A lot depends on where you might live. I live in the rural heartland, so we have a great many volunteer fire departments where newbies can cut their teeth.
Some of our local professional fireman and paramedics worked as volunteers and as EMT's with an ambulance company before getting hired. Other options have included work at a hospital (not sure in what capacity, but a couple of our firemen work a couple days a week at the hospital in some capacity), paramedic with flight care, and even continuing education in the field.
The more exposure and experience she gets, the better prepared she'll be for interviews and testing. Also, if she has not done so, she needs to get an idea of the physical training requirements for firefighters - they are VERY rigorous. Not all FDs have dedicated paramedic units - mine doesn't. All our fire personnel are paramedics, but they have to be full-fledged firefighters as well, which means they had to pass the entire training academy.
She might also look at putting herself through a local fire academy, or seeing if she can get a job with a department in some lesser capacity while she attends the academy.
There are a lot of options, and it might benefit her to sit down with an instructor at wherever she had her paramedic training to suggest what options are best for her situation and desires, and customized for the situation in your area.
Good luck!
- Carl
