# Bay Area ambulance companies?



## TheMowingMonk (Feb 22, 2008)

Well for any of you in the Bay area workings for any ambulance companies i want your feed back

right now Im applying to several companies (cant do AMR because they are only hiring full time and i need part time cause of school) but the companies I've been looking at are NorCal Ambulance, Golden State Ambulance, and WestMed Ambulance. All i really know about them is what i have seen on their websites and from talking to their human resources people. 

So any of you heard anything about any of these companies or work for any of them, ideally I want as much 911 Experience as i can get but that not looking hopeful if I'm not working AMR.


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## Redheadedpleasure (May 13, 2010)

*Hello all!*

It feels great to join a forum where everyone shares the same interests in transportation of the sick and injured as I do. Look forward to reading the various posts.


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## CAPilot55 (May 14, 2010)

Hey Mowing Mawk..not sure of all the companies in bay area that run BLS and ALS, but..Did you hear of AMR hiring or what?


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## TheMowingMonk (May 22, 2010)

yeah, I know this is a really old post, I have actually been working for AMR almost two years now, been alot of fun


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## jgmedic (May 25, 2010)

TheMowingMonk said:


> yeah, I know this is a really old post, I have actually been working for AMR almost two years now, been alot of fun



in Santa Clara County? Are they hiring for medic? I work down South for AMR but I might be considering up north.


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## TheMowingMonk (May 25, 2010)

Yeah I work in Santa Clara county, and they wont be hiring medics any time soon, they are currently overstaffed with medics as are most of the bay area counties


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## jgmedic (May 27, 2010)

TheMowingMonk said:


> Yeah I work in Santa Clara county, and they wont be hiring medics any time soon, they are currently overstaffed with medics as are most of the bay area counties



I figured, we are in the same boat down here. Oh well.


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## Aprz (May 31, 2010)

Heh, I was reading your post and I was like "What?! AMR hiring?", but then I read the date of the post. My friend has been waiting about a year to get into academy for EMT for scc, haha. He's 8th (or something like that; one of the top 10 I know) on the list so next acamedy, but thanks to Paramedic Plus taking alco, it looks like they'll never have an academy ever again in scc, haha.  For EMTs, I see Royal is hiring in both SCC and ALCO, but doesn't look like you'll get a lot of 911 experience (and I have a friend who just started working for Royal who says "yeh, mostly IFTs").


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## 911Knight (Jun 8, 2010)

Funny, I am on that same AMR list and have been for a year in Santa Clara County. I am # 10. Does anybody know when they will start picking up EMT'S?


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## TheMowingMonk (Jun 19, 2010)

when ever they start picking up medics, then the EMTs that are medics waiting for jobs will move up and leave EMT openings. But right now they are overstaffed in both departments as far as I know


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## Aprz (Jun 20, 2010)

Plus they are losing alco so it's unlikely to be soon.

In other news... SCC EMS Agency is a pain. Didn't receive my temporary cert by deadline (today is the deadline they gave me) and they never cashed my checked so I am assuming something went wrong... terrible.


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## TheMowingMonk (Jun 23, 2010)

Aprz said:


> Plus they are losing alco so it's unlikely to be soon.
> 
> In other news... SCC EMS Agency is a pain. Didn't receive my temporary cert by deadline (today is the deadline they gave me) and they never cashed my checked so I am assuming something went wrong... terrible.



They dont give out temporary Certs, they just make the final one and send that to you, but it cause take some time for them so make the card. And you dont get a badge until you are working for a company cause they only give the badges to your employer and you have to get the badge from them. The only thing they give you directly is the wallet card, so if your just getting the cert and dont have a job lined up yet youll only get a wallet card


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## beandip4all (Jun 24, 2010)

TheMowingMonk said:


> They dont give out temporary Certs, they just make the final one and send that to you, but it cause take some time for them so make the card. And you dont get a badge until you are working for a company cause they only give the badges to your employer and you have to get the badge from them. The only thing they give you directly is the wallet card, so if your just getting the cert and dont have a job lined up yet youll only get a wallet card



on the plus side, the SCC badge is way cooler than SF county!  all flashy like with your photo and can clip onto your uniform and everything.  the SF county ems card is teh lame.... you actually have to cut it out yourself and it's on non-laminated paper!


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## AnthonyTheEmt (Jun 30, 2010)

Just let you know this, dont waste your time applying for Norcal.


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## Markhk (Jun 30, 2010)

TheMowingMonk said:


> They dont give out temporary Certs, they just make the final one




Actually, Santa Clara County actually is now issuing temporary certs because of the transition to the Central CA EMT Registry.  The updated policy can be reviewed here:

http://www.sccemsagency.org/SCC/doc...vices (DEP)/attachments/EMT2010memotoEMTs.pdf

Sorry to hear about your headache Aprz...it just happens to be a very busy time for them because of this new background check system and reporting to the state being implemented right now.


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## TheMowingMonk (Jul 3, 2010)

Oh yeah, the had mentioned at work some of the changes to Santa Clara County cert policies, I just never followed up on it, I guess its still happening, I never heard anything else about it so I was thinking it wasn't going to happen. after looking over the stuff looks like it will be some more fees.....yay


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## Aprz (Jul 3, 2010)

Well, I did it before the temporary cert change (that happened on 7/1) so good for me.


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## seedlesscannon (Jul 5, 2010)

anybody have info on westmed a als company in santa clara? im trying to move north from san diego but am having a hard time finding employment as a medic.


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## TheMowingMonk (Jul 7, 2010)

seedlesscannon said:


> anybody have info on westmed a als company in santa clara? im trying to move north from san diego but am having a hard time finding employment as a medic.



for ALS they just do interfacility ALS-T transports, rarely they can get pulled into the 911 system of ambulance level for AMR get too low. But 99% of what they do is interfacility, heard its a good company to work for though


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## NewportEMT (Jun 5, 2011)

Hey Mowing Monk,

I've always wanted to work with AMR, no other company.

Now, I've got myself an interview with AMR in SCC, Livermore station, in just a few days. Any advice on what they will be covering as for skills? Also, what is this I hear about a waiting list after you're hired? That would sure suck if someone quit their job and found out AMR had only placed you on the waiting list.

I'm assuming now that Rural Metro has taken over SCC, there are a lot of changes to AMR down here.

Thanks,
Jon


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## NewportEMT (Jun 5, 2011)

By the way, a guy name Josh was the one who had called me in for the interview. He said that it will consist of Written, Skills, Interview, and Lifting 100+lbs up stairs all in one.


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## TheMowingMonk (Jun 5, 2011)

Well AMR is going through a ton of changes, and your interview is not going to be for AMR Santa Clara County, as of July 1st AMR SCCo will no longer exist so they will not being hiring anyone for that operation, they are switching over to an inter facility only service for the county since Rural Metro will be taking over the 911 contract. It will be AMR IFT Southbay now, and will cover more counties then just SCCo in the same operation. Also Livermore is not in SCCo, that is in Alameda county which will be part of AMR IFT Eastbay. 

As for the hiring and then being put on a waiting list, that does happen, occasionally more offers are given then they have spots for in an academy so they get put on a waiting list for an academy, I would not recommend quitting your job until you have confirmed that start date of the academy because it could be months before there is one. There are still alot of changes and logistics that need to be worked out with the change over in the operations so alot of things with AMR will not be set in stone in the near future until they figure everything out so I would say be very cautious before you make any major changes.

For the Interview I am not familiar with a Josh, the written test is a national reg style multiple choice test with some weird questions on it. The skills test will usually include things like backboarding with 9ft straps, traction splints, CPR, BVM and other national reg skills, they interview is usually done by a panel of three people, the questions are all pre written and they just have to judge your responses based on a number scale. Usually they don't do all the part of the interview process in the same day so specify which parts you will be doing on the day so you know what to wear, suit for the interview and written test and something a little more movement friendly for the skills, though its not unheard of for people to do skills tests in suits. hope that gives you a little more info on how to prepare.


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## NewportEMT (Jun 5, 2011)

Thank you. 

He had said the whole day will encompass all those stations within a few hours, also saying to dress appropriately for interview and also bring tennis shoes. Ya, Livermore is in ALCO but apparently they are testing there for SCC. Will they  not run BLS at all in SCC? I've heard a rumor that all BLS for SCC would clock-in at SMC and drive down to Santa Clara.


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## TheMowingMonk (Jun 5, 2011)

yeah Livermore is where AMR's Administrative offices are, so that might be where they are doing interviews for after the change over. If they said it will be for SCCo then it will be for AMR IFT Southbay which will have a deployment in SCCo in San Jose, but will cover all of the surrounding counties including SMC, but most likely you would be clocking in at SCCo because that is where the largest deployment center is.

As for AMR running BLS Inter-facility, that is what their primary business will be. BLS IFT and CCT services. It is the ALS 911 services that will be going away once rural metro takes over, and also in ALCO AMR ALS 911 services will go away when paramedic plus takes over 911 services in that county, so AMR ALCO will also no longer exist by the end of the year and it will be AMR IFT Eastbay which will cover the north and east bay counties like Contra Costa, San Joaquin, ALCO and Solano. So if you get through the interviews you would be working the BLS IFT division or the CCT division.


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## NewportEMT (Jun 5, 2011)

Nice. 

I haven't strapped a backboard, nor have I used the traction splint in a long time. I currently work for United Plus, doing non emergency transports and hospital discharges.. 

Therefore, I am open to anymore of your advices or tips.. got any for me? lol


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## NewportEMT (Jun 5, 2011)

And I'm assuming AMR will probably never come back to SCC, since Rural Metro already transfered and took most of the medics from AMR down there under their wing. Thoughts?


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## TheMowingMonk (Jun 5, 2011)

Well I know AMR would like to come back to AMR SCCo since they are loosing a ton of potential money with that contract, it all depends on how well Rural Metro performs once they start their services, and yes Rural metro took most of the AMR medics, which Isn't surprising since AMR just laid off all of their SCCo employees (That was a fun letter to get), But EMT's have the option to switch to IFT division and keep their jobs, but only a small number of Medics will be allow to stay in the IFT division to do ALS-T transports. The rest ether have to go to rural metro, transfer to another county or be laid off since AMR won't need very many medics since they wont have 911 services anymore and will only have a few ALS-T units. 

But you never know what can happen if you are aware of what happened in Monterrey county. AMR lost the contract to Westmed ambulance which took most of AMRs staff to run the county where it fell on its face and went bankrupt trying to operate the county, so the got booted out and AMR took the contract back over and hired back most of it staff and is still doing 911 services in the county today, so ultimately it comes down to if RM can successfully handle operation of a county as big, diverse and Busy as SCCo.


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## NewportEMT (Jun 5, 2011)

Good point, lets hope it happens. Whether or not I get the chance to work with AMR, I do feel that they are the better company with a higher standard and more potential. 

Also, someone said that AMR might file a suit over Paramedics Plus, in regards to their 'predatory pricing'. Apparently, AMR charges about 3K for ALS, while Paramedic Plus proposed a 1.5K or something along those lines. But, I will be very surprised if the county even accepts the suit, since the whole state is facing budgeting shortages.

Are you with RM now? I have a buddy who had drove by and seen Rural Metro rigs with a ton of EMTs training and doing mock scenarios. 

And.. what exactly would I expect in the skills test?


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## emtpche (Jun 6, 2011)

Mowing Hawk

Was reading this thread and caught your latest comment.  I have to say that comparing Rural Metro to WestMed is like comparing apple and oranges (financially).  Rural Metro is a large company (second largest in the US) with stable finances.  On top of that it was just purchased by a private equity firm just like AMR.  Don't see another Monterey repeat coming this way.  Yeah AMR would like SCCO back as it was one of their largest money making operations they had.


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## BayareaMedic (Jun 6, 2011)

AMR's reputation of employee's "being a number" and being over priced seems to be catching up with them. They are loosing 2 good sized contracts in the same year. Me personally, I dont see them making it back into ALCO or SCC strictly based on the fact of the new companies taking over both of those contracts making the changes that the counties have been wanting to see from AMR for years. Although we will have to wait and see how both of these companies taking ALCO and SCC over, perform once the contracts do go into effect.


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## TheMowingMonk (Jun 6, 2011)

emtpche said:


> Mowing Hawk
> 
> Was reading this thread and caught your latest comment.  I have to say that comparing Rural Metro to WestMed is like comparing apple and oranges (financially).  Rural Metro is a large company (second largest in the US) with stable finances.  On top of that it was just purchased by a private equity firm just like AMR.  Don't see another Monterey repeat coming this way.  Yeah AMR would like SCCO back as it was one of their largest money making operations they had.



yeah I agree, Rural Metro is definately alot stronger coming into it the westmed, plus they have the motivation of wanting to look good in SCCo because once they have their foot in the bay area they are going to starting going after other counties as they come up....... like maybe when san mateo is up again, so it would be a very bad move for them to mess up this county because it could mean a lot of good future business. And so far from what I have seen they are putting alot of good work into updating the county and making it a mordern system, but not sure how I feel about the Philips defibrillators yet


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## NewportEMT (Jun 7, 2011)

BayAreaMedic, what changes are you talking about? Just curious, since I am new to the scene.

Also, what company do you work for?


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## BayareaMedic (Jun 8, 2011)

I can not speak largely on SCCO... But as far as ALCO, from what I have read, it seems like PP+ is striving for some unity between ambulance and fire agencies. They have bought all the fire agecies new lifepak 15's and Lucas CPR devices. Along with that part of it, they are revamping communications between the fire and ambulance as well. They (PP+) will be dispatched by Alameda county comm center, which fire is as well, which will give fire and ambulance the ability  to communicate directly. It will also cut down on lag time between the initial 911 call and the dispatch time because it is all coming from the same dispatch center.. This is all public knowledge too, if you go to ALCO EMS website you can find the contract. But stuff like this is stuff that counties like because it ultimately increases patient care, and when fire and ambulance play nice in the sand box they will always strive to work together and find money saving avenues together...


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## TheMowingMonk (Jun 8, 2011)

Yeah Rural Metro is doing the same thing in SCCo they are totally revamping the com system which is much needed since SCCo for how busy of a county it is has an outdated comms system. Plus all new equipment, Rigs and facilities, I don't think they are going as far as buying the fire departments new equipment, but they are doing a nice new PCR system with the hospitals that fire is suppose to be in on too.


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## Markhk (Jun 9, 2011)

I don't know Mowing Monk, I kind of like County Comm's outdated-but-retro windowless-atom-bomb-resistant-60's-bunker building.


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## Akulahawk (Jun 9, 2011)

Markhk said:


> I don't know Mowing Monk, I kind of like County Comm's outdated-but-retro windowless-atom-bomb-resistant-60's-bunker building.


I gotta admit... that facility does have a special "something" about it... not to mention they'd have a pretty good view _if_ they had windows. 

Ten years ago, the comm system was getting a bit overloaded at times, but I'd never heard the BLS side ever get overloaded. While bringing the BLS crews into the same radio system may have made for easier comms during MCI events, it just added that much more to the traffic on 91/92, which was busy enough to begin with.:wacko:


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## TheMowingMonk (Jun 10, 2011)

The BLS Crew don't use the county comms system, they have their own dispatch done through nextels, and as far as I am aware the building is not changing, they are just updating the technology they are using in it, so the bomb shelter will still be lol, and they do have a good view, just need some lawn chairs on the roof


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## Outworld (Jun 14, 2011)

*changes....*

all of the 'changes' that Bay AreaMedic cites were listed in the RFP. So, whether AMR or PP+, those changes were gonna happen..





BayareaMedic said:


> I can not speak largely on SCCO... But as far as ALCO, from what I have read, it seems like PP+ is striving for some unity between ambulance and fire agencies. They have bought all the fire agecies new lifepak 15's and Lucas CPR devices. Along with that part of it, they are revamping communications between the fire and ambulance as well. They (PP+) will be dispatched by Alameda county comm center, which fire is as well, which will give fire and ambulance the ability  to communicate directly. It will also cut down on lag time between the initial 911 call and the dispatch time because it is all coming from the same dispatch center.. This is all public knowledge too, if you go to ALCO EMS website you can find the contract. But stuff like this is stuff that counties like because it ultimately increases patient care, and when fire and ambulance play nice in the sand box they will always strive to work together and find money saving avenues together...


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## TheMowingMonk (Jun 14, 2011)

That true, these are changes the counties wanted to so no matter the provider they were going to change which is good because the systems needed updating


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## BayareaMedic (Jun 16, 2011)

Outworld said:


> all of the 'changes' that Bay AreaMedic cites were listed in the RFP. So, whether AMR or PP+, those changes were gonna happen..



Although the changes are listed in the RFP,which I did state in my blog, they were put there because they were things PP+ wanted to bring to the table. Such as the dispatch program they are going to go with. I think PP+ will overall be a better company to work for then AMR, regardless if the "changes" were going to happen or not.


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## EmptyMyTrash (Jul 4, 2011)

Took a tour of one of the RM Santa Clara County ambulances the other day and they look pretty sweet.  Saw one posting in a parking lot and chatted with the crew for almost an hour.  Sounds like the transition is going ok but then again it was only day 2


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## TheMowingMonk (Jul 4, 2011)

Yeah I have to say the rigs look pretty nice


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## ohsmash (Dec 19, 2011)

AnthonyTheEmt said:


> Just let you know this, dont waste your time applying for Norcal.



Can I ask why not?


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