# New Castle County Paramedics



## Fish (Oct 15, 2011)

I have noticed that they keep puttin a job posting in JEMS, I looked into them and they have 9 units or so. This doesn't seem to big, but they seem to always be hiring. Was wondering if anyone knows why, do they have a high turnover, is there testing process weeding out a lot of people, or are they just growing so fast that they keep hiring to keep up with demand?


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## NomadicMedic (Oct 17, 2011)

One of my friends here in Sussex worked in NCC. It's very busy. From what I hear thay have a fair amount of turnover. They work a tour of 2 10 hour days and 2 14 hour nights. You don't sleep on the night shift.

The word I heard was, it's a great place to get lots of experience, but it's so busy there's not much down time.

Lt Mark Alsoton is the recruiting guy there. I'm sure he can tell you everythng you'd like to know. 

If you're looking at Delaware, I'd invite you to check out Sussex County EMS.


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## Fish (Oct 17, 2011)

n7lxi said:


> One of my friends here in Sussex worked in NCC. It's very busy. From what I hear thay have a fair amount of turnover. They work a tour of 2 10 hour days and 2 14 hour nights. You don't sleep on the night shift.
> 
> The word I heard was, it's a great place to get lots of experience, but it's so busy there's not much down time.
> 
> ...



I have checked out Sussex before and I am aware that you are working for a great service that just won the EMS games. I was just wondering about NCC because I always see them putting adds on Jems. Can you tell me more about Sussex from an employee perspective? PM me if you want to.


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## NomadicMedic (Oct 17, 2011)

I'd be happy to answer questions. What specifically do you want to know?


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## Fish (Oct 17, 2011)

n7lxi said:


> I'd be happy to answer questions. What specifically do you want to know?



Well, protocols are state based aren't they? Is there a lot of Mother may I or is it mostly standing orders? How is relationships with Hospital staff, Fire Dept?

What is the Gear like, what kind of Monitors do you use. 

What is overall morale there, and how is management?

Is the money good for the area? It is state retirement isn't it?

How competitive is hiring process, how often do you hire?

What sets you apart from other services in your opinion


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## Milla3P (Oct 18, 2011)

I was in Sussex County recently.... 

Yeah, what Fish said...  Also: 
are you centrally located, have satellite stations or do you post?
Are you mostly an intercept service?  If so is the fly car P/P, B/P or D/P or solo?  If not are your trucks P/B or P/P?  
If my wife and I both find ourselves working at your service as Ps, what are the chances of us working together? (We're a really good team)


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## NomadicMedic (Oct 18, 2011)

Well, protocols are state based aren't they? Is there a lot of Mother may I or is it mostly standing orders? How is relationships with Hospital staff, Fire Dept?
*
Yes, Delaware has state protocols. It's mostly standing orders, although you do have to call for something things, like RSI orders. I've never heard anything denied. The relationship with the ED staff at our various hospitals is decent, just like anywhere. Some are better than others. Same with the fire departments. The Fire Companies here in Delaware are all vollie, and they do the BLS transport. Here are the protocols.* 

What is the Gear like, what kind of Monitors do you use. *Our gear is excellent. Pretty much the best you could want, and we buy new stuff frequently. The equipment committee evaluates and field tests new stuff often. We use have a LUCAS on every truck, CPAP, Vent and two full sets of ALS gear with LP12 monitors. We're evaluating new monitors to replace the whole fleet. No word on what the final selection will be yet.
*
What is overall morale there, and how is management? *Morale is decent. Just like anywhere, people will complain, but the issues here are minor. I'm still new here, but generally everyone is pretty happy.
*
Is the money good for the area? It is state retirement isn't it? *Money is decent, and retirement is state based. If you decide to peruse a job here, the packet has the benefit info.*

How competitive is hiring process, how often do you hire? *It's VERY competitive, very difficult testing process and we interview every 6 months or so. For example, out of the last 2 batches of applicants, I was the only hire, and we still have openings. Most applicants cannot pass the medical/practical interview testing process. 
*
What sets you apart from other services in your opinion. *It's busy. It's high acuity. It's ALS/911 only. The medics are all very smart. There is a decent promotional ladder. It's a third service. If you intubate a PT that goes by HEMS, you fly in the helo and manage your patient. They pay for education. I could go on and on...*

are you centrally located, have satellite stations or do you post? *We currently have 8 medic stations. We're station based and respond when dispatched. No posting, unless you need to move to cover an area for a busy unit. That's not very often and lasts less than a hour usually.*


Are you mostly an intercept service? If so is the fly car P/P, B/P or D/P or solo? If not are your trucks P/B or P/P? *We are an all ALS service, nothing but medics. We are a non transport ALS service, running out of custom squad body trucks and Suburbans. (I expect us to go with all SUVs in the next few years.) Each truck has two medics on board.

This is our typical truck:
	

	
	
		
		

		
			



*


If my wife and I both find ourselves working at your service as Ps, what are the chances of us working together? (We're a really good team)  *Slim to none. You might end up on the same shift, but that's about it. No way you'll work together, and probably never at the same station. we have a husband and wife couple that doesn't work anywhere near each other.*


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## Fish (Oct 18, 2011)

How many tested in those last two processes?


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## NomadicMedic (Oct 18, 2011)

Fish said:


> How many tested in those last two processes?



I think 9 people met the criteria and were invited to test. When I say it's tough to get hired here, I'm not kidding.

Plus, the "out of state certification process", getting your Delaware cert and being cleared to work as a single medic can take up to 6 months. We also just had two candidates, that is, medics in the certification process, wash out.


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## Fish (Oct 18, 2011)

n7lxi said:


> I think 9 people met the criteria and were invited to test. When I say it's tough to get hired here, I'm not kidding.
> 
> Plus, the "out of state certification process", getting your Delaware cert and being cleared to work as a single medic can take up to 6 months. We also just had two candidates, that is, medics in the certification process, wash out.



Kind of sounds like us, we will have 100 show up to test. 20 will pass our written, maybe 10 of the 20 will pass our scenarios and such, and out of the 10 maybe 5-6 will pass interviews. We have a 10-11% pass rate.


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## NomadicMedic (Oct 18, 2011)

Fish said:


> Kind of sounds like us, we will have 100 show up to test. 20 will pass our written, maybe 10 of the 20 will pass our scenarios and such, and out of the 10 maybe 5-6 will pass interviews. We have a 10-11% pass rate.



Yeah, no written test here. It's all oral. And it's brutal. We've had some applicants simply get up and walk out after only a few questions when they realized they were unable to answer or justify answers that they gave.

I was a 4.0 student in medic school, have a decent background in chem, bio and A&P and it was the hardest test I'd EVER taken.


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## Fish (Oct 19, 2011)

n7lxi said:


> Yeah, no written test here. It's all oral. And it's brutal. We've had some applicants simply get up and walk out after only a few questions when they realized they were unable to answer or justify answers that they gave.
> 
> I was a 4.0 student in medic school, have a decent background in chem, bio and A&P and it was the hardest test I'd EVER taken.



Hit me with some of those oral questions, I wanna see what it is like.


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## NomadicMedic (Oct 19, 2011)

Just imagine the difficult essay questions from paramedic school, but instead of writing an answer, you have to verbalize it to the panel of FTOs staring at you. And when you say something, they may ask you to expand on it. Maybe describing the method of action for the drug you just mentioned, or the physiology of the disease process you're talking about. The applicants are expected to know way more than basic cookbook paramedicine and be able to articulate it clearly and professionally.


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## Fish (Oct 19, 2011)

n7lxi said:


> Just imagine the difficult essay questions from paramedic school, but instead of writing an answer, you have to verbalize it to the panel of FTOs staring at you. And when you say something, they may ask you to expand on it. Maybe describing the method of action for the drug you just mentioned, or the physiology of the disease process you're talking about. The applicants are expected to know way more than basic cookbook paramedicine and be able to articulate it clearly and professionally.



Like asking what is HyperKalemia, and what S&S might we see with it.

What are the treatments for it? What does each drug that you mentioned in the Treatment actually do for it, and what is the end result for this Patient once they have been handed over to the ER?


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## NomadicMedic (Oct 19, 2011)

Fish said:


> Like asking what is HyperKalemia, and what S&S might we see with it.
> 
> What are the treatments for it? What does each drug that you mentioned in the Treatment actually do for it, and what is the end result for this Patient once they have been handed over to the ER?



Yep. That sort of thing.


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## Fish (Oct 19, 2011)

n7lxi said:


> Yep. That sort of thing.



And people fail this? Scary that people would treat and give Meds without knowing this.


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## NomadicMedic (Oct 19, 2011)

Fish said:


> And people fail this? Scary that people would treat and give Meds without knowing this.



Yes. But, still... it's about an hour of that kind of stuff. Everything from A to Z. And then some. 

Most people go down in flames.


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## Jon (Oct 19, 2011)

I started the application process to NCC Paramedics.

DE, overall, has a pretty good handle on EMS, especially ALS. Part of this is the small size of the state, and the fact that there are just 3 county-wide systems.

Most of their EMT's are strong providers. The systems are run as county-wide systems. On the medic side, that means that closest unit goes, and depending on how busy the county gets, medic units get shifted to cover better.

All crews are P/P in chase cars. If call only requires one medic, the 2nd can split to handle another call, with another unit responding to provide "2nd medic" backup if needed. Protocols are reasonably aggressive, and there is little mother-may-I, however contact is often required with a doc during transport.

There is definitely a promotion ladder and opportunity for eventual advancement.

Lawrence Tan, their Chief, is active with NAEMSC and other organizations, and he seems to "get it".

Personally, I backed out when I realized I wasn't 100-percent committed to working there long term and I didn't want to jump through their application hoops. I do somewhat regret not pursuing it, but I've got different opportunities now.

If you are looking for a decent place to learn, and get your butt kicked by sick patients... Try them out.


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