# National job market for Medics



## 281mustang (Jun 1, 2014)

I'm currently living in Florida but have a desire to relocate. I have no prior experience working as a Medic and don't have the necessary travel funds to try a shotgun approach so I'm confining my search to areas where there is a relatively high demand for Medics. 

I know most areas of Texas and Georgia have promising job markets and while Texas is possibility for me I would like to explore various other places. A few areas I'm looking at are...

New Mexico
North Carolina
Tennessee
Massachusetts
Vegas
Colorado


Any info would on the above areas as well as additional areas with good markets that aren't previously listed above would be greatly appreciated. 

Also, FWIW I would eventually like to get on with fire so that is also a potential consideration. Thanks guys!


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## 46Young (Jun 1, 2014)

Northern Virginia, particularly Fairfax County. We're upstaffing ten or eleven truck companies, and eight heavy rescue squads (one is already ALS) with medics. There's also retirements to replace as well. Apply ASAP.


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## ExpatMedic0 (Jun 1, 2014)

I know Acadian  was offering $10,000 Paramedic Sign On Incentive
in Louisiana and Southeast Texas.https://acadianambulance.candidatecare.jobs/ Honolulu EMS (a 3rd party municipal agency) has been in the news a lot lately because of there paramedic shortage Island wide. All current paramedics are having to work mandatory overtime, sometimes double shifts, thats been going on for years http://www.emsworld.com/video/10536750/honolulu-city-auditor-ems-spent-millions-on-overtime
Other than that, if you open to relocation I would check emsworld.com and jems.com for jobs. If you had 2 years experience, I would say do some overseas contracts, but almost all of them require 2 years medic experience.


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## 281mustang (Jun 1, 2014)

Thanks for the replies fellas, they're much appreciated.


46Young said:


> Northern Virginia, particularly Fairfax County. We're upstaffing ten or eleven truck companies, and eight heavy rescue squads (one is already ALS) with medics. There's also retirements to replace as well. Apply ASAP.


Really? Fairfax county is beautiful country and I've been hearing for years about the phenomenal pay up there. I didn't give it much thought as I assumed it would of been one of the more challenging areas to get on with.

What do they have up in that area for single role EMS services? I would love to start out with FD but realistically can't justify the financial cost associated with half a dozen trips up there for every step of the process. 

Do you have any info on Virginia reciprocity? I have my Florida/National Pro Board FF 1&2 and my NREMT-P in addition to my Florida Medic cert. 

I work in St. Pete, FL at the moment. Our service more or less hires just about every Medic that applies unless a major issues arises during the process. Is the third party EMS situation up in North VA somewhat familiar?



ExpatMedic0 said:


> I know Acadian  was offering $10,000 Paramedic Sign On Incentive
> in Louisiana and Southeast Texas.https://acadianambulance.candidatecare.jobs/ Honolulu EMS (a 3rd party municipal agency) has been in the news a lot lately because of there paramedic shortage Island wide. All current paramedics are having to work mandatory overtime, sometimes double shifts, thats been going on for years http://www.emsworld.com/video/10536750/honolulu-city-auditor-ems-spent-millions-on-overtime
> Other than that, if you open to relocation I would check emsworld.com and jems.com for jobs. If you had 2 years experience, I would say do some overseas contracts, but almost all of them require 2 years medic experience.


 I honestly would love to do contract work but obviously am unqualified. I'm really not too interested in Hawaii, the whole tropical thing isn't that big of an appeal to me and I'm not willing to pay the massive cost of living increase associated with it. 

I'm currently working on an application for Acadian in Austin but wouldn't mind working in Houston or Dallas. One of my biggest concerns is the ability to work OT, I have a decent amount of debt I need to pay off and have no qualms with doing 60-70+ hour work weeks.


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## UnkiEMT (Jun 1, 2014)

NM is relatively short on Medics, that being said, you don't really want to live here.

MA is fairly glutted with Medics, at least in and around Boston, couldn't tell you about western MA.

Just as well you don't want to go to HI, the reciprocity requirements for HI as a medic are INSANE, or at least they were 5 years ago.


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## Chewy20 (Jun 1, 2014)

I would stay away from MA, unless you can get on with Boston EMS (they are not hiring). There are some private companies with 911 contracts, but not sure if its enough to really live off of in the area you would need to live.

Look into Brewster Ambulance, Cataldo Ambulance, AMR (Brockton I think is there only 911 contract, but youll get a lot of shootings and stabbings). This is for the south shore area (Cataldo is North Shore). Not to familiar with western MA. I know there are a couple third services, but they don't actively hire to my knowledge. TX is where its at. Austin-Travis County EMS is accepting applications now, and the process starts on the 14th and goes throughout the summer.


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## 281mustang (Jun 2, 2014)

UnkiEMT said:


> NM is relatively short on Medics, that being said, you don't really want to live here.


Why do you say that?


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## TransportJockey (Jun 2, 2014)

281mustang said:


> Why do you say that?



Because this state is the land of entrapment. Medics also dint get paid a lot in most areas. Lots of rural services that are volunteer with minimal paid coverage, unfortunately.


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## RocketMedic (Jun 2, 2014)

New Mexico is $12.00/hour for twelve hours and living with hundred-hour weeks.

Oklahoma isnt horrible.


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## TransportJockey (Jun 2, 2014)

RocketMedic said:


> New Mexico is $12.00/hour for twelve hours and living with hundred-hour weeks.
> 
> Oklahoma isnt horrible.



For the most part yep. There are a few services paying more, but they're the exception, not the norm


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## AtlasFlyer (Jun 2, 2014)

Plenty of jobs for EMTs & Medics in Indianapolis.

Of course, it's the middle of Indiana... and there's not much here. It's not bad (cost of living is low) but it's far from super exciting either.


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## DesertMedic66 (Jun 2, 2014)

Pretty much stay away from CA. Pay is not the best with a high cost of living in most areas. For every 10 citizens their seems to be 5 EMTs and 2 paramedics. And protocols are not very good (unless you go up into NorCal but they can still improve greatly).


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## Drax (Jun 3, 2014)

UnkiEMT said:


> NM is relatively short on Medics, that being said, you don't really want to live here.



Can not stress the second half of this enough.


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## TransportJockey (Jun 3, 2014)

Drax said:


> Can not stress the second half of this enough.



Hey it's better than living where I work lol. But I'm also looking to not live in NM more than a year or two longer


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## 281mustang (Jun 3, 2014)

Well I guess that rules out NM... Anyone have any info on NC?


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## RocketMedic (Jun 3, 2014)

Pecos is a place that I push through to get gas in Midland lol.


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## Imacho (Jun 3, 2014)

281mustang said:


> Well I guess that rules out NM... Anyone have any info on NC?



I work in charlotte. www.medic911.com. Its a great place with excellent pay and benefits. 3rd service and BLS fire system. PM me for more info.


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## MagicTyler (Jun 3, 2014)

Check AMR website, a lot of paramedic jobs. I know we need medics in Arizona.


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## Handsome Robb (Jun 3, 2014)

There's jobs in NV. Not a ton but they're there. Average maybe a little above average pay (from the good places), no state taxes and right around the national average for cost of living.


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## 46Young (Jun 13, 2014)

281mustang said:


> Thanks for the replies fellas, they're much appreciated.
> Really? Fairfax county is beautiful country and I've been hearing for years about the phenomenal pay up there. I didn't give it much thought as I assumed it would of been one of the more challenging areas to get on with.
> 
> What do they have up in that area for single role EMS services? I would love to start out with FD but realistically can't justify the financial cost associated with half a dozen trips up there for every step of the process.
> ...



Our hiring peocess basically requires three trips - the entrance exam, the CPAT (unless you have it, then only two trips), and the poly, medical, and psych, which they'll schedule back-to-back-to-back for people out of state. No oral boards.

For single role EMS, you have Alexandria Fire and EMS, which I would recommend, and D.C. FEMS, as a single role medic. Everything else is fire based . There is RAA in Richmond, for single role. I wouldn't choose Richmond Ambulance Authority as a place to move cross country for, to work 25+ years for, since the pay isn't that good, and they use system status management, so you can count on being very busy all of the time.

For pay, Northern Virginia is where it's at, particularly in Fairfax. Our firemedics make over $70k/yr after being cleared off of ALS in internship, which is the academy plus four months, basically 9-10 months after hire. I've made north of $130k/yr here over the last several years, and I've blown past $80k already this year (nearly my base pay for the year ). Too bad I can't be like those "Deadliest Catch" fishermen and work six months straight for lots of cash and chill for six months every year haha. The training at Fairfax is world class, and medics are now finally getting ample opportunity to get off of the box and do Hazmat, TROT, ride Heavy Rescue squads, and ride Truck companies. 

Regarding pay, I notice that after you go south of Northern Virginia, the base pay drops percipitously. I'm talking $50k-$70k down to the mid $30k's pretty fast. I worked NYC EMS for five years before selling out and going fire based. I worked for Charleston  County EMS (SC), who, at the time, hired at $38k/yr, up to $45k/yr after six months and clearing internship as crew chief. I thought that this was reasonable since the cost of living was cheaper, until I realized that I was only making around $11.50/hr! This was a 24/48 shift, so it was a 56 hour workweek. I was highly ignorant to this, so I only had myself to blame whan I opened my first pay stub. Realize that I had left NYC, where I was making $30/hr on a 40 hour workweek. Basically, on a 56 hour/week schedule, if you're making less than $50k/yr to start, you're getting ripped off, but that's just me. Thank goodness that Fairfax called with a job offer only four months after I was hired with charleston!

Speaking of Charleston, I took a look at Charleston City Fire's pay scale. As a Charleston County medic, my pay was the same as a C.C. fire Captain. My pay right now is even with a Charleston City Assistan Chief! My advice, stay out of the southeast, as the pay is horrendous. You may have better luck in Texas.

It's not too hard to get on with Fairfax as a medic if you can pass all of the tests. We're hiring vigorously right now. NERMT reciprocity will work fine. That's what I did from SC to VA.

Edit: sorry, I would have replied sooner, but I've been so very busy with all of this OT, and I'm also finishing up my AAS in EMS. That's worth 10% on the LT promotional exam!


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## 46Young (Jun 13, 2014)

Check out the Fairfax County thread on the hiring and employment section of the forum on www.firehouse.com


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