Cocoa Florida Firefighter Salary And Job Requirements

By definition, firefighters are expertly trained people to save lives and properties in case of fire. They’re strong individuals who can perform rescue operations with style and panache. Much like any other macho image profession, like policemen, who offer risking their lives to save another. You see the accolades these experts acquire, would you not like to become like these brave firefighters?

firefighter career summary Cocoa Florida
*Image Credit – BLS.gov

Table Of Contents

Just How Much Does A Firefighter Make In Cocoa?

If you value your work, sometimes you really feel like you’re not working anymore. However, this passion is not enough to supply your finances like basic needs and life-style. We all need money so we can move, after all money is crucial. Therefore, with regards to choosing a career, individuals are always curious about how much they might earn out of it. For a few, it’s the only motivation in the morning to get up and go to work. People who do community outreach do not earn much. But income is not really their basis of happiness and fulfillment. {Let us see how much a firefighter earns.|Without more ado, let’s figure out the earnings of a firefighter.

firefighter salary Cocoa Florida
*Image Credit – BLS.gov

[asd_program_button /]

Around $49,000 is the mean annual income a firefighter makes. A median of about $46,000 is the median. There are many factors that affect this number including the size of the population and also the education that a firefighter has undergone. Below is a list of these components and how they can increase or decrease your wage being a firefighter.

Location Matters

Firefighter’s salary can be decided by the place of the department you are designated. Factored to that would be the need of the population of fighters. A place exactly where fire takes place frequently probably will have higher salary compared to less event of fire places. Currently, New York pays their firemen the most at about 70% above the national mean. On the contrary, Columbia pays the lowest at 38% below the national average.

firefighter average salary by state Cocoa Florida
*Image Credit – BLS.gov

Education Level

If you have been through a study in fire science in high school, you’ll be qualified to apply as being a firefighter. In this field of firefighting, having attained an education is favourable. There are two major reasons for this. This shows you have the needed understanding as well as know-how in firefighting. The 2nd is that the government will need to expend substantially less on you to develop you as being an asset. Bringing on paying you more. In case you have a degree, whether it is a bachelor’s or an associate’s degree, that would help you gain added advantage. Just how much more when you have a graduate credentials in firefighting.

Working Experience

Work experience is undoubtedly the determining aspect of how much a worker must receive. As a firefighter, your revenue can rise about 50% with experience in the field of 20 years. This is quite high when compared to other careers which usually see a 15-20% rise in the same length of time.

Accreditation and Training

Being a fireman, you will need to learn the basics of EMT to even apply for the job. Nevertheless, you can pick to pursue the medical field a bit further and be a paramedic or get advanced EMT training. Having a deeper list of certifications and trainings give you a chance of having a better wage. Besides, this also gives you another option should you decide shift careers later.

Industry

When all’s said and done, you have to receive your paycheck. Per BLS records, it is not the government employers who pay firefighters more, however it is the private contractors. Included are companies handling production in oil, manufacturing of metal products and also waste management. Nonetheless, the local and the state government still hire the most number of firefighters.

Other Advantages

If you are a government worker, one of the advantages you obtain is the benefits you can claim. You get the services such as insurance in your health or dental check up. However you also get covered sick leaves and reimbursement for some specific tuition fees. The exact benefits differ from department to department.

As being a physician might have a higher earning as compared to being a fireman. But a fireman has the accolades of an instant savior. Learn the prerequisites to becoming a firefighter and be the man, the fireman, the savior!

Cocoa Firefighter Job Outlook

firefighter job outlook Cocoa Florida
*Image Credit – BLS.gov

The job outlook is an important factor while determining which career to get into. You would not wish to pick your favorite career option just to realize that it going down the drain in a couple of years. You can find out such info from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The career outlook for public servants is always on the rise since because of the growing population. So, what does the future hold for the common fireman? Let us find out.

[asd_program_button /]

There are currently about 300,000 firemen appointed in the USA. There is a steady growth of 5% for the next few years till 2024. This is the average growth rate of any normal profession. This means that there will be about 12,000 new jobs by 2024. However, this also means that there will be that much more people trying to get the job too. Hence, there would be some competition. This is primarily due to the low education requirements and the attractions of a public service job. The pay might not be very high, but the advantages make up for that. It’s estimated that there may be about 100 individuals competing for the same position by 2024.

firefighter job outlook by state Cocoa Florida
*Image Credit – BLS.gov

How To Become A Firefighter

You need to follow a certain procedure to join any profession. Primary requirement is you need to have the necessary education. Without these specifications, hardly any employer would be happy to hire you. As being a firefighter, there aren’t too many education prerequisites that one needs to have. However, there are many other needs like physical, medical and legal that one needs to have to be approved for being a firefighter. We’ll go further in details to better understand the requirements.

Educational Requirements

The basic prerequisite to become a firefighter would be to complete high school and have a relevant degree. Subjects you earned don’t matter much. But if you have fire fighting related subjects earned, that would be very helpful. That will give you a backgrounder of the profession you’re about to go into.

[asd_program_search_bar /]

After high school, a lot of people decide to get some formal college education in the field before they become a firefighter. The minimum age qualification is 18 years. That is a primary reason why many of the aspirants are not be eligible right after graduating in high school. College degrees in fire sciences are a big plus if you’re planning to be a part of the field. Courses which show you how to save people, control hydraulic tools like ladders or other related things are a major plus.

If desired, you can also opt to finish an associate’s, bachelor’s or a master’s degree in the same. The graduate studies you attain can assist you land a promotion. While gaining your education, you always remember that age limit qualification of 28 to 30 years of age limit for you to be qualified too. That’s why you must not over focus on getting too much education to be able to be eligible.

Needed Training in Paramedic

All the firefighters must have this EMT certification. The one required is the EMT-B or the EMT-Basic. This certifies firefighters that they know what to perform in case of fires or in accidents. 12 months is needed to be able to finish this training. If one desires, they could decide to pursue further studies in the field Emergency Medical Services and be a paramedic. The advantages of entering this direction are possible upsurge in income or added edge over other applicants. In most cases, fire victims rescued are attended by medical specialist which are firefighters too.

Florida State Driving License

In most states, hiring of firefighter requires an applicant to possess experience in driving. A drivers license to each and every candidate is necessary so they could be useful in case of emergency where for an instance no other fire truck driver is out there. It also serves as an ID proof to validate the applicant’s age.

Free of Criminal Record

Firefighters are vetted almost as meticulously as police officers. They go through a comprehensive background check before they are appointed. To get employed, the firefighters could not have a criminal history. If you think you have previous records, then much better not to pursue this career as you will instantly be disqualified. However, there are situations where a pardoned individual of his violations are approved but not all department perform that.

Physical Fitness

Firefighters need to be physically active to carry out thier duty at all times. Scenarios like lifting fire victims or even objects to free victims arise most of the time in rescue tasks, therefore, firefighter’s upper body strength is essential. Not only body strength is need, firefighter’s endurance should be high as they have to deal a lot of aspects like running even in harsh surroundings. No one become a firefighter without undergoing heavy and extremely comprehensive physical examinations.

Free From Healthcare Problems

Firefighters should cope with a lot of suffocating situations. They’re usually provided with masks to help them cope with such cases but not always are they so fortunate. If you have history in your respiratory, that would affect your efficiency. Thus, candidates are checked appropriately for any such illnesses that may cause them harm in such scenarios.

There a lot of boxes that must be ticked while picking out a firefighter. Without a doubt, the list is long, so find out how long will it take you turn into a firefighter!

Cocoa Firefighter Work Description

Firefighters are your daily heroes who work together to put out fires and also help people when they get stuck in such situations. They’re around in rescue tasks you see in common incidents, not only fire. This means that the image of firefighters saving a kitten stuck on a tree normally shown on televisions is really true. Apart from this, they’re also accountable for educating people to avoid further fires. In many cases, they are supposed to examine causes of fire and dig deep into the case due to the possibility of an arsonist.

Extinguishing Fires

Certainly, fire extinguishing is their major job. When on-duty, these people stay in their firehouse to take action to a call as quickly as possible. When they do get a phone call, they rush to the area in one of their firetrucks which may contain hoses or ladders. A few of the fire trucks are simply meant to deliver harmed people.

[asd_program_button /]

At the scene of the fire, every individual has a different task. Some people are in charge of handling the ladder and rescue operations. Another firefighter is solely for extinguishing the fire, while other do the rescue of fire victims. The same as any other team which has a leader ordering the operation, their group is headed by their commanding officer. They work in shiftings, because of that, each shifting unit has its corresponding officers.

Saving People

A certification in EMT is required to all firefighters. This is required given that one of the major duties of the firefighters are to rescue people. A firefighter may need this technical know-how if a victim is trapped in fires. Not all rescue operations are fire related. There are situations that a fireman comes first in the scene. Casualties possibly caused natural phenomena or road crashes. Firefighter should work to rescue the victim. Oftentimes a firefighter is also a knowledgeable paramedic helping them provide better healthcare to the victims.

Teach People

Firefighters are commonly knowledgeable in fire sciences. The amount of knowledge depends on which degree they have pursued in the field or which course they have studied. Consequently, they help most of the people by teaching them about ways to prevent fires. This is commonly done just after they visit a fire site and extinguish it. Otherwise, they also visit schools and other locations to positively educate individuals about fires, how to prevent fires and if necessary, how to extinguish them.

Investigating Fires

Also, it is essential to understand the cause of fire. They must distinguish what caused it so they can avoid further such cases. Cases like criminals set the first to explode are probable. Working with law enforcement officers, it’s firefighter’s task to determine what causes the fire or who possibly started it. There are firefighters who are also called arson investigators that specialize fire investigation. Along with the law enforcement, they work to investigate possible arsonists.

As you could see, there is a large number of reasons to call these people our everyday heroes. They do rescue lives through extinguishing fires and they develop also our admiration to them. So, if you feel you want to be like them, begin filling up the list!