# Shoreline vs. Lynch vs. Pacific



## siccinthebrain (Sep 7, 2012)

Hey guys, I'm brand new here, 18 years old and I have possible opportunities for employment as an EMT-B for Shoreline, Lynch, and Pacific. It would be great if someone could break down for me the pros/cons of each one so i could weigh my potential options. I haven't heard to much about Shoreline and they only seem appealing to me because i live 10 minutes away and I read they offer 24 hour shifts. 

Try to include equipment quality, flexibility, hours, station quality, management, pay, and anything else I missed. Any input is greatly appreciated!


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## firecoins (Sep 7, 2012)

It doesn't matter. Get hired and work.


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## JumperDown (Sep 7, 2012)

firecoins said:


> It doesn't matter. Get hired and work.



Im with him !


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## ToyotaTruck (Sep 7, 2012)

The only company I haven't heard bad things about is Pacific. If you truly do have a choice I'd go with them. Other than that work anywhere that will take you.


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## Anonymous (Sep 7, 2012)

firecoins said:


> It doesn't matter. Get hired and work.



I disagree, it absolutely matters. Management, company values, equipment, employee moral, it all matters and is night and day sometimes from one company to another.


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## DesertMedic66 (Sep 7, 2012)

Anonymous said:


> I disagree, it absolutely matters. Management, company values, equipment, employee moral, it all matters and is night and day sometimes from one company to another.



But we are talking about California. So in reality it's where every you can get hired at.


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## Anonymous (Sep 7, 2012)

I suppose to an extent beggars cannot be choosers but if you have options then best to weigh pros and cons as he is doing. I have no experience at any of the above companies. Have not heard one good thing about shoreline and there are quite a few people where I work now that left Lynch to come over. Hope that helps.


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## dhump4free (Sep 7, 2012)

all of the emt's on my ride alongs recently (with all three of those companies) said this, "when you actually get offered the job you take it, no matter who it is."

however they also told me to dump the crappy ones once a better job offer came along and rate those three in this order:

1. pacfic 2. shoreline 3. lynch


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## TRSpeed (Sep 7, 2012)

Come over to AMR they are seriously hiring every month


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## siccinthebrain (Sep 10, 2012)

Where do you work for AMR?


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## Medic496 (Sep 13, 2012)

*Lynch*

Pacific is Rural Metro, a large corporation.  Shoreline is substandard and in trouble.  Lynch is the second largest company in Orange County and I hear is a good place to work.  My friend who works there said they accomodated his school schedule, runs at least one emergency call per shift along with the transports, and the company really tries to take care of the EMT's.  Lynch and Care are the only companies in Orange County contracted witht the state for disaster response.  I am working on my masters and plan on going into emergency management.  I hope to get a job with Lynch in the future, I believe they are the next company to see serious opportunity for growth.


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## energystar (Sep 13, 2012)

I don't think Lynch runs any emergency calls in OC? Maybe he meant an urgent or CCT. The only 911 providers in OC are Care, Shoreline, Doctors, Emergency and Medix? to my knowledge. OP out of those three, I would select Pacific without a doubt.


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## JPINFV (Sep 13, 2012)

energystar said:


> I don't think Lynch runs any emergency calls in OC? Maybe he meant an urgent or CCT. The only 911 providers in OC are Care, Shoreline, Doctors, Emergency and Medix? to my knowledge. OP out of those three, I would select Pacific without a doubt.



Lynch takes care of the emergency calls coming from their contracted SNFs. These calls range from nothing to "should have called 911 hours ago." On one hand they aren't 911 calls, but paramedics aren't dispatched either, so the EMTs  are making all of the decisions.


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## energystar (Sep 13, 2012)

Gotcha. That is what I meant by "urgents". And yes those are always interesting.


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## Medic496 (Sep 13, 2012)

Well said


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## siccinthebrain (Sep 16, 2012)

Thank you this really helped


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## EMT Doom (Sep 19, 2012)

Anonymous said:


> I disagree, it absolutely matters. Management, company values, equipment, employee moral, it all matters and is night and day sometimes from one company to another.



Cannot be stressed enough. Sadly most of us can't be that choosey.

For what's it's worth I have heard mixed things, the basic industry standard, about both pacific and lynch. They both seem okay, enough.

I have heard multiple specific complaints about shoreline though.  So do watch for that.

If none of that pans out, it can be easier to get a job up in LA county and the transition's not much either


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## JPINFV (Sep 19, 2012)

One thing with Shoreline is that they require community service if you want to be on the Westminster 911 units.


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## Always BSI (Sep 19, 2012)

Went to the Shoreline interview a couple of months ago... pretty sketchy from the people I met there to the guy who interviewed me.


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## SubiEmt (Sep 30, 2012)

siccinthebrain said:


> Hey guys, I'm brand new here, 18 years old and I have possible opportunities for employment as an EMT-B for Shoreline, Lynch, and Pacific. It would be great if someone could break down for me the pros/cons of each one so i could weigh my potential options. I haven't heard to much about Shoreline and they only seem appealing to me because i live 10 minutes away and I read they offer 24 hour shifts.
> 
> Try to include equipment quality, flexibility, hours, station quality, management, pay, and anything else I missed. Any input is greatly appreciated!



I was hired by shoreline about 3 days ago. The day before i was hired I passed AMR's written. I'm gonna see what shoreline is all about, and keep following up with AMR. GL dude


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## VegasTeo702 (Oct 1, 2012)

I worked for both Lynch and Pacific.

Worked for Lynch back in 2001 for a year. I worked 12 hour night shifts with optional OT and as much OT as I wanted. I never really worked days so I wasn't stuck with stupid Dr. appt calls or dialysis. We did run 1 or 2 in the morning prior to the end of our shift but nothing in comparison to the day shift. We mainly ran ER discharges or transports from nursing homes to the ER. Those were good because nursing homes DO NOT like calling 911 for unstable ALS type of patients.

Upon arrival that patient was OURS and perfect to hone in our EMT skills learned in class and improve them. We would also run code-3 to ERs on our own without the Fire dept which was nice. I feel that prepared me for when I left to work at a 911 company. The paremedics expect you to be the perfect EMT and don't care if you just completed the EMT course so I suggest working at a non 911 provider first. Now back on topic..

Pay was decent and raises were based on merit and work ethic without any set policy. My partner and I busted our asses, arrived 30 minutes early off the clock and detailed our rig and prepared for our shift. Had our boots shined and uniforms pressed. The owners son Walt Jr was so impressed he personally walked out, thanked us for our hard work and gave us both a $2 an hour raise. Other EMTs always complained about his temper and that they didn't like him but they were a bunch of lazy slaps that didn't deserve the paper their checks were printed on.

The company is what you make of it. They have the best EMT uniforms in my opinion and pretty nice rigs. It is a large company that has been around for many years and probably not going anywhere anytime soon so there is job security.  Now, on to Pacific...

Worked there back in 2003. It was probably the WORST company I have ever worked for. They had crappy uniforms, crappy rigs and crappy pay. You would probably run an upwards of 10 to 14 hospital transports on a 12 hour shift. Most transports were from Fountain Valley Hospital main building to one of the towers about a quarter mile away. 

They offered call bonuses but that was based on the run sheets (PCRs) being scored at 100%. You basically had to lie on why the patient needed an ambulance opposed to going by taxi, wheelchair van, family member etc.. Most patients could walk but you were expected to say they could not so they could bill medicare or whatever insurance company the patient had. If you didn't lie on the paperwork then you did not get the call bonus. 

As for supplies, you had to sneak them out of the hospital because there was never much in the supply cage at headquarters. It wouldn't be uncommon for rigs to only have 1 or 2 oxygen masks or a few disposable sheets. What a ghetto, I left that place as quick as I applied. 

Now, years later it looks like it's changed. Nicer uniforms, units, have expanded their operations and I believe bought out Bowers as well. 

Moving on to Shortlife Ambulance....Ohh Shortlife.. What can I say about you? Never worked there but I responded into their 911 area MANY times as the company never provided Westminster with enough ambulances to run the calls. The units look like crap and apparently they bully you into volunteering to work for free at events to gain points to be placed on the 911 side of the company (see the OCRegister for more information on that).  

Companies I suggest working for in OC:

Lynch--for the newbie looking to gain experience or a former 911 guy that has seen and done it all just looking for a stable pay check at a decent place.

Medix--Lost all but one fire contract due to a certian someone who used to run the company. Still a good company to work for and hopefully the owner can bounce back and take back Doctors coverage area. 

CARE--A huge company where you may be a number and not a name but large enough to not have to worry about keeping your job. Many 911 coverage areas throughout OC and LA county.


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## siccinthebrain (Oct 3, 2012)

Thanks man!


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## SubiEmt (Oct 3, 2012)

siccinthebrain said:


> Thanks man!



I work at shoreline as of a few days ago. I start my evoc and OSHA next week. Wish I could contribute more to your question, but gl dude


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## FoleyArtist (Oct 10, 2012)

VegasTeo702 said:


> I worked for both Lynch and Pacific.
> 
> Worked for Lynch back in 2001 for a year. I worked 12 hour night shifts with optional OT and as much OT as I wanted. I never really worked days so I wasn't stuck with stupid Dr. appt calls or dialysis. We did run 1 or 2 in the morning prior to the end of our shift but nothing in comparison to the day shift. We mainly ran ER discharges or transports from nursing homes to the ER. Those were good because nursing homes DO NOT like calling 911 for unstable ALS type of patients.
> 
> ...



I'd like to update your current views of Pacific. While I don't contest that back in 2003 thats what went down because little parts still sound vaguely familiar still haha.

I current still work for Pacific. Worked there since 2009, two years full time and this past year part time due to medic school.  Being this is my one and only company I've worked for I AM NOT here to toot Pacific's horn I'm just here to provide information of potential pleasant places to work.

Pacific does have "on campus" transports and if your the new little fish you can get stuck here for a few months. you provide gurney transport within the property of fountain valley hospital. so far every new hire has been able to pick up field assignments and leave "on campus" for part timers like me -__-'

I believe we have nicers rigs than most IFT company and they're hardly out of service for major issues. rigs are stocked and the cage is usually fully stocked except for fitted gurney sheets those disappear soo fast its hit or miss but usually you have enough. Also i think our uniforms are comparable in presentation to CARE, PRN, Mccormick. very professional, you're issued 3 full sets.

Since the acquisition by Rural metro we have eliminated virtually all dialysis runs. hooray. i believe its to cut back on sketchy medicare fraud stuff. i haven't ran a dialysis call in over a year. also, Pacific OC/SD and Bowers LA has the kaiser contract we share it with whatever respected company in each county.

We work mostly 4/3 12hrs, 10s and i think some 8s. no 24s. two deployment locations, lake forest or fountain valley. full time employees have permanent shifts with permanent partners and assigned rigs. unlike somewhere such as lynch where i was told (by a girl i briefly dated there) they have different rigs and partner each shift. we have shift bids 3x a year where based on seniority you can bid for a more desirable shift. good OT availability. you can go PT after 6 months of full time work where you just need to submit 3 day per pay period of availability minimum. employees are great and fun to work with new and old hires. makes a shift more enjoyable to work. most emt employees are future RN's and PA's. few future paramedics stay which is understandable they leave for 911 calls (you do need the scene management experience, take it from me). checks never bounce and they are very accommodating with school.


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