Gatewood Missouri Firefighter Salary And Job Requirements

By definition, firefighters are professionally trained individuals to save lives as well as properties in case of fire. They are strong people who can perform rescue actions with style and panache. Similar to any other macho image profession, like policemen, who offer risking their lives to save another. After hearing so much of praise regarding these brave individuals, you need to have developed a slight desire to become one yourself.

firefighter career summary Gatewood Missouri
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Table Of Contents

How Much Money Does A Firefighter Make In Gatewood?

People express that work doesn’t seem like work anymore if you value what you are doing. However, this passion is not more than enough to supply your finances like basic needs and life-style. Everyone needs a financial resources to make them live life the way they think fit. Therefore, in terms of selecting a profession, individuals are always curious about how much they might earn from it. Reality check, undeniably that’s the inspiration you set your alarm clock to get you ready for the job everyday. People in the community service sector don’t get paid as much. But income is not really their basis of joy and fulfillment. {Let us see how much a firefighter earns.|Without more ado, let’s find out the income of a firefighter.

firefighter salary Gatewood Missouri
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The mean annual income of a firefighter is around $49,000 with the median somewhere around $46,000. The figures may vary based on the what state he is in or his education degree or his expertise and experience. Below is a list of these aspects and how they are able to increase or decrease your income as a firefighter.

Location Matters

The location of the fire department is a main aspect in deciding someone’s earnings. This is due to a few factors like – population size, availability of firemen as well as frequency of fighters. A location where fire takes place often probably will get higher income in comparison to less occurrence of fire areas. New York has the highest rate among firefighters with 70% above the national mean. While Columbia pays the lowest at 38%.

firefighter average salary by state Gatewood Missouri
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Education Qualification

If you have gone through a study in fire science in high school, you will be eligible to apply as a firefighter. However, education is highly valued in this field. There are two significant reasons for this. This will show you have the required understanding and knowledge in firefighting. Another one is for the department to spend less on you before becoming an asset in the government. As a result, they can afford to pay you more. If you have a degree, whether it’s a bachelor’s or an associate’s degree, that will help you gain added benefit. Just how much more if you have a graduate credentials in firefighting.

Length of Work Experience

Experience is mostly a major key in determining someone’s revenue. In case a firefighter has a field experience of approximately Two decades, his salary may rise to 50% That percentage is quite as compared to other job which is at 15% to 20% even they have got the same length of experience.

Accreditation and Training

Being a fireman, you will need to learn the fundamentals of EMT to even apply for the job. Nevertheless, you can pick to pursue the medical field a bit more and be a paramedic or get advanced EMT training. Possessing a deeper list of certifications and trainings give you a chance of getting a greater salary. Besides, this also provides you another choice should you opt shift careers later.

Industry

When all’s said and done, you have to receive your paycheck. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the biggest paying employers for this job aren’t the government but private contractors. This includes companies which deal with waste management, coal and oil production, and also metal product manufacturing. No matter, the local and state government are still looking for firefighting people.

Other Advantages

In case you are a government employee, one of the advantages you get is the benefits you could claim. You get the services such as insurance in your health or even dental check-up. You may also avail sick leave benefits. The exact advantages vary from department to department.

As you could see, the financial scope of a fireman is not as nice as that of a health care provider. Nonetheless, at the end of the day, you then become a hero in someone’s eyes. Learn the requirements to becoming a firefighter and be the man, the fireman, the hero!

Gatewood Firefighter Employment Outlook

firefighter job outlook Gatewood Missouri
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The job outlook is a crucial aspect while deciding which career to get into. You wouldn’t wish to choose your favorite career option simply to realize that it going down the drain in a couple of years. You could find out such info from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The career outlook for public servants is always on the rise since due to the growing population. So, what does the future hold for the common fireman? Let’s discover.

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

firefighter job outlook by state Gatewood Missouri
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Steps To Becoming a Firefighter

Just like any other professional career to pursue, a process is crucial to follow. Main requirement is you must have the necessary education. You have to have your diploma or you’ll never get hired. Although education is the main requirement, you must not be worried because employer only need at least 1 degree completed. Beside, education you must pass other examinations such as physical, medical as well as legal test. Let us explore these in detail.

Educational Requirements

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

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After high school, many people choose to get some formal college education in the field just before they will become a firefighter. The minimum age requirement is 18 years. That’s one of the reasons why most of the aspirants are not be eligible after graduating in high school. College degrees in fire sciences are a big plus in case you are planning to be a part of the field. Courses which teach you how to save people, control hydraulic equipment such as ladders or other related things are a major plus.

It’s optional, you may pursue a graduate studies in that same field. The former ones are needed to get promoted to bigger positions. While earning your education, you always keep in mind that age limitation requirement of 28 to 30 years old limit for you to be qualified as well. Therefore, if you wish to spend most of your life as a firefighter, you should not focus too much on education.

Required Training in Paramedic

All of the firefighters need to have this EMT certification. The one required is the EMT-B or the EMT-Basic. This certifies firefighters that they know very well what to undertake in case of fires or in accidents. 12 months is required to be able to complete this training. If one desires, they could decide to pursue further studies in the field Emergency Medical Services and become a paramedic. This will help them gain an edge over other applicants and hopefully, a higher earnings. In some cases, fire victims rescued are attended by medical expert that are firefighters too.

Missouri State Driving License

Many states require the candidates to be able to drive. A driving license to each and every applicant is needed so they can be useful in case of urgent situation where for an instance no other fire truck driver is available. It also serves as an ID proof to verify the applicant’s age.

Free of Criminal Record

Firefighters are vetted almost as thoroughly as police officers. They undergo a comprehensive background check just before they are appointed. To get employed, the firefighters cannot have a criminal history. If you feel you have previous records, then better not to pursue this career as you will instantly be disqualified. Having said that, there are instances where a pardoned individual of his violations are approved however, not all department perform that.

Physical Fitness

Firefighters must be physically active to carry out thier job always. Instances like lifting fire victims or objects to free victims arise most of the time in rescue missions, consequently, firefighter’s upper body strength is essential. Not just body strength is need to have, firefighter’s endurance should be high as they must deal lots of factors like running even in harsh environment. All firefighters endure strenuous physical examinations both in the academy and before it.

Gatewood Medical Specifications

Suffocations in rescue missions happen and firefighters learn how to deal with it. They are usually provided with masks to help them handle such scenarios but not always are they so lucky. Individuals having respiratory problems cannot operate such heavy machinery with precision under suffocating situations. That is why it’s important that an applicant should be clear from any of that respiratory ailments.

If you fill up the forms, lots of boxes need to be marked. If you feel you tick these boxes, then go and see how long it will take you to be a firefighter!

Gatewood Firefighter Job Description

Firefighters are the unsung heroes who risk their lives to save other lives. They’re also in command of rescue actions for common daily troubles. The same as what you see in movies, a firefighter saving a kitten in a tree. Aside from the normal job they are doing, firefighters help teach individuals to prevent fire from occurring. They also carry out the investigation as to the reasons of fire, its origin or cause.

Extinguishing Fires

This is the main function of firefighters. When on-duty, these individuals stay in their firehouse to interact to a call as soon as possible. When a distress call is acquired, firefighters together with their equipment rush to the fire location to extinguish it. A few of the fire trucks are simply meant to deliver injured people.

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Firefighting is a team work. Every single member already has its designated task. Some individuals are in charge of controlling the ladder as well as rescue operations. Others are responsible for controlling the water flow and extinguishing the fire. Just like any other team which has a leader commanding the operation, their group is headed by their commanding officer. Given that they work in shifts, each unit has their own commanding officer.

Rescuing People

A certification in EMT is required to all firefighters. Considering that the main job of the rescuer would be to rescue lives, it is a must that a firefighter possesses this EMT. Most of the time this comes in handy when taking care of those who are stuck inside the fires. However, not all rescue operations that the firefighters take on are fire related. There are cases that a fireman comes first in the scene. These casualties might be caused due to natural disasters, motor accidents or several other reasons. The firefighters are supposed to work together and save the victims from additional harm. This is certainly where a firefighters know-how in EMT comes in handy.

Teaching People

Firefighters are usually knowledgeable in fire sciences. Their know-how may vary as to how more firefighters follow this field. As a result, they help most of the people by teaching them about ways to prevent fires. Firefighters normally do it after visiting an extinguished fire scene. In certain other cases also, they go to schools or other public sites to teach and sometime do demonstration on what to perform in case of fire.

Investigating Fires

It’s also essential to be aware of the source of fire. Understanding the causes can help firefighters prevent fire for the same scenario happen again. Sometimes, it is possible that criminals with vicious intent set such fires. It is then the job of the firefighters to check out and provide more hints to the police officers about who started it. Firefighters specializing in investigations related to fire are called arson investigators. Together with the law enforcement, they work to investigate possible arsonists.

As you can see, there is a broad number of reasons to contact these people our everyday heroes. They do rescue lives through extinguishing fires and they develop also our appreciation to them. Therefore, if learning about their responsibilities fired you up, see what education requirements you have to become one!