles usually narrows the list significantly. Only 15 to 30 people will be chosen for recruit school. The entire process takes about a year.

As for the EMT requirement, Cobb requires a minimum of EMT-Intermediate. If the state of Georgia accepts your EMT-I, then you can skip the second half of recruit school.

I hope this helps.