Ambulance driver certificate

[premedemt]

Hey all,

I'm a recently certified EMT in Northern California. I'm looking for jobs, but have not yet applied. Do I need to have an ambulance driver certificate at the time of applying to ambulance companies? Is there a course that I need to take in California for getting certification, or do i just need to read the DMV booklet, take the test, and I'm done? How am I supposed to learn how to drive the rig? I've been looking online but I never seem to find solid answers. I appreciate the help!!

 

[DesertMedic66]

All depends on the company on if you need it at the time you put in an application. It seems like it is a requirement at most companies tho.

You read the booklet from the DMV, get a medical physical, fill out some paperwork, get a background check, pay the money for the test, and take the test.

In California you only need to prove to your employer that you can drive the ambulance. You don't need to prove it to the DMV or CHP.

All the info you need about it:

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/dl/ambu_drvr_cert.htm

 

[premedemt]

How do I prove to the employer that I can operate an ambulance if I never took a course for it? How do I learn how to operate it? Is all knowledge on how to operate it in the dmv book?

 

[DesertMedic66]

Your employer will move then likely put on an Emergency Vehicle Operator Course, EVOC for short. That is what "trains" you to drive.

Then most employers will have a Field Training time period where you will actually be driving on the road with code 2 (normal driving) and code 3 (lights and sirens).

During that Field Training time, that is where you prove to your employer that you can drive the ambulance.

The DMV booklet is more about the laws of driving an ambulance then actually driving.

 

[Aprz]

Go to DMV, ask them for a DL 51 with the green medical exam card attached, get the same form you use to get a California ID or California Driver License, their LiveScan form, and pay $5 for their blue ambulance driver handbook.

Go to a clinic, have them do a medical exam using the DL 51. I hear most places are around $80. At the end, they should give you a filled out green medical exam card and the DL 51 form. The green medical exam card you keep in your wallet and you must have it on you when driving an ambulance. The actual form you give back to DMV.

Google "LiveScan (name of city you live in)" to find a place nearby that does LiveScans. Some places business are dedicated only to LiveScans, others may be like UPS or security related (e.g. county sheriff office). Find out if you need to bring more than just a picture ID and bring the LiveScan form DMV gave to you. This information will automatically be sent to DMV afterwards and you won't have to worry about it. This may also cost around $80.

Study the blue ambulance driver handbook. AMR used to have the test questions, but it seems that website doesn't work anymore. There was a discussion on that here and somebody shared an alternative link that shows the test questions still, but without answers unfortunately.

Fill out the form they use for California ID or California Driver License, but instead check off "ambulance driver certificate" on it.

DMV will probably be more confused about it than you are. Be patient. Work with them.

They'll give you a temporary cert on the spot (pink one) that expires after 180 days. They will mail you the actual cert within the 180 days, or you you'll need to go back and find out what went wrong/why you didn't get it. You must keep the temporary or actual cert on you with your green medical examiner card while driving an ambulance. In my area, companies won't hire you unless you have the actual ambulance driver certificate (not the temporary). If you do not have a ambulance driver certificate and green medical exam card, they can still hire you, but not for driving; you can only tech/be an attendant on calls. This is usually why ambulance companies do not hire people who not have both.

Like Firefite said, it's on the laws of driving and driving an ambulance. You will not drive any sort of vehicle to obtain your ambulance driver certificate (or people say ambulance driver license).

When you get hired, a lot of companies like to put their employees through a thing called emergency vehicle operation course (EVOC, or you might here CEVO too). A lot of EVOC has to do with driving the ambulance normally (without red lights and sirens). Companies may have their own system and rules on driving e.g. even though the law says we can drive 15 mph above the speed limit while driving with red lights and sirens (CODE 3), I heard AMR had their employees go no more than 10 mph. At another company, they are not allowed to drive CODE 3 on freeways. They may not allow you to drive for the first few weeks, and may not allow you to drive CODE 3 for the first few months. Some companies might just throw you on an ambulance without any training. It's up to the company.

 

[DPM]

If you've already done a livescan to register with the county / state do you need to do that again?

 

[DesertMedic66]

If you've already done a livescan to register with the county / state do you need to do that again?

Yes. The lifescan results get "sent" to the DMV and not an EMS office.

 

[DPM]

That's a pain in the arse....

 

[Aprz]

Yes you need to do it again. They are separate and cannot share your LiveScan information. Your LiveScan was likely only good for the county, not the State. If you need accreditation at another county, you will probably have to do it again.

If you need LiveScan for DMV or the county EMS agency again for something else, you probably won't need it again. For example, I was certified by Santa Clara County EMS Agency. Santa Clara County requires a System ID Badge (it's just a badge made by the county) which requires a LiveScan too, but since I already did a LiveScan to be certified as an EMT by them, I didn't need to do the LiveScan again. Ask them if you you are unsure if you've done a LiveScan for them or not.

Edit: It's too bad you didn't look this all up before you did it. You probably could've gotten everything done in one day and just have to wait for things in the mail. ^_^ Share this with your friends and family and tell 'em to search our forums since some of us have written comprehensive guides on this too. I once wrote a nice piece on Santa Clara County here although some of that information will be outdated by 2013.

 

[premedemt]

Wow, thank you guys so much for the very detailed and helpful information. I could never clarify this from my online searches, but now this makes absolute sense. Thanks again ,all of you. I hope I can work soon. I want to save lives, but I guess it'll be hard since everyone wants to.

 

[Mtnmedic]

Okie dokie...here I am reviving a two-year-old thread....like it's the 90s!

I'm a career ambulanceman...a Paramedic. I live in Oregon. I am a fire department officer. I am still California licensed as a Paramedic (worked in SoCal and NorCal for 11 years before returning home in 2011) and seeking to commute to CA for some work as a Paramedic on a regular basis. I'm running into many employers who INSIST on having an Ambulance Driver Certificate. Problem is I have an Oregon Driver license back home and I need it to operate my fire department's vehicles. No sense in me wasting the money on a DL-51 exam if I can't be issued a CA Driver license (which would require me to surrender my OR DL) and thus an ADC. Does anyone know of a legal way for me to achieve this so I'm more employable in CA? Apparently "attendant" isn't nearly as important as "driver" in CA. One company insists that ALL of their people have ADCs, even if their Paramedics on a 1-and-1 rig are required to attend on every single call, be it ALS, BLS, gurney, 5150, etc.

Surely, there must be some medics who live across the border in Nevada or Arizona, etc. who commute to ambulance/EMS jobs in CA that have come across this as well.

 

[CodeBru1984]

Okie dokie...here I am reviving a two-year-old thread....like it's the 90s!

I'm a career ambulanceman...a Paramedic. I live in Oregon. I am a fire department officer. I am still California licensed as a Paramedic (worked in SoCal and NorCal for 11 years before returning home in 2011) and seeking to commute to CA for some work as a Paramedic on a regular basis. I'm running into many employers who INSIST on having an Ambulance Driver Certificate. Problem is I have an Oregon Driver license back home and I need it to operate my fire department's vehicles. No sense in me wasting the money on a DL-51 exam if I can't be issued a CA Driver license (which would require me to surrender my OR DL) and thus an ADC. Does anyone know of a legal way for me to achieve this so I'm more employable in CA? Apparently "attendant" isn't nearly as important as "driver" in CA. One company insists that ALL of their people have ADCs, even if their Paramedics on a 1-and-1 rig are required to attend on every single call, be it ALS, BLS, gurney, 5150, etc.

Surely, there must be some medics who live across the border in Nevada or Arizona, etc. who commute to ambulance/EMS jobs in CA that have come across this as well.

The only thing I can suggest is to call the California DMV and explain your situation to them. Perhaps there's a loophole somewhere?

 

[Mtnmedic]

The only thing I can suggest is to call the California DMV and explain your situation to them. Perhaps there's a loophole somewhere?

I called. Funny, I tried to get a hold of the Alturas, CA branch, which is in a tiny rural town of roughly 1200 people near the northern border with Oregon. Usually a walk-in-and-walk-out kind of place. Apparently, DMV took out all of the local office phone numbers. Now Alturas has the same 800 number as all the rest of the DMV offices. So back to the same stupid call-and-wait-forever thing.

Anyway they said no dice. Only way to get an ambulance driver cert was to surrender OR license to get an CA one.

But NOW I have to call back about getting a CA ID card. As most anyone working in private ambulance in Los Angeles City or County knows, you have to get an Operator's permit (really, contract operator's license) from either jurisdiction you're going to work in. That requires some kind of CA ID. (sigh) The fun never ends.