Collinsville & Edwardsville Testing

[SFDredhat126]

The cities of Collinsville & Edwardsville are now accepting applications to establish hiring lists. Excellent starting salary. Complete medical, life insurance and retirement programs are furnished.

Requirements:
-US citizen
-Valid driver's license and no felony convictions
-At least 21 years and less than 35 years of age. Applicants 20 years of age may apply provided they have successfully completed two years of fire-service related studies at an accredited college or university.
-Submit to rigid agility and physical testing, extensive written examination and an in-depth character background check, medical screening and psychological testing.

To Apply:
Application packets may be obtained at either Collinsville City Hall, 125 S. Center St, Collinsville or at the Edwardsville Fire Department, 410 N. Main St., Edwardsville.

Application deadline is 5:00 pm Fri, Sept 22, 2006 at either location. Mandatory Orientation and Written Testing will be conducted on Wed, Oct 4, 2006 at the Gateway Center, #1 Gateway Drive, Collinsville beginning at 6:30 pm.


If anyone has any questions, please post or feel free to send me a PM. This is a good opportunity, as you can get on two lists with one test.

[GFPD2005]

Thanks for the heads up

I'm currently a volunteer at Godfrey. Just a few questions...

Are there any certifications required prior to hire? I know both depts are ALS.

If not how long do you have to get your paramedic?

Residency requirements?

I know a good deal about EFD but not much about CFD. If you could provide a quick profile (call volume, total staff, daily staffing, etc.) I would appreciate it.

Thanks again. I'm sure more questions are to follow!

[SFDredhat126]

CFD will now require a paramedic license to test.

I was told that EFD is remaining the same and is not requiring paramedic, but you will have to obtain it after you are hired. They send their probies to Anderson Hospital for class.

As for residency, you must live in the Collinsville Fire District. This includes the city limits as well as a area outside of the city limits. After 5 years of service, the boundary is extended to the east into a negotiated area. Parts of this area is in the Troy School District.

EFD has a residency requirement, but I don't know the details.

A little more about CFD:
Call Volume: ~2800 in 2005, ~2000 EMS, ~800 Fire.
Total Staff: 28 FF, 7 per shift, 6 minimum
Schedule: 24/72

[SFDredhat126]

Post above corrected: CFD will require paramedic license to test. I was previously misinformed.

[kprsn1]

RedHat,
Is it just me or does that seem strange that a fire department would require you to already have a paramedic license before they hire you. Really narrows done the application group doesn't it? Is this common throughout the country? Are there a lot of paramedics out there looking for fire service jobs? Just curious.

[Outlet05]

Alot of the suburbs in the chicao area require paramedic to even test, then again alot don't. Just depends on the city. It's not uncommon to require paramedic AND fire 2 to even test.

[SFDredhat126]

That's the direction many EMS/Fire combination departments are going, especially in suburban departments. This is the first time Collinsville is requiring paramedics. They became a "home rule" city after a special census, so they were able to make this new requirement. It will be interesting to see how many candidates apply here.

I could be wrong, but it seems like I have read that a city cannot require a FF2 certificate prior to appointment, according to Illinois statute. Reason being: (1.) You have to be a member of a dept. to receive FF2 training, and (2.) Many "city kids" don't have this option due to no availability of a volunteer dept.

[kprsn1]

Red, I think you might be right about the FF2 issue. Thought I've heard that too. Anyone else know for sure?

Anyway, what's the reasoning behind requiring an EMT-P license? What are we basically saying here? "Oh, if you want to be hired here, you have to go out on your own and get your license before you work here because we don't want to spend the months of time and the money to provide you with the training."?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not opposed to the idea. I realize that the majority of a Fire/EMS department's job is the EMS, so having a trained paramedic come into the job already certified would be a boon to staffing issues but what about those all those good fire/EMT-B (or even first responders) men and women out there that would be possibly great for the job that can't even test now? Seems to me like they might be limiting themselves of quality people with this requirement. Oh well, their game, their rules I guess. Good thing I'm too old now to try to play!

[SFDredhat126]

The main reason is money. They figured up that it cost them $20K to send me and another guy to paramedic school in '04-'05.

[kprsn1]

Ahaa!!! The truth is out now!! You're to blame Mike!! Way to confess like a man!! HAHAHA, I'm just kidding! Let me know how this works out good luck, and I hope you get some good ones.

Chad