New members who have not had prior fire or EMS experience have told us that participating in a ride-along can be very valuable in terms of seeing what we do and getting a sense of our culture, so we ask prospective members to spend an evening or weekend afternoon with us before applying. Please request a ride-along by completing the form on our Contact Us page.
In addition, all prospective members must submit an application and participate in an interview, and our membership committee will schedule an interview time with you after your ride-along.
Applicants who receive a favorable evaluation from the membership committee are asked to come to a department meeting (typically the second Monday of each month at 6:30 PM) to introduce themselves and to have their applications voted on by the membership. We welcome new members on a rolling basis.
All volunteers at Glen Echo are required to have emergency medical technician certification, regardless of whether they plan to staff our ambulance or our fire engine.
New members who come to Glen Echo Fire Department with either a valid Maryland EMT card, a valid NREMT card, or valid EMS credentials from another jurisdiction can apply for reciprocity in Maryland (if applicable), and with Montgomery County, and we can help facilitate filing the necessary paperwork (you may want to look at the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems website for some further details).
If you don’t already have EMS credentials, here is our membership intake and EMT class calendar:
Month Applicant Voted In | EMT Class Registration |
---|---|
December – April | Summer |
May – July | Fall |
August – November | Spring |
Please note that being voted in during a given month does not guarantee a seat in an EMT class at the Montgomery County Public Safety Training Academy (PSTA), located in Gaithersburg, Maryland (hence the importance of registering for EMT class immediately upon being voted in). However, if a given EMT class offered at the PSTA is full, classes are also available at various times during the year at Maryland Fire Rescue Institute in College Park, Maryland, Georgetown University, George Washington University, the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Training and Leadership Academy in Cheltenham, Maryland, and through other Maryland counties’ fire/rescue/EMS academies.