# Balboa Ambulances



## MattCA (Nov 25, 2008)

Does anybody know anything about Balboa ambulance service in San Diego? I applied and got a call in like 30 mins so this may be the one. Their facility looked ok. Pretty sure it used to be an apartment complex, but it looks like they might have a few people to each room which might be cool. I saw an ambulance going code which was probably their CCT unit but that could be something I could look forward to getting on with. Applied at AMR and passed the test, but got the letter saying they weren't hiring :sad:. Im going to go to Pacific right now.


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## Code 3 (Nov 25, 2008)

Southern California has a plethora of BLS ambulance companies, Balboa being one of those. The others are Alert, AmbuMed, Schaefer, Pacific, Priority One Medical, AmeriCare, Rural Metro, AMR, and ER Ambulance.

If your only interest is to gain 1-year experience to enroll in medic school, then by all means, take what you can get. If you don't like the company you can always transfer somewhere else. Ask plenty of questions and see if you can get names of current employees to ask them what they think as well.

Best of luck.



> I saw an ambulance going code which was probably their CCT unit but that could be something I could look forward to getting on with



That most likely was their 1 time for the year. ^_^


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## KEVD18 (Nov 25, 2008)

if they called you back in 30min, they're desperate. you're cleared to bend them over the barrel. get the best deal you can.


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## MattCA (Nov 26, 2008)

Thats what I was thinking. Im excited. Not the best company but somewhere to start.


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## MattCA (Nov 26, 2008)

Code 3 said:


> Southern California has a plethora of BLS ambulance companies, Balboa being one of those. The others are Alert, AmbuMed, Schaefer, Pacific, Priority One Medical, AmeriCare, Rural Metro, AMR, and ER Ambulance.
> 
> If your only interest is to gain 1-year experience to enroll in medic school, then by all means, take what you can get. If you don't like the company *you can always transfer* somewhere else. Ask plenty of questions and see if you can get names of current employees to ask them what they think as well.
> 
> ...


Thats the way Im looking at it too. I would probably transfer to a bigger company such as R/M hoping that the name will be good for the furture. I hope that wasnt the only code!


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## Code 3 (Nov 26, 2008)

True that. How'd it go @ Pacific? From what I've seen of them, they appear to have nicer equipment.


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## MattCA (Nov 26, 2008)

It was a pretty small facility but nice, I saw an ambulance come in. I think a CCT since it was a box and it looked brand new. The lady said something about having to send the application up to Long Beach and the head guy reviews it I guess. So who knows how long that will take.


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## daedalus (Nov 26, 2008)

try priority one medical

priorityonemedical.com


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## MattCA (Dec 1, 2008)

Ugh went for my interview but the guy is stuck at the dmv registering ambulances so I have to go back tomorrow :-/


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## BEorP (Dec 1, 2008)

MattCA said:


> Ugh went for my interview but the guy is stuck at the dmv registering ambulances so I have to go back tomorrow :-/



As in you went for a scheduled interview and the person who was supposed to interview you didn't show? I'd be staying away from that.


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## MattCA (Dec 1, 2008)

BEorP said:


> As in you went for a scheduled interview and the person who was supposed to interview you didn't show? I'd be staying away from that.



yep scheduled for a week. well like i said, def one of the smaller, lower end companies but I need to start somewhere.


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## Sapphyre (Dec 1, 2008)

That ain't it Matt.  You willing to leave SD county?


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## MattCA (Dec 2, 2008)

Im thinking about moving to Colorado once I become a medic. But not anytime soon. Well I went in today. He just asked 2 questions, how do I rate myself as an EMT and do I know my protocols. I said I didnt really know my protocols because my teachers just briefly mentioned some. He said well I cant hire them unless you know them how long do you want to study them? I said a week. He said ok memorize them and come back in a week and ill ask you some and Ill give you a spot. So Im kind of hired. Nervous now that I have to get this down and go back. Any tips? What exactly do I need to read? I think he just said the blue and the red section.


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## Code 3 (Dec 2, 2008)

MattCA said:


> Nervous now that I have to get this down and go back. Any tips? What exactly do I need to read? I think he just said the blue and the red section.



You need to purchase the following protocol flipbook:

_San Diego County 2007/2008 Protocols & Medications_

It's produced by the San Diego County Paramedic Association along with Epic Medics. You can purchase it at local community colleges that have EMT programs, or you can contact the SDCPA (619) 445-0425 for more information.

The front pages of the flipbook will have your standing orders for Adults/Peds and the very back (white pages) will have County protocols regarding determination of death, transporting, AMA, restraints, base hospital orders, pre-existing medication interventions, etc. etc. It also has door codes to local hospitals and a lot of other useful information.

Here are a few changes between the County and NREMT:

- Not allowed to give aspirin
- Not allowed to use activated charcoal
- Systolic B/P > 100 to assist w/ NTG

I would try and get picked up by another company, if possible. Either way, you will still need to purchase this book and know the information inside. It also gives you all the standing orders for ALS interventions, which you can study now.


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## MattCA (Dec 2, 2008)

I have the book. I got it awhile ago but didnt really look too much over it. I know the sys. BP >100, but are you sure about not being allowed to give asprin and activated charcoal? Under Altered Neurologic function BLS it says Hypoglycemia suspected or known to be <75mg/dL if concious 3 oral glucose tabs or 15g paste. Actually I do recall our teacher saying no asprin but there is a note under the discomfort section that says you can give ASA. But thats probably ALS.


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## Code 3 (Dec 3, 2008)

I'm positive about ASA and charcoal. If you look closely in the C/P and Poisoning/Overdose sections you will see they are both administered as ALS interventions. Yes, you are allowed to administer oral glucose in the form of paste or tablets.


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## Sapphyre (Dec 3, 2008)

ASA and charcoal being no goes are a state thing.  If you're willing to travel to other counties, there's Lynch (OC) and Mission (Riv) who are IFT companies, and are most likely hiring.  I haven't checked lately, as I'm happy where I am.  That is, in addition to the other companies already listed.  You can also check out Care, but, they're in LACo


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## JPINFV (Dec 3, 2008)

Sapphyre, Care is based out of Orange and have numerous 911 contracts in northern and central OC. The major companies in OC are Doctors, Care, Lynch, Pacific, Shoreline, Emergency, and Medixs with Medixs and Doctors being headquartered in southern OC (Mission Viejo and Irvine respectively). To be completely honest, considering the commute time between San Diego and Orange County, I don't think it would be worth it even if you didn't hit any traffic. I know that when I was traveling for summer school from my parent's house in San Marcos to UCI I did my best to avoid traffic, even if it meant staying on campus for a bit.


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## MattCA (Dec 3, 2008)

Oh I had oral glucose on the brain lol. Idk what he is going to ask me. He gave me his email, work cell, and personal cell and told me to call him if I had a question about something. I live in east county which is way to far to travel to LA. I wouldnt really even want to drive to the others. This one is close which is nice.


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## Sapphyre (Dec 3, 2008)

Thanks, JP.  One thing, Care DOES have LACo 911 contracts.  That's not the point here though.


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## JPINFV (Dec 3, 2008)

never mind... misread the post.


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## Code 3 (Dec 3, 2008)

Sapphyre said:


> You can also check out Care, but, they're in LACo



They are in San Diego as well.

Like I said Matt, there's a ton of companies to choose from. Did you look at all of these companies I listed?



			
				Code 3 said:
			
		

> Alert, AmbuMed, Schaefer, Pacific, Priority One Medical, AmeriCare, Rural Metro, AMR, and ER Ambulance.


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## MattCA (Dec 3, 2008)

Care is also down here in Miramar. They seem like a really good company. We had a speaker come in and they were $11/hr they wash your uniforms and restock your ambulances. I went up there and their ambulances and facility looked nice.


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## jazminestar (Dec 3, 2008)

hey Matt, i work for rural  metro in san diego.............please dear gawd, if you have any opportunity to go ANYWHERE else besides balboa, they have a horrible rep down here......and for good reason, if you saw them going code, that's no bueno, they are a BLS service,(as in it probably was NOT a cct) and many times, they transport patients they really shouldn't be..........you don't want to get caught up in that kind of stuff.........

we do tons of CCTs and verrrrrry rarely do we end up going code.......have u tried rural metro?? pacific, they are probably the lesse of the 3 evils (care, balboa, pacific) and AMR, did the same thing to me that they did to you, was ready to start and then they tell me they dont have anything available.............blah.

good luck with pacific though, i hope that works out for you


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## MattCA (Dec 4, 2008)

I would love to work for R/M but no word from them or the others. Well they were going code to the call. I just left the place and than they headed out. I need to start somewhere. Im hoping to get on, than maybe using it as experience and switch to either R/M or AMR. I hope balboa doesnt hurt my furture as a medic!


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## MattCA (Dec 4, 2008)

Code 3 said:


> They are in San Diego as well.
> 
> Like I said Matt, there's a ton of companies to choose from. Did you look at all of these companies I listed?



I applied at Balboa, AMR, R/M and Pacific. How good are the others you listed?


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## lightsandsirens5 (Dec 8, 2008)

BEorP said:


> As in you went for a scheduled interview and the person who was supposed to interview you didn't show? I'd be staying away from that.



You can say that again!


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## MattCA (Dec 8, 2008)

Im just going to have to go for it. Im totally burned out of my job. What type of stuff should I be reading? I feel that I have pretty much read everything, but what should I pay close attention to? Also where, if anywhere, is there info that says which hospitals are trauma, burn, etc? Thats something that would be useful but I havent seen. I just know UCSD has everything.


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## Code 3 (Dec 9, 2008)

MattCA said:


> Also where, if anywhere, is there info that says which hospitals are trauma, burn, etc? Thats something that would be useful but I havent seen. I just know UCSD has everything.



*Base Hospitals:*

Scripps Mercy
Scripps La Jolla
Grossmont
UCSD Hillcrest
Palomar
Sharp Memorial
Tri-City

*Trauma Centers:*

Scripps Mercy
Scripps La Jolla
Children's Hospital
UCSD Hillcrest
Palomar
Sharp Memorial

*Burn Centers:*

UCSD Hillcrest

*Hyperbaric Chambers:*

Balboa Naval
Pendleton
Grossmont
UCSD Hillcrest

There's a list of hospitals within the County in your protocol book (one of the last pages). It will have all the base hospitals in bold letters.


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## MattCA (Dec 9, 2008)

Thanks for the hospital info. I actually found a good source online that had questions and answers about protocols.

Today is Tuesday, one week later and I went back for my follow up interview and guess what? He wasn't there again! I went strait to Alert after that which looked really nice. Their test seemed a lot harder than AMR's. I thought I heard the guy say how they had all these applications and some lady was like oh can I apply? And he was like yea for dispatcher. So that makes me think That they arent hiring. Ugh what should I do? I really want to be an EMT and I really want to get out of my current job. I was talking to a guy and he said he was an EMT for Sea World. I wondering if that would be any fun...:glare:


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## Code 3 (Dec 9, 2008)

MattCA said:


> I was talking to a guy and he said he was an EMT for Sea World. I wondering if that would be any fun...:glare:



As fun as it would be, it unfortunately does not count towards medic school. You need (1) year of experience on an *ambulance* in order to meet the enrollment requirements.

Obviously, it appears that Balboa might not be your best bet. Did you hear back from Pacific yet? I would keep in touch with the HR department of AMR and get a feel for when they are doing their next recruitment. What about Care? Did you speak with them yet? I believe you get bonuses per call with them.


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## MattCA (Dec 9, 2008)

Oh ok that was one thing I was wondering. Ya Im worried about Balboa. No where else has called me back though. Im going to apply at Ambumed tomorrow. That place would be nice because its pretty close to my house.


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## JPINFV (Dec 9, 2008)

MattCA said:


> I was talking to a guy and he said he was an EMT for Sea World. I wondering if that would be any fun...:glare:



If this is going to be your first EMS job, then I'd advise you to *not* take a first aid/standby job. A lot of the EMT-B education revolves around the final destination of every patient being the ER. The final destination of most of first aid patients is going to be returning to the park. Your education is going to tell you to place most of your patients on oxygen. Your education is going to tell you to c-spine every trauma patient. Both of those are going to buy your patients a one way ticket to an ambulance and an ER, which I guarantee will not make the park happy. Until you are able to determine quickly and accurately who is sick and who isn't and when to refer, when to release, and when to activate EMS, you will be playing with fire in terms of your job. First aid isn't hard, but it isn't for novice providers either.


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## MattCA (Dec 9, 2008)

I know I was just thinking of a last resort. Good points though. Its depressing finding something your really want to do and completing all you need to do but cant do it! :sad: 

So far I have applied at AMR, R/M, Pacific, Balboa, Alert.....and I think thats it.  Im going to go to Ambumed tomorrow. Care is far away, but it would probably be worth it. How good is Americare? Ive heard bad about Schaefer. What else is left that are good companies?


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## Code 3 (Dec 9, 2008)

MattCA said:


> Care is far away, but it would probably be worth it. How good is Americare? Ive heard bad about Schaefer. What else is left that are good companies?



Care is San Diego somewhere on Kearny Mesa Blvd. or Clairemont Mesa Blvd.


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## MattCA (Dec 9, 2008)

I went to it before but they were closed. It was off Miramar way. Maybe its a different one.


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## MattCA (Dec 12, 2008)

Well I think I finally got hired. Went back in and didnt do so good and he said hed give me two more days. I went back today and did good. He handed me all the employment papers and wants me to learn the trauma tree and the difference b/t cardiac chest pain and pluritic pain. And what ketoacidosis is.


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## Code 3 (Dec 12, 2008)

Well congrats, Matt. If you need information regarding the S/S of DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis) you can check out this thread:

http://www.emtlife.com/showthread.php?t=10069


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## LSalander (Jan 18, 2011)

MattCA said:


> Well I think I finally got hired. Went back in and didnt do so good and he said hed give me two more days. I went back today and did good. He handed me all the employment papers and wants me to learn the trauma tree and the difference b/t cardiac chest pain and pluritic pain. And what ketoacidosis is.


I'm applying at all the places you were discussing in your post, and wondering how it all went.  Where did you end up working at?  What's your take on the company?

I've been to 6 interviews so far and two call backs, but not sure who I would choose.  Kinda want to see if you have any feedback.

Thanks!


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## MattCA (Jan 18, 2011)

I've been at Balboa for two years now. Im planning on going nursing, so I'm not too picky about where I work. What I like about Balboa is they are flexible with scheduling and I think they pay a little more than other companies. Also, the station is about 10-15 mins from my house. We also get pretty good calls. I just talked to a guy that used to work for us than switch to Rural and he said they calls aren't nearly as good. I also talked to a guy that switched from ER to AMR and said its the same. There are pros and cons to every company. In the end BLS is BLS. It all depends what your looking for in a company (location vs equipment vs type of calls vs etc.) Study your protocols, know them. Let me know if you have any other questions.


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## LSalander (Jan 18, 2011)

MattCA said:


> I've been at Balboa for two years now. Im planning on going nursing, so I'm not too picky about where I work. What I like about Balboa is they are flexible with scheduling and I think they pay a little more than other companies. Also, the station is about 10-15 mins from my house. We also get pretty good calls. I just talked to a guy that used to work for us than switch to Rural and he said they calls aren't nearly as good. I also talked to a guy that switched from ER to AMR and said its the same. There are pros and cons to every company. In the end BLS is BLS. It all depends what your looking for in a company (location vs equipment vs type of calls vs etc.) Study your protocols, know them. Let me know if you have any other questions.


I picked up an app at Balboa yesterday but they didn't have time to interview me and I was off to another interview in Escondido.  Do you know if they are still hiring?  I've gotten a call back to Schaefer and Xtreme Care, so getting to the point where I might have to choose which one I want to work with (go figure, I was desperate for anything a week ago).

I want to get as much experiance as I can, and keep moving up the EMS ladder.  I'm thinking I want to go to paramedic school, possibly firefighter/medic, then possibly get my bachelor's in nursing to be a PA (one day...).  Been in school awhile, so what's awhile longer....I like shcool, like learning, and really eager to start working with patients.

Thanks for all your feedback.  Good to read your posts from 2 years ago and get feedback on how its been since.


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## MattCA (Jan 18, 2011)

Well you sound like me lol. I heard Schafer is really good so you might want to check them out. I believe they are a pretty big company, on their website it looks like they are in 5 counties. It seems like were always hiring. BLS has a high turnover rate. There was an incident lately though and my boss wants to revamp all our FTOs and make sure they're on top of things so hiring may be on hold for awhile. I don't know anything about Xtreme Care. I just saw them like a month ago. They look like a small company which could have its pros and cons (I would probably choose Schafer if you have a choice). 

Sounds like you need to get a BLS job and see what you want to do. It helped me make my decision. I jumped in wanting to just be a medic, then I realised thats not where the money is at (at least in SD), its high stress and high responsibility. I also learned that fire is extremely hard to get into in San Diego. I like pt care, so I found that I would like to go nursing also with the possibility of PA or NP.

Ya no problem, any other questions just ask.


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## JPINFV (Jan 18, 2011)

Jesus Jose said:


> I've gotten a call back to Schaefer and *Xtreme Care*



[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO2Abp0FbA0[/YOUTUBE]


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## MusicMedic (Jan 19, 2011)

yeah i would stay away from an ambulance company called Xtreme Care lol

but..... 
i would go for a company that was called UBER AWESOME SUPER EPIC AMBULANCE TRANSPORT CARE!!!! *que Guitar Squeal*


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## somePerson (Jan 27, 2011)

I would stay away from SD county BLS ambulances in general. R/M is only decent one because you can eventually get decent experiance on a 911 ambulance. If your goal is to become a paramedic, All the others, only so much stuff you can learn taking grand ma to dialysis or back to the hospital.

Orange county has better choices. Doctors, Medix, Care (different from SD care), all do 911 and have 24 hour shifts, so driving from SD to orange county twice a week wasn't a big deal.


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## kravturtle (Jan 31, 2011)

I just submitted online applications for Pacific, Balboa, and Ameri-care. I guess we will see what happens there. Pacific and Balboa are higher on my list, but at this point, I'm crossing my fingers for any nibbles!


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## Monkey (Feb 1, 2011)

I know Pacific last month did some hiring, I saw numerous emails going out from them regarding scheduling interviews with them.  With Medic schools starting up, there should be holes in their rosters.  I know quite a few from Balboa that have been accepted to medic school, so good luck.


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## kravturtle (Feb 1, 2011)

Monkey said:


> I know Pacific last month did some hiring, I saw numerous emails going out from them regarding scheduling interviews with them.  With Medic schools starting up, there should be holes in their rosters.  I know quite a few from Balboa that have been accepted to medic school, so good luck.



That's good to hear! Thanks!


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## cam007 (Feb 13, 2011)

MattCA said:


> I've been at Balboa for two years now. Im planning on going nursing, so I'm not too picky about where I work. What I like about Balboa is they are flexible with scheduling and I think they pay a little more than other companies. Also, the station is about 10-15 mins from my house. We also get pretty good calls. I just talked to a guy that used to work for us than switch to Rural and he said they calls aren't nearly as good. I also talked to a guy that switched from ER to AMR and said its the same. There are pros and cons to every company. In the end BLS is BLS. It all depends what your looking for in a company (location vs equipment vs type of calls vs etc.) Study your protocols, know them. Let me know if you have any other questions.



I have a scheduled interview for balboa, what is the physical test like?  What should I know before walking in?  Things like that.  Any info would help.  

Thanks


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## EMTsanders (Feb 15, 2011)

so balboa is still hiring? how long did it take for them to call you? I just put in a app with them today. I'm hoping for anything though, deffinetly pretty desparate


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## cam007 (Feb 15, 2011)

EMTsanders said:


> so balboa is still hiring? how long did it take for them to call you? I just put in a app with them today. I'm hoping for anything though, deffinetly pretty desparate



It will happen.  Just take it one day at a time,  don't be desperate.  It takes about a week.


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## EMTsanders (Feb 16, 2011)

thanks for the calming words...just excited/nervous i guess. ready to do what i've been trained to do though


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## cam007 (Feb 16, 2011)

EMTsanders said:


> thanks for the calming words...just excited/nervous i guess. ready to do what i've been trained to do though



Understood.  They should call you back. What school did you go to?


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## EMTsanders (Feb 16, 2011)

went to miramar, I had Mary if that means anything. It was a great program. I've heard its one of the best?


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## cam007 (Feb 16, 2011)

EMTsanders said:


> went to miramar, I had Mary if that means anything. It was a great program. I've heard its one of the best?



Yea, I was at Grossmont and had Trish, she was taught by Mary.  Miramar is supposed to have a really great EMT program, but I didn't like the schedule, only on Saturdays for 8hrs.  I did the 8 week one, 4 days a week for 4hrs.  I think we hijacked this thread,  probably pm me back?


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## cam007 (Feb 17, 2011)

EMTsanders said:


> went to miramar, I had Mary if that means anything. It was a great program. I've heard its one of the best?



apparently i have to post 5 messages before i can pm.  so this is #5.  now i am replying.


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## EMTzimp (Mar 26, 2011)

BEorP said:


> As in you went for a scheduled interview and the person who was supposed to interview you didn't show? I'd be staying away from that.




I agree with the above. I got hired at Pacific 2 years ago and I had an interview with a secretary (wierd:wacko). I left. They called me 2 hours later and told me to pick up my uniforms at OC office... I thought about it for awhile, and decided to not take the job because it seemed really unprofessional the way they hired me. I figured they just take anyone and everyone and I didnt want part in that. I ended up going to Lynch and i'm glad I did.


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