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Home > Fire & EMS Technology |
 
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 Fire & EMS Technology is a career in which each day on the job means excitement, responsibility, rewarding experiences, and stress. Once a mostly volunteer job, it is now becoming a paid, professional career in most areas of the country.
Our faculty believe in providing students with as many different technologies (old and new) as possible and adhering to the axiom, "You can not teach what you do not know, nor can you lead where you will not go."
We will prepare you to function safely, effectively, and efficiently in an emergency environment. Our students gain invaluable experience during the program, volunteering as firefighters and EMS providers here in the Roanoke Valley. Students also go into the community elementary schools and deliver fire safety programs.
Our student-to-faculty ratio is 5 to 1 in the practical settings, and 20 to 1 in the classroom. The Jefferson College of Health Sciences program strives to make your ultimate career choice easier to attain and more rewarding, and our instructors participate in the hands-on classes with the students. Our students participate in a true hands-on externship that no other program in Virginia offers.
Our graduates earn starting salaries ranging from $30,000 to $42,000.
Our program provides a sound educational foundation, and meets the standards of the Fire/EMS industry. Jefferson's program was the first in Virginia to implement the National Fire Administrations core curriculum for associate degree programs and is the first in the nation to offer a degree that produces a firefighter with ALS (NREMT-I) credentials. |
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The Profession
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 The first organized fire department can be traced back to the Roman Empire in 300 BC. The first reference to “paid” fire personnel can be traced to the Romans in 60 AD. The first “paid” department in the U.S. was established in 1679 in Boston. Ben Franklin started the first organized volunteer department in the U.S. in Philadelphia in 1735.
Today, there are approximately 30,000 fire departments and 1.1 million firefighters in the U.S. (27% full-time, career; 73% volunteer). Approximately ½ of the volunteers serve rural areas with a population of 2,500 or less, and approximately ¾ of the career fire fighters serve communities of 25,000 or larger.
Fire departments will become more involved with providing emergency medical services, and developing fire prevention programs. The trend is toward more career and fewer volunteer departments as demand for services becomes more varied and frequent. Our graduates with a Fire and EMS Technology degree will be better prepared and qualified for these positions. |
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Externship Opportunities
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Our program is one of only a few, nationwide, that provide students with a true externship experience. This allows our students to experience the daily life of a firefighter and EMT. Students are given the opportunity to ride and participate one the job with local career Fire and EMS agencies.
Students must complete a minimum of 100 precepted hours of hands-on experience with engine and ladder companies during the Fire Externship. |
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Challenge Credit
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| Students may receive credit, upon review of the Program Director, and placed in the program accordingly for successful completion of National Fire Academy, Virginia Department of Fire Programs courses or other approved courses of study. |
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