Fire department recruitment changes pay off with a dozen new hires
BLOOMINGTON (25News Now) – Thirteen men and women began a new career field in Bloomington on Monday after changes in application requirements allowed them to follow their dreams.
In October, the Bloomington Fire Department eliminated the requirement for potential hires to be paramedic-certified before joining the team. Instead, future first responders will learn everything they need to know through the department.
Phillip Taylor is a member of the first round of hires since the new changes went into place. He says this way of becoming licensed will save him time and money in the long run.
“It just makes it easier, and now I already have a department that I’m going to work with, and so then I’ll have that license, and then I’ll already be able to use it right then and there, Taylor said.
As part of this change, Bloomington’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2025 included $210,000 for two new training officers.
The department promoted two people from the floor to the training division; one focused on fire training and the other on EMS.
“That will just benefit the whole department, but specifically, it’s going to benefit these new individuals as they come in because they’re going to get a lot more attention than what one person could have provided,” said Deputy Chief of Training Carl Reeb .
Reeb adds four of the 13 new hires are licensed paramedics and will hit the ground sooner. For those like Taylor, who only have their EMT license, it will take about a year and a half to become fully trained, all while getting paid.
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