# American Medical Response



## growinupfast (Jun 10, 2011)

Howdy all, been on this forum for awhile but never really did much posting till now. I recently was offered a job at American Medical Response (AMR) in Austin, Tx and was wondering if anybody else has working for this company at any time-if so what was your experience with this company? Benefits? Did they have continuing education? (Im an EMT-B by the way).


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## shfd739 (Jun 10, 2011)

Austin will be mostly transfers and nursing home calls. Any emergency calls that meet criteria and are a legit emergency have to handed off the Austin Travis County. 

Its a place to start but not somewhere Id want to stay long term. If you want to make EMS a career up in that area go to medic school then try to move over to Williamson County EMS, Austin Travis County or Acadian. Acadian had a large expansion/acquistion just north of Austin and now has some 911 areas.


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## growinupfast (Jun 10, 2011)

Well my problem is im in a position to where i cant afford school to be a paramedic, i have rent/bills and the whole 9 yards. My current job i work as a medical officer for a jail and while its different and you get to do things that normal emt's dont get to do, you get burnt out reeeeal quick and its just really not how i wanted to use my liscence. After doing the math im pretty sure ill make more at the jail than i would at AMR, but at the same time there isnt much room for promotion, or to further my education at the jail. Basically what im asking is that is there much room for promotion or for educational upgrades at AMR? My apartment to AMR is about 15-20 minutes, from my apartment to the jail is about 30-35. But im pretty sure id be taking a pay cut if i took the job at AMR.


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## TransportJockey (Jun 10, 2011)

To be 100% honest, try to take out student loans or something and get your medic. If you want to make a career, such as it is, in EMS, you can't do it well as a basic


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## medicdan (Jun 10, 2011)

AMR is also a good company to work for if you want to go to medic school (eventually). They will pay for medic school completely if you agree to work for them for a certain amount of time, given you go to their in-house program (Often NCTI)


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## shfd739 (Jun 10, 2011)

growinupfast said:


> Well my problem is im in a position to where i cant afford school to be a paramedic, i have rent/bills and the whole 9 yards. My current job i work as a medical officer for a jail and while its different and you get to do things that normal emt's dont get to do, you get burnt out reeeeal quick and its just really not how i wanted to use my liscence. After doing the math im pretty sure ill make more at the jail than i would at AMR, but at the same time there isnt much room for promotion, or to further my education at the jail. Basically what im asking is that is there much room for promotion or for educational upgrades at AMR? My apartment to AMR is about 15-20 minutes, from my apartment to the jail is about 30-35. But im pretty sure id be taking a pay cut if i took the job at AMR.



I'm not sure it would be much of a pay cut if any. If you want to get out on the streets apply with and hold out for a job with Acadian. They teach a program in Austin and you can payroll deduct the cost. Better future there than with AMR. 

I can tell you from personal experience Acadian has good opportunities to move up and improve yourself.


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## growinupfast (Jun 10, 2011)

Well here's what AMR told me as far as payrate goes, 12.75 an hr for an 8hr shift, buuut only 8.00hr for a 24 hr shift". And they said id be doing 24's for a while. The schedule is 24 on and 48 off. I currently make around $780-815 bi weekly at my current job. And i applied for acadian because they are also currently hiring in austin as well, but havnt heard anything back yet.


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## rmabrey (Jun 11, 2011)

I do not believe it is a company policy (i could be wrong), but at AMR here, you have to either become a medic, or be enrolled in classes within 3 years of getting hired, else you are terminated. Something to think about


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## shfd739 (Jun 11, 2011)

rmabrey said:


> I do not believe it is a company policy (i could be wrong), but at AMR here, you have to either become a medic, or be enrolled in classes within 3 years of getting hired, else you are terminated. Something to think about



Nothing like that in AMR central Texas from I what I know. 

I know about 3 different AMR ops in 3 different states and none of them seem to operate the same. 

To the OP Acadian can be slow sometimes. Have you tried to follow up? Send me a PM if you'd like.


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## terrible one (Jun 11, 2011)

TransportJockey said:


> To be 100% honest, try to take out student loans or something and get your medic. If you want to make a career, such as it is, in EMS, you can't do it well as a basic



Be very cautious of this. I know people that took out loans etc.. And still work as a basic because the job market is so terrible. Unless you have something lined up after school I would not recommend getting into debt for a career that doesn't pay well or have a desirable job market anyway


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## Shishkabob (Jun 11, 2011)

terrible one said:


> Be very cautious of this. I know people that took out loans etc.. And still work as a basic because the job market is so terrible. Unless you have something lined up after school I would not recommend getting into debt for a career that doesn't pay well or have a desirable job market anyway



That's California.  You guys are over-saturated with Para-wannabes anyhow.




As far as AMR goes, it is totally dependent on which operation you get on with.  I was with Dallas for a year between EMT and Paramedic, and honestly, hated it.  They had crappy gear (LP10s for Paramedics), no EtCO2 for intubation, etc etc.  They paid the least of EMS agencies in the area for Paramedics.

However, I know medics and EMTs in Hunt county, Collin county, and Arlington (all AMR operations) who loved it there.  In my experience, the transfer side, the side that gets them all the money, get's screwed over the most.


But a benefit of AMR is that you know you wont show up t work one day and they'll be shut down randomly.  They're a national corporation and will be here for a while.



If you got it offered, take it, as you don't know when or where the next offer will be.


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## terrible one (Jun 11, 2011)

Linuss said:


> That's California.  You guys are over-saturated with Para-wannabes anyhow.



While I am sure things are better in TX, CA is definetly not the only state oversaturated and with a poor job market. I'd be weary of gathering debt to pay for school in a job field that has starting pay of around 30k a year anyway, even if it was a great job market. Not the best investment, also consider very few people make EMS a life time career.


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## Shishkabob (Jun 11, 2011)

But, from what I've seen, the average cost of a Paramedic school in your state is above $7,000... I've generally seen ATLEAST $10,000.


It's about $3,000 here in Texas.


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## growinupfast (Jun 11, 2011)

The particular area of austin id be working is going to be mainly transports, however AMR does operate as 911 in Milam county which is about 40-45min away from austin and he told me i could pick up shifts there whenever i wanted. Towards the end of the interview the woman said 'when can you start'? I told her id have to give my two weeks notice first and she said, "we'll lets shoot for july 5th, that way that'll give you three weeks and it'll give me time to e-mail you all the info you need" So i took that as them wanting to hire me. However, my driving record has a few tickets on it (they're all paid for) but in the past 3 years (im 21 years old btw) ive gotten around 3-4 speeding tickets. I just worry about putting in my two weeks at my current job, then going to work for them and them trying to put me on their insurance and seeing its gonna cost them more than expected and end up not hiring me. Then id be out of a job. So when she does e-mail me, ill probably clairfy with her that shes already looked at my driving record


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## terrible one (Jun 11, 2011)

Linuss said:


> But, from what I've seen, the average cost of a Paramedic school in your state is above $7,000... I've generally seen ATLEAST $10,000.
> 
> 
> It's about $3,000 here in Texas.



It's not just the cost of the school but paying for rent, food, gas etc while not working. I have some friends that got loans for 10-15k and now they are still working as EMTs years later


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## usalsfyre (Jun 11, 2011)

terrible one said:


> It's not just the cost of the school but paying for rent, food, gas etc while not working. I have some friends that got loans for 10-15k and now they are still working as EMTs years later



Fair....but if he wants to work for Wilco or A/TC EMS (the two predominate,and nationally recognized at that, systems in the area), AMRs internal medic school won't cut it. From friends in that area I understand the VERY much prefer their paramedics come from a college-based program. Especially Austin Community College.

Also, most medics I know worked through school. I didn't, and I'm in the minority.


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## terrible one (Jun 12, 2011)

usalsfyre said:


> Fair....but if he wants to work for Wilco or A/TC EMS (the two predominate,and nationally recognized at that, systems in the area), AMRs internal medic school won't cut it. From friends in that area I understand the VERY much prefer their paramedics come from a college-based program. Especially Austin Community College.
> 
> Also, most medics I know worked through school. I didn't, and I'm in the minority.



Never said he should short cut school I was just stating the difficulties of getting into debt for a job that doesn't pay that well. And those that worked through school were they paying for the tution as well as rent, gas, food etc.? Because I worked part time while in school and I could not have afforded all the extra costs on a part time salary without help from my parents.


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## rmabrey (Jun 13, 2011)

usalsfyre said:


> Fair....but if he wants to work for Wilco or A/TC EMS (the two predominate,and nationally recognized at that, systems in the area), AMRs internal medic school won't cut it. From friends in that area I understand the VERY much prefer their paramedics come from a college-based program. Especially Austin Community College.
> 
> Also, most medics I know worked through school. I didn't, and I'm in the minority.



Not disagreeing here, but AMR's internal program should be accredited, so he could just take Anatomy at a local college and still earn a degree. 

However, I am not from Texas so if you say they prefer the college program I have to believe it.


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## shfd739 (Jun 13, 2011)

AMR doesnt offer an inhouse paramedic class in Austin. It's in San Antonio. The travel cost will eat you alive if your budget is that tight every month. Figure about 160 miles round trip every class day.

In Austin your better options are ACC or Acadian's NEMSA program which is tied into UT Health Science Center and is somewhat of a satellite campus for UT. Either one is good but youll need to get 911 experience somewhere before applying to ATCEMS or WilCo.

ACC will probably require a student loan. If you can get hired with Acadian and payroll deduct that one it may be easier $$$ wise.


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## bigbaldguy (Jun 13, 2011)

Just to play devils advocate I known quite a few people who owe 50k plus in student loans and make 30k or less a year. Paying 15k and 2 years for a medic program that gets you a job making 30k doesn't sound that bad compared to 4 years and 50k making 30k.


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## MinniMedic (Jun 13, 2011)

*agreed*

If you are going to go as far as to take out loans, go to Nursing school.  I love being a medic, but even I am getting tired of trying to find a Medic job again after moving to a different state and started nursing school recently.


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## usalsfyre (Jun 13, 2011)

MinniMedic said:


> If you are going to go as far as to take out loans, go to Nursing school.  I love being a medic, but even I am getting tired of trying to find a Medic job again after moving to a different state and started nursing school recently.



Even nursing is not all sunshine and rainbows in the job department right now, there's actually a surplus of nurses in the US at the moment.


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## rmabrey (Jun 14, 2011)

Linuss said:


> If you got it offered, take it, as you don't know when or where the next offer will be.



Have to agree here. When I started my basic course, there were jobs available at AMR and the county services. AMR had tons of OT to hand out. When I got certified there were maybe 2 jobs available at each. 

I got lucky and recently (as in today) landed a part-time job with AMR. Granted in this field its up and down constantly with openings (at least here), but AMR is going on there long stretch of nearly full staff ever.


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## Fish (Dec 13, 2011)

I do not know of a lot of Medic jobs in Texas only paying 30k, most are high 40s-low50s.

 an Austin and Wilco do not prefer you go anywhere, if you can pass the hiring process than that is what they Care about. Also, they do not require 911 experience. They take well educated brand new Medics


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## jgmedic (Dec 13, 2011)

Linuss said:


> That's California.  You guys are over-saturated with Para-wannabes anyhow.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



CA sucks for EMS, I'll give you that, but we're not all para-wannabes, some of us want to get out but can't do it for whatever reason. I'm sure not every medic in TX is amazing.


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## Shishkabob (Dec 13, 2011)

jgmedic said:


> CA sucks for EMS, I'll give you that, but we're not all para-wannabes, some of us want to get out but can't do it for whatever reason. I'm sure not every medic in TX is amazing.



Re-read what I said.  I never said you were all para-wannabes, but were over-saturated by them.


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