# HEMS/Flight Medic Salary (US)?



## CWATT (Sep 20, 2017)

I'm curious what HEMS/flight medics are making across the US.  If you have an idea on annual salary, please post Location / State.  

Thnx.


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## DesertMedic66 (Sep 20, 2017)

According to a friend who just got hired he is making $60,000. In Southern CA.


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## TXmed (Sep 21, 2017)

In TX i make 55k/yr without OT. Will probably pull 65k with OT.


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## VentMonkey (Sep 21, 2017)

Same as above posted quotes for my base salary; also, California.

OP, what are you looking to make as a flight paramedic, and why?


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## CWATT (Sep 21, 2017)

VentMonkey said:


> OP, what are you looking to make as a flight paramedic, and why?



I'm currently going through a flight medic program and was thinking about what career opportunities exist in places like Southern California, but I've been told first responders in the US are very underpaid compared to other first world countries like the U.K., Canada, Aus, etc.


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## Carlos Danger (Sep 21, 2017)

CWATT said:


> I'm currently going through a flight medic program and was thinking about what career opportunities exist in places like Southern California, but *I've been told first responders in the US are very underpaid compared to other first world countries like the U.K., Canada, Aus, etc.*



I think that is probably generally quite true, but there are places you can do pretty well in the US. You just have to do your homework to find out where the good opportunities are and be willing to move to them. Unfortunately, there is generally an inverse correlation between the desirability of a location and the compensation relative to cost of living. Simple supply/demand economics. But there are probably exceptions to that, as well.

In the US, opportunities in HEMS are much better for RN's who also have EMS background and credentials than they are for paramedics. Again, it's just supply & demand.


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## Summit (Sep 21, 2017)

Around here, flight medics make a little less than 3rd service, hospital, or fire EMS, but more than private EMS.


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## VFlutter (Sep 22, 2017)

Remi said:


> In the US, opportunities in HEMS are much better for RN's who also have EMS background and credentials than they are for paramedics. Again, it's just supply & demand.



Unfortunately in my area most RNs take pay cuts when they go into HEMS. Evens out a little with the hours but still less then I was making in the ICU unless I pick up extra which adds up quickly.


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## DesertMedic66 (Sep 22, 2017)

Chase said:


> Unfortunately in my area most RNs take pay cuts when they go into HEMS. Evens out a little with the hours but still less then I was making in the ICU unless I pick up extra which adds up quickly.


It’s the same in my area also. My girlfriend who is a RN in her hospitals trauma ICU would take a huge pay cut to go HEMS. She thought about going HEMS until she found out how much of a pay cut she would have to deal with.


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## Carlos Danger (Sep 22, 2017)

Chase said:


> Unfortunately in my area most RNs take pay cuts when they go into HEMS. Evens out a little with the hours but still less then I was making in the ICU unless I pick up extra which adds up quickly.


You still make considerably more than most paramedics in your area, I would bet. And there is generally quite a bit less competition for FN positions than for FP positions. Not that the good jobs aren't competitive, just considerably less so.


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## GMCmedic (Sep 22, 2017)

I believe its about $65,000 around here. That is about 10-15,000 more than most ground services in this area. 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk


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## Scott33 (Sep 23, 2017)

North East US hospital- based system. My base pay is about 78k. However with the built in OT for the 3/4 flex shifts, night diff, and mandatory training OT, I make around 100k. Flight nurses make from 12- 50k more (most hired from within the system - some with 25 years experience / annual pay increments).


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## CWATT (Sep 23, 2017)

Chase said:


> ...still less then I was making in the ICU



Were you working in the ICU as a nurse or paramedic?


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## CANMAN (Sep 25, 2017)

82,356.00 is my base, which is $36.84 an hour.

We work an 80 hour bi-weekly pay, but do 36 hours one week and 44 the next. So I have built in OT each check. Also have shift differentials and potential OT that aren't added into that base. 

Hospital based in D.C. which means D.C. / M.D. cost of living, so you need to make that to make what I call a "good living". I believe we are quite possibly the highest paid US HEMS program in the nation, which was a large reason why I made the recent jump. The benefits package is pretty amazing as well, especially if you have a family. I definitely made a compromise, left a great program I loved, but got tired of making 21.43 an hour to fly after 5 years of service, and working 3 jobs to make the kinda living I wanted to make.

All in all, this year with my P.T. fire job I will do about 115 which I am really happy with and coupled with my wife's salary allows us to live pretty nicely in the area.


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## CANMAN (Sep 25, 2017)

TXmed said:


> In TX i make 55k/yr without OT. Will probably pull 65k with OT.



Great money for TX right?


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## TXmed (Sep 25, 2017)

CANMAN said:


> Great money for TX right?



Yes pretty good, i dont go hungry. But there are plenty of FD's in my area with starting pay similiar if not more. Which can be disheartening to see people with far less experience, certifications, and volume of work make more. But hey i dont do it for the money


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## CANMAN (Sep 25, 2017)

TXmed said:


> Yes pretty good, i dont go hungry. But there are plenty of FD's in my area with starting pay similiar if not more. Which can be disheartening to see people with far less experience, certifications, and volume of work make more. But hey i dont do it for the money



Totally understand what you mean. We have firefighter/medics in the Northern VA (NOVA) area easily making 120 a year with the bare minimums of PALS/ACLS....


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## flightguy85 (Sep 25, 2017)

My base is right around $65k working 36hrs/wk. That doesn't include any shift diffs, holidays, training pay, on-call, etc. Working nights and predominantly on weekends could easily make that $75k. This is for a hospital-based service. Nurses can make significantly more. In fact we have some that have or are working on their NP but would take a substantial paycut to go work elsewhere as an NP. A nurse that signs up to work just weekend nights is automatically getting around $20/hr in shift diffs and incentives alone, as we all get additional pay for working transport.


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## mct601 (Oct 9, 2017)

I need to get out of Mississippi apparently...


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## fast65 (Oct 12, 2017)

I'm a little late to the party, but out in Oregon, my base pay is around $70,000/year working 48 hours a week. That's in addition to the best benefits package I've had thus far in EMS.


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## ParamagicFF (Mar 30, 2018)

CANMAN said:


> 82,356.00 is my base, which is $36.84 an hour.
> 
> We work an 80 hour bi-weekly pay, but do 36 hours one week and 44 the next. So I have built in OT each check. Also have shift differentials and potential OT that aren't added into that base.
> 
> ...



Are you able to PM me? I'm new to the site and unable to send PMs it seems. I'm in your area and have some questions I'd like to run by you.


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## CANMAN (Mar 30, 2018)

ParamagicFF said:


> Are you able to PM me? I'm new to the site and unable to send PMs it seems. I'm in your area and have some questions I'd like to run by you.



You have mail


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## Tigger (Apr 2, 2018)

Summit said:


> Around here, flight medics make a little less than 3rd service, hospital, or fire EMS, but more than private EMS.


We've had a few folks leave or get offers from FFL, their starting pay for medics (a few years ago) was under 50k. My base is over that and my district is far from wealthy. It's shameful, no wonder they can't keep medics.


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## Ensihoitaja (Apr 2, 2018)

Tigger said:


> We've had a few folks leave or get offers from FFL, their starting pay for medics (a few years ago) was under 50k. My base is over that and my district is far from wealthy. It's shameful, no wonder they can't keep medics.



And you never get a set schedule or base. I'm amazed they keep any employees.


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## Tigger (Apr 2, 2018)

Ensihoitaja said:


> And you never get a set schedule or base. I'm amazed they keep any employees.


I am also told (grain of salt here) that it's a seriously RN heavy program and there is little advancement opportunity for paramedics. We're seeing more and more double RN crews, which would be fine if the the RN crews got some field exposure. If you sit on scene with my trauma patient for 15 minutes _in the ambulance_, we aren't going to call you anymore.


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## VentMonkey (Apr 2, 2018)

Tigger said:


> If you sit on scene with my trauma patient for 15 minutes _in the ambulance_, we aren't going to call you anymore.


Any trauma patient? Every trauma patient? I can’t recall how you all say CO works as far as RSI goes, but that is one procedure I’d hate to feel rushed along at, let alone as if the GEMS crews wouldn’t utilize us because of that. 

Clearly, I’m not privie to your system, but it just seems like a broad brush to paint with. 

There are, and have been numerous calls over the past few months where sitting on scene, thinking it through, and safely and efficiently working with everyone on scene did so much more than had we’d felt, or been rushed along for the soul purpose of time savings when time savings was of no benefit to the particular patient at hand.


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## Tigger (Apr 2, 2018)

VentMonkey said:


> Any trauma patient? Every trauma patient? I can’t recall how you all say CO works as far as RSI goes, but that is one procedure I’d hate to feel rushed along at, let alone as if the GEMS crews wouldn’t utilize us because of that.
> 
> Clearly, I’m not privie to your system, but it just seems like a broad brush to paint with.
> 
> There are, and have been numerous calls over the past few months where sitting on scene, thinking it through, and safely and efficiently working with everyone on scene did so much more than had we’d felt, or been rushed along for the soul purpose of time savings when time savings was of no benefit to the particular patient at hand.


We can and do RSI. I should have added more. I mean 15 minutes to put the monitor on and start an IV on a patient that already large bore access. Not a good reason to wait around with a trauma patient. I get that it takes time to secure things in the aircraft, but we pride ourselves on having the patient ready for transfer when they arrive, and should we not I'll get a phone call from our medical director, who is theirs as well. Handoff, put the monitor on, go. The medic/RN crews get it, the double RN crews who profusely tell us that "we're just used to the ICU" seem not to. I am far from anti-nurse and recognize the serious value they bring to the program. Unfortunately this program does not help with the scene management issues as far as we can tell.


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## Summit (Apr 2, 2018)

FFL definitely prizes their RN/P dual certs from what I've seen when running double RNs, but usually I see its usually RN + P crews (markedly cheaper to operate payroll wise).

I was told I'd be a good candidate RN once I had enough years of experience because I also have EMS experience.

Woah.. I just realized I have passed my 5 years of critical care (FFL minimum hiring standard for RNs). But now I don't think I want to go to rotating shifts. I'm spoiled.


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## VFlutter (Apr 2, 2018)

I feel comfortable flying RN/RN however there are many nurses whom I would not want together in the back of a helicopter. It can be a hard transition for some ICU nurses with no ER/prehospital experience and if so those are not the ones whom should be flying double RN. There should be no issue with experienced flight RNs so. 

What airframe does your HEMS service fly? I can do pretty much anything in-flight in my BK but the 407s are a completely different story.


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## Carlos Danger (Apr 2, 2018)

I was consistently impressed throughout my HEMS career with how well and how quickly _most_ ICU nurses adapted to the prehospital environment.

But I mostly worked for very prehospital-oriented programs. I think it is at least as much a reflection of the culture and training of the HEMS program, as it is the individual.


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## Summit (Apr 2, 2018)

AS350 B3e because they gotta fly over 14ers (and sometimes land on them)


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## Peak (Apr 2, 2018)

Tigger said:


> We've had a few folks leave or get offers from FFL, their starting pay for medics (a few years ago) was under 50k. My base is over that and my district is far from wealthy. It's shameful, no wonder they can't keep medics.



Yep and RN pay isn't much better, it is typically only 10-15 thousand more a year. Most of the nurses that they try to recruit from us would be taking a 30-50% pay cut. I made more as a new grad RN in the ED than most of those flight nurses (the exception being those who's time with FFL/AL is measured in decades). 



Tigger said:


> I am also told (grain of salt here) that it's a seriously RN heavy program and there is little advancement opportunity for paramedics. We're seeing more and more double RN crews, which would be fine if the the RN crews got some field exposure. If you sit on scene with my trauma patient for 15 minutes _in the ambulance_, we aren't going to call you anymore.



They pulled that when I was in fire, and 15 minutes was far from the longest time they took to package, so we stopped calling them. If I can have the patient in the hospital before you would have lifted off then you are not benefiting my patient (5 minutes to take off, 10 to fly to us, 15-20ish to package...). And it's not just in the field, I've been at some outreach sites and we had to call for them to transport to our main campus and they wanted 30 minutes to package a patient who was already intubated on push dose ketamine/versed and very ready for transport. The lack of urgency is ridiculous, its not a matter of getting the patient ready for transport, its just that everything is done at a snail's pace.



VentMonkey said:


> Any trauma patient? Every trauma patient? I can’t recall how you all say CO works as far as RSI goes, but that is one procedure I’d hate to feel rushed along at, let alone as if the GEMS crews wouldn’t utilize us because of that.
> 
> Clearly, I’m not privie to your system, but it just seems like a broad brush to paint with.
> 
> There are, and have been numerous calls over the past few months where sitting on scene, thinking it through, and safely and efficiently working with everyone on scene did so much more than had we’d felt, or been rushed along for the soul purpose of time savings when time savings was of no benefit to the particular patient at hand.



It's not just trauma. Strokes, headbleeds, septic neonate s/p Norwood (that is on my list of cases I will never forget, and not because of the patient)... the list goes on. I have been on the EMS side, been in outreach sites sending patients, and receiving them in our main campus. There are some great crews here, but the majority don't have a sense of urgency.


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## Tigger (Apr 3, 2018)

Peak said:


> Yep and RN pay isn't much better, it is typically only 10-15 thousand more a year. Most of the nurses that they try to recruit from us would be taking a 30-50% pay cut. I made more as a new grad RN in the ED than most of those flight nurses (the exception being those who's time with FFL/AL is measured in decades).
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Lately we have had more issues with just general flusterness. I really like flight, I appreciate their community outreach and their absolute willingness to participate in SAR operation. I just wish there was more emphasis was placed on prehospital operations. But I guess for that money I'm not sure I'd be bound and determined to move forward with much personal growth.


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## Ensihoitaja (Apr 3, 2018)

Tigger said:


> I am also told (grain of salt here) that it's a seriously RN heavy program and there is little advancement opportunity for paramedics. We're seeing more and more double RN crews, which would be fine if the the RN crews got some field exposure. If you sit on scene with my trauma patient for 15 minutes _in the ambulance_, we aren't going to call you anymore.



Jeeze. We never use them (or any other HEMS agency) so most of what I know is from friends that work/have worked there.


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## BMedic (May 18, 2018)

Salary range in my area
Highest paying company
$28.00/hr starting 36hr's a week with shift differential. about 10% for weekends and 19% for nights....

many others range near $25/hr


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