Get a 911 gig or stay where I'm at?

[emttim]

So basically, I'm wondering whether I should try to get on with AMR here in Sacramento county or just stay where I'm at...I'm just going to list the advantages/disadvantages of both so I don't have to write an essay on why I'm thinking about leaving and why I'm thinking about staying.

Current ambulance company

Advantages: Station-based, no posting, low call volume, great boss, employer will give me any schedule I want and any day off I want (100% flexibility), seniority

Disadvantages: Low pay, BLS transport only (although we're getting ALS transport soon and I have enough seniority that I'm going to cherry pick shifts so I'm on the ALS rig) so no 911 obviously...and that's about all I can think of actually for disadvantages

AMR

Advantages: High pay, 911 calls (although since I'd be part-time, I wouldn't be eligible to get on a 911 rig until I've been working BLS transport with AMR for a minimum of one year)

Disadvantages: No stations since AMR has its ambulances post, potentially high call volume, employer could care less whether you got decapitated in a car accident or not, would have to start over again with seniority, very difficult to get days off since for part-time you have to tell them what days you work and they expect you to be able to work those days regardless


Anyhow, any advice/comments/etc. from current or past EMTs and medics will be much appreciated, thanks guys. Oh, I didn't make any mention of benefits (in case anyone is wondering) because part-time status at either employer means no benefits.



Edited to add: Now that I think of it, I'm sure it'll be asked for purposes of helping give advice, so pay at current company is 9.50/hour and it'll go up to 11.50/hour in July since I'll have been here a year and we get a 2 dollar pay increase for the first year (6% every year afterwards) and AMR starts it's EMTs out at 14.50/hour in Sacramento county (I have no idea what the pay increase is each year, I think it's 6% for first year and every year after that).

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[146233]

If you're not terribly hurting for money, I'd stay with your current company. If you want to do P-school or premed stuff, schedule flexibility will be key. Additionally, low call volumes are important when it comes to studying and/or getting sleep. Good luck!

 

[emttim]

If you're not terribly hurting for money, I'd stay with your current company. If you want to do P-school or premed stuff, schedule flexibility will be key. Additionally, low call volumes are important when it comes to studying and/or getting sleep. Good luck!

Welll....if I don't do P-school, I won't be hurting for money, since I won't have to shell out $8,750 for said P-school. ;P I'm curious as to whether having "better" calls and running 911 would be worth the disadvantages...

 

[MedicFL]

If medical school is your goal no amount of Paramedic money if worth screwing up your chances of getting into medical school. Busy not flexible sch = me taking my 3.9 to a nose dive of 2.9 and still trying to get back up there...Get a student loan stay where your at and get through school.....

 

[jbar]

a year on BLS transfers is a really long time. I did transfers for two months and was getting frustrated. I don't think it'd be worth doing transfers for a year to maybe get on 911

 

[psychbender]

I say stick with your current job. Having a flexible schedule and an understanding boss is invaluable. I've worked for companies where you were just meat in the seat, and it wasn't fun.

Running 911 can be fun and all, but lots of EMS calls are the same as BLS transport runs, just in the opposite direction.

Stick with your current job, get your medic (or not), try to get on the ALS transport rig (though as BLS, that would mean driver only), use the flexibility and slower pace to maintain a high GPA in undergrad. A strong GPA and some BLS transport experience will help you in the long run better than a weakened GPA, some extra money, and some 911 experience.

I've never worked with a company or squad without stations...what's "posting?"

 

[emttim]

a year on BLS transfers is a really long time. I did transfers for two months and was getting frustrated. I don't think it'd be worth doing transfers for a year to maybe get on 911

Well, I do BLS transport right now anyway. The caveat is that some of the calls we get are from SNFs to ERs, which is usually the SNF calling us instead of 911 (which they should have in most cases), so basically they're 911 as far as I'm concerned. Hell, today I had a patient with SOB and RR of 28...not exactly a run-of-the-mill transport. Threw him on high flow O2 with a NRB and kept scene time real short. At AMR I don't think I'd have these pseudo-911 calls while doing BLS transport.

I say stick with your current job. Having a flexible schedule and an understanding boss is invaluable. I've worked for companies where you were just meat in the seat, and it wasn't fun.

Running 911 can be fun and all, but lots of EMS calls are the same as BLS transport runs, just in the opposite direction.

Stick with your current job, get your medic (or not), try to get on the ALS transport rig (though as BLS, that would mean driver only), use the flexibility and slower pace to maintain a high GPA in undergrad. A strong GPA and some BLS transport experience will help you in the long run better than a weakened GPA, some extra money, and some 911 experience.

I've never worked with a company or squad without stations...what's "posting?"

True...yeah, I'm aware of a very large majority of 911 calls ending up being BS transports anyway. I know the person who would be working on the ALS transport rig with me as a medic...he's already told me if the call doesn't need ALS then he'll let me tech it, so sometimes I would be teching, and not driving every single call. I could always switch back and forth between the ALS & BLS trucks anyway if I wasn't getting enough tech time in...like I said, employer will give me any schedule I want for the most part.

Posting is...well, it's a joke, but basically the way I understand it is you have sections of an area (such as Sacramento in this case) where you have an ambulance stay in one place, where they post, and they wait for a call near them to go out. The idea is that with ambulances posted in different parts of the city, response times will be reduced since theoretically the ambulances are closer, but my friend works for AMR and he says in actuality it delays response times because you're constantly moving around and never get the kind of feel for the area (and how to get from point A to point B) that you do with a station since you're always somewhere different and have no ability to familiarize yourself with your surroundings.

And of course, posting means sitting in the ambulance and moving around periodically all freaking day. Personally, I'd rather be playing Halo 2 at a station like I was today. was just wondering if the 911 experience would really be that fun but I keep forgetting that a lot of 911 calls are BS anyway.

 

[DavisStudent]

So basically, I'm wondering whether I should try to get on with AMR here in Sacramento county or just stay where I'm at...I'm just going to list the advantages/disadvantages of both so I don't have to write an essay on why I'm thinking about leaving and why I'm thinking about staying.

Current ambulance company

Advantages: Station-based, no posting, low call volume, great boss, employer will give me any schedule I want and any day off I want (100% flexibility), seniority

Disadvantages: Low pay, BLS transport only (although we're getting ALS transport soon and I have enough seniority that I'm going to cherry pick shifts so I'm on the ALS rig) so no 911 obviously...and that's about all I can think of actually for disadvantages

AMR

Advantages: High pay, 911 calls (although since I'd be part-time, I wouldn't be eligible to get on a 911 rig until I've been working BLS transport with AMR for a minimum of one year)

Disadvantages: No stations since AMR has its ambulances post, potentially high call volume, employer could care less whether you got decapitated in a car accident or not, would have to start over again with seniority, very difficult to get days off since for part-time you have to tell them what days you work and they expect you to be able to work those days regardless


Anyhow, any advice/comments/etc. from current or past EMTs and medics will be much appreciated, thanks guys. Oh, I didn't make any mention of benefits (in case anyone is wondering) because part-time status at either employer means no benefits.



Edited to add: Now that I think of it, I'm sure it'll be asked for purposes of helping give advice, so pay at current company is 9.50/hour and it'll go up to 11.50/hour in July since I'll have been here a year and we get a 2 dollar pay increase for the first year (6% every year afterwards) and AMR starts it's EMTs out at 14.50/hour in Sacramento county (I have no idea what the pay increase is each year, I think it's 6% for first year and every year after that).

Have you thought about trying to get on with Yolo County AMR? I did my ride-a-long with them in West Sacramento when I did my EMT class a couple years ago. There is a station there, although an ambulance from the West Sac station is always posted in Davis too. But being at the station was sweet. Big ol TV, kitchen, etc. So that would eliminate one of your negatives. Also, I thought I was told by one of the AMR emts I rode with, that being part time would allow you to get on 911 earlier... but I definitely could be wrong because thinking about that now, it doesn't make much sense. And also you said you have a friend working for AMR, so you probably know better than me anyway.

Doesn't AMR have a waiting list for applicants? I've rarely seen any openings for the Sacramento area on their website, but do they not update very often?

And finally, if you really wanted to work 911 and didn't mind traveling, there is also Medic Ambulance in Solano County (Dixon, Fairfield, and maybe Benicia?). I think you would start doing 911 mixed with transfers rather quickly. Some of the people I work with, work/worked for them, and had some decent things to say. Finally, there is Bi-County Ambulance in the Yuba City-Marysville area. From what I hear, you get on 911 right away. One of my friends worked for them for a bit and liked it a lot. Apparently they are very flexible with scheduling.

 

[emttim]

Have you thought about trying to get on with Yolo County AMR? I did my ride-a-long with them in West Sacramento when I did my EMT class a couple years ago. There is a station there, although an ambulance from the West Sac station is always posted in Davis too. But being at the station was sweet. Big ol TV, kitchen, etc. So that would eliminate one of your negatives. Also, I thought I was told by one of the AMR emts I rode with, that being part time would allow you to get on 911 earlier... but I definitely could be wrong because thinking about that now, it doesn't make much sense. And also you said you have a friend working for AMR, so you probably know better than me anyway.

Doesn't AMR have a waiting list for applicants? I've rarely seen any openings for the Sacramento area on their website, but do they not update very often?

And finally, if you really wanted to work 911 and didn't mind traveling, there is also Medic Ambulance in Solano County (Dixon, Fairfield, and maybe Benicia?). I think you would start doing 911 mixed with transfers rather quickly. Some of the people I work with, work/worked for them, and had some decent things to say. Finally, there is Bi-County Ambulance in the Yuba City-Marysville area. From what I hear, you get on 911 right away. One of my friends worked for them for a bit and liked it a lot. Apparently they are very flexible with scheduling.

Very good points you bring up. Bi-County is an option, but they don't pay anymore than my current company will after July when my pay gets bumped up to 11.50/hour...that's about what Bi-County pays, and from what I hear, those two counties are crappy counties to work in. I'm not sure how far Solano county is, but I think that's on the coast, so I'm not sure I'm willing to commute that far.

I was actually mistaken, I talked to my friend tonight, and he said if you're part-time at AMR then you pick when you want to work...you tell them what days you can work, they tell you what days they'll give you, and you agree to whichever days you want...so basically kind of like a bartering system. He said that AMR's official requirement is to make you work part-time for a year before you're eligible to do 911, but AMR's communication is about as useful as FEMA after a hurricane, so it's not too hard to slip under the radar and just bid on one of the 911 shifts regardless of how long or how short a time you've been there.

Granted, the probationary period for AMR is 6 months if you're part time, but I'm ok with working BLS transport for 6 months in order to do 911...not only that, but now that I know that as part-time you have all the flexibility you want with scheduling (and you actually get first dibs on shifts vs. the full-timers because the way AMR looks at it, part-timers need some shifts more than full-timers need extra shifts, hence they get preference), I think I'm going to head out to Sac tomorrow and drop my application off. I think the next application period for Sacramento county has already started, but I lose nothing (outside some gas) by just dropping my app off, which I've already had filled out for awhile anyway, so meh.

I'd consider Yolo County, but Yolo, Placer and Sacramento county all operate under the same division, so basically to get stationed in Yolo or Placer county, you need to have enough seniority that you can win the bid for a shift on one of the trucks stationed in those counties. Placer is basically impossible unless you've been with AMR forever since everyone wants to work in Placer...Yolo I don't know, but either way, screw it I'll at least put my app in.

 

[DavisStudent]

Very good points you bring up. Bi-County is an option, but they don't pay anymore than my current company will after July when my pay gets bumped up to 11.50/hour...that's about what Bi-County pays, and from what I hear, those two counties are crappy counties to work in. I'm not sure how far Solano county is, but I think that's on the coast, so I'm not sure I'm willing to commute that far.

I was actually mistaken, I talked to my friend tonight, and he said if you're part-time at AMR then you pick when you want to work...you tell them what days you can work, they tell you what days they'll give you, and you agree to whichever days you want...so basically kind of like a bartering system. He said that AMR's official requirement is to make you work part-time for a year before you're eligible to do 911, but AMR's communication is about as useful as FEMA after a hurricane, so it's not too hard to slip under the radar and just bid on one of the 911 shifts regardless of how long or how short a time you've been there.

Granted, the probationary period for AMR is 6 months if you're part time, but I'm ok with working BLS transport for 6 months in order to do 911...not only that, but now that I know that as part-time you have all the flexibility you want with scheduling (and you actually get first dibs on shifts vs. the full-timers because the way AMR looks at it, part-timers need some shifts more than full-timers need extra shifts, hence they get preference), I think I'm going to head out to Sac tomorrow and drop my application off. I think the next application period for Sacramento county has already started, but I lose nothing (outside some gas) by just dropping my app off, which I've already had filled out for awhile anyway, so meh.

I'd consider Yolo County, but Yolo, Placer and Sacramento county all operate under the same division, so basically to get stationed in Yolo or Placer county, you need to have enough seniority that you can win the bid for a shift on one of the trucks stationed in those counties. Placer is basically impossible unless you've been with AMR forever since everyone wants to work in Placer...Yolo I don't know, but either way, screw it I'll at least put my app in.

Solano County extends pretty far east. Dixon is on the east end of that county, and is probably 25 minutes or so from Sacramento. Maybe even closer. Fairfield is a little farther... probably 45 minutes from Sac. but now that i think about it, I think I remember hearing that Medic doesn't have all that much flexibility in scheduling. From what I've heard, they require a rather large commitment. Atleast a lot bigger than I could ever make while going to school full time at UC Davis.

 

[emttim]

Solano County extends pretty far east. Dixon is on the east end of that county, and is probably 25 minutes or so from Sacramento. Maybe even closer. Fairfield is a little farther... probably 45 minutes from Sac. but now that i think about it, I think I remember hearing that Medic doesn't have all that much flexibility in scheduling. From what I've heard, they require a rather large commitment. Atleast a lot bigger than I could ever make while going to school full time at UC Davis.

Yeah, that's pretty far from where I'm at anyway. I live in Roseville so I commute 30 minutes to Sac as it is...going 25-40 min past Sac is not something I'm too enthusiastic about doing. guess there wouldn't be much flexibility needed though...to make the same amount of money I do in 32+ hours right now where I'm at, I'd just need to work 12-24 hours at AMR...a LOT less hours, heh.

 

[jbar]

posting sucks. I did it for almost two years. You get very good at sleeping upright in the cab of the truck. The only good thing is that you have some flexibility in where you actually sit, so you can run errands if they are within a few blocks of where you are supposed to be. But every time you sit down to lunch or set up to study you end up having to move across town because someone else just ran a call. Bad news.

 

[DonkeyD]

In my short EMT career I've actually done most of the stuff you're thinking over, BLS transfers, 911 (w/ posting), and ALS transfers. By far I enjoy ALS transfers the best. A lot of that has to do with what companies I was with, but overall BLS transfers are hospital to nursing home and boring, 911 can be exciting but comes with an incredible amount of BS. With ALS transfers they need to be in the ambulance (w/o a signed medical necessity we don't roll), and I get to see all sorts of interesting things. I also take all the BLS transports, so I get plenty of time in the back.

Flexibility and pay/benefits are important considerations as well, right now I'm making 11.50/hr+health insurance and if I request off 21 days in advance they'll shut the truck down before I have to come to work. Definitely think about those before you jump into things.