# Pay scale for AMR paramedic



## Murphy11 (Jun 8, 2014)

Good evening gents and ladies. I am thinking of moving to la to be with family and do a fire academy and work up there ect. Amr rancho Cucamonga is hiring medics right now. I work for rural metro San Diego currently. Does anyone know how the relationship between fire and ems is up there or how much the pay is ? Any answer can help. Thanks


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## Underoath87 (Jun 9, 2014)

The "EMS Employment" section is what you're looking for.


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## DesertMedic66 (Jun 9, 2014)

A guess off of the top of my head would be $15-$18/hr.


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## epicEMT (Jun 11, 2014)

From my experience with AMR the starting pay was 17.41 for a fresh medic.


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## HeatStroke (Jun 12, 2014)

So do they actually have a scale based off of experience? Because RM in AZ pretty much just gives you 13.74/hr no matter what.


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## johnrsemt (Jun 23, 2014)

Probably depends on where you live/work (what part of the country):  It is lots cheaper to live in Indianapolis than Chicago or NYC so pay would vary.

Federal jobs pay flat rate for everything in the category; then add locality pay, which varies from 14.16% to almost 50%

Most places pay more for experience also.

Some pay more for degrees over certifications


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## MagicTyler (Jun 26, 2014)

AMR (River Medical) in AZ bases your pay on experience. They give you "credit" for half of your cert experience. Ie you have been a medic 10 years, they start you at the pay of a 5 year employee. Starting for medic is around 14.50(24hr rate)/21.00(12hr rate).


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## FoleyArtist (Jun 26, 2014)

i used to work amr rancho june 2013. new medic no experience is 14 and change. and they all hire in PT no benefits until you can bid for a FT shift. all 12/hr maybe 1 24/hr shift left? i left a month into it for personal reasons. the system seemed cool, fd, hospital rns, etc. rancho division just wasn't my cup of tea. 
i work in vegas now. love it.


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## NPO (Jun 27, 2014)

ProbieMedic said:


> i work in vegas now. love it.



I'd love to hear how that's going. From the inside..


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## FoleyArtist (Jun 27, 2014)

NPO said:


> I'd love to hear how that's going. From the inside..



From the inside?


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## NPO (Jun 27, 2014)

ProbieMedic said:


> From the inside?



Aren't you guys going through that hostile takeover by the FD?


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## FoleyArtist (Jun 27, 2014)

NPO said:


> Aren't you guys going through that hostile takeover by the FD?



Amr is. I'm too new to get in on the gossip. But from what I see Amr is still cranking out calls. Running just as hard as us. They still have I think 2-3 other zones and half the strip that keep them busy. LV city is a small portion compared to the CCFD zones they work with. I work for the other guys haha and we have no contract with LV city fire rescue. Our contract FDs are non transporting.


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## NPO (Jun 27, 2014)

ProbieMedic said:


> Amr is. I'm too new to get in on the gossip. But from what I see Amr is still cranking out calls. Running just as hard as us. They still have I think 2-3 other zones and half the strip that keep them busy. LV city is a small portion compared to the CCFD zones they work with. I work for the other guys haha and we have no contract with LV city fire rescue. Our contract FDs are non transporting.



My mistake. When you said you worked in Vegas I thought you worked for AMR  Are you with the city or is there another agency there I'm forgeting?


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## ExpatMedic0 (Jun 27, 2014)

in Portland Oregon they start at around 40k a year


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## FoleyArtist (Jun 27, 2014)

NPO said:


> My mistake. When you said you worked in Vegas I thought you worked for AMR  Are you with the city or is there another agency there I'm forgeting?



MedicWest. Owned by envision aka AMR. 

And my partner corrected me. The amr and lv city ordeal is a sizeable contract for AMR in the sense of reimbursable transports. Similar to the articles you may have already read about the summerlin area. Given that the stats here are that 40% of Vegas residents have no insurance.

My apologies to the OP. Got off on a tangent


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## ordunez43 (Dec 4, 2014)

ProbieMedic said:


> i used to work amr rancho june 2013. new medic no experience is 14 and change. and they all hire in PT no benefits until you can bid for a FT shift. all 12/hr maybe 1 24/hr shift left? i left a month into it for personal reasons. the system seemed cool, fd, hospital rns, etc. rancho division just wasn't my cup of tea.
> i work in vegas now. love it.


Where do you work in Vegas now? How is the pay?  What do you like about it? I don't know if I should stay in California or venture out of state. Please, help me out.


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## NPO (Dec 4, 2014)

ordunez43 said:


> Where do you work in Vegas now? How is the pay?  What do you like about it? I don't know if I should stay in California or venture out of state. Please, help me out.


Regardless of what you decide, Vegas is not a system you want to invest yourself in. Not right now anyway.


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## CodeBru1984 (Dec 4, 2014)

ordunez43 said:


> Where do you work in Vegas now? How is the pay?  What do you like about it? I don't know if I should stay in California or venture out of state. Please, help me out.


Unless you're currently working for AMR as it is, there are much better systems even in the state of California where single role EMTs and Paramedics are the highest on scene medical authority, and that are just as busy and pay well.


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## CodeBru1984 (Dec 4, 2014)

Murphy11 said:


> Good evening gents and ladies. I am thinking of moving to la to be with family and do a fire academy and work up there ect. Amr rancho Cucamonga is hiring medics right now. I work for rural metro San Diego currently. Does anyone know how the relationship between fire and ems is up there or how much the pay is ? Any answer can help. Thanks


I just recently left R/M SD for better opportunities as a single role EMT in a system that has BLS Fire. Overall it's a pretty sweet gig if you ask me. If your dead set on being a FF/Medic I don't know how well my system would work for you, but if you want to be a single role medic, it's a pretty sweet system. Only about an hour or so north of LA too.


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## DesertMedic66 (Dec 4, 2014)

CodeBru1984 said:


> I just recently left R/M SD for better opportunities as a single role EMT in a system that has BLS Fire. Overall it's a pretty sweet gig if you ask me. If your dead set on being a FF/Medic I don't know how well my system would work for you, but if you want to be a single role medic, it's a pretty sweet system. Only about an hour or so north of LA too.


But your pay can not compete with a FF/Medic pay haha


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## CodeBru1984 (Dec 4, 2014)

Initially no, but as you move up in seniority you sure can. I must say our company sponsored benefits are outstanding however.


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## NPO (Dec 4, 2014)

DesertEMT66 said:


> But your pay can not compete with a FF/Medic pay haha


For me at least, I would rather make single role medic wages and like my job, than be one of the many well paid, unhappy FF/Medics


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## CodeBru1984 (Dec 4, 2014)

NPO said:


> For me at least, I would rather make single role medic wages and like my job, than be one of the many well paid, unhappy FF/Medics


I completely concur with the above statement. Nothing against FF/Medics, but it's just not my thing.


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## DesertMedic66 (Dec 4, 2014)

I'll gladly play FF/Medic for $24-$35/hr starting


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## CodeBru1984 (Dec 4, 2014)

DesertEMT66 said:


> I'll gladly play FF/Medic for $24-$35/hr starting


But would you be fully satisfied in the long run?


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## DesertMedic66 (Dec 4, 2014)

CodeBru1984 said:


> But would you be fully satisfied in the long run?


With this specific department yes. Really nice engines, brand new equipment, plenty of room to move up, airport response team, SWAT medic team, mutual aid agreement for huge fires, great benefits, great retirement. Only thing that is missing for me is something that is only a volunteer position here.


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## CodeBru1984 (Dec 4, 2014)

DesertEMT66 said:


> With this specific department yes. Really nice engines, brand new equipment, plenty of room to move up, airport response team, SWAT medic team, mutual aid agreement for huge fires, great benefits, great retirement. Only thing that is missing for me is something that is only a volunteer position here.


Interesting. What's the missing component?


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## DesertMedic66 (Dec 4, 2014)

CodeBru1984 said:


> Interesting. What's the missing component?


For me it's SAR/helicopter rescue


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## CodeBru1984 (Dec 4, 2014)

Ah... I'll be looking into SAR up here in Kern County once I'm finally done with field training. It's something I've always been interested in.


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## NPO (Dec 4, 2014)

Me too. I was on Ventura County Search and Rescue before moving to Kern County. I miss it.


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## Angel (Dec 4, 2014)

Not to mention fire is 95% medicals so really you're just getting paid more and better for something you'd be doing anyway


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## NPO (Dec 4, 2014)

Angel said:


> Not to mention fire is 95% medicals so really you're just getting paid more and better for something you'd be doing anyway


Agreed. If I found a dept I like as much as I like my employer, sure. 

But most firefighters are firefighters first, and medics second, and often because they are forced to. Either because their dept requires it, or to be competitive in the application process. 

Personally, I prefer the EMS part of the job, so I'm quite content.


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## TRSpeed (Dec 4, 2014)

Idk if you guys know but our SAR teams by KCSO are volunteer. They always train. I last saw them a few weeks ago prepping for river rescues.


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## CodeBru1984 (Dec 4, 2014)

TRSpeed said:


> Idk if you guys know but our SAR teams by KCSO are volunteer. They always train. I last saw them a few weeks ago prepping for river rescues.


Yeah, I know. Thought it be something fun to do outside of work.


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## TRSpeed (Dec 4, 2014)

Ya definitely.  Once I finish medic school. It will be something I look into.


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## SandpitMedic (Dec 6, 2014)

NPO said:


> Regardless of what you decide, Vegas is not a system you want to invest yourself in. Not right now anyway.


Why not?


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## RocketMedic (Dec 6, 2014)

If you're looking to move, get out of Socal, and preferably the West Coast in general.

I just moved from Oklahoma City to San Antonio. EMSA wasn't too bad, but I think I'll like San Antonio better. Pay at both was better than SoCal and WAY better than Arizona.


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## NPO (Dec 6, 2014)

SandpitMedic said:


> Why not?


They're having a conflict with LVFD and AMR. 

Unless you were speaking of joining the FD. 

AMR is only running low level calls right now. Its been messy


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## TransportJockey (Dec 6, 2014)

NPO said:


> They're having a conflict with LVFD and AMR.
> 
> Unless you were speaking of joining the FD.
> 
> AMR is only running low level calls right now. Its been messy


Medic west is still running as normal though, right?


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## NPO (Dec 6, 2014)

TransportJockey said:


> Medic west is still running as normal though, right?


That's a good question. 

I only saw AMR when I was there.


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## TransportJockey (Dec 6, 2014)

NPO said:


> That's a good question.
> 
> I only saw AMR when I was there.


Same parent company. Medic west is a division of AMR.


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## NPO (Dec 6, 2014)

TransportJockey said:


> Same parent company. Medic west is a division of AMR.


Yeah I know. I had an interview with them a while back


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## TransportJockey (Dec 6, 2014)

NPO said:


> Yeah I know. I had an interview with them a while back


Cool. I deployed to Isaac with guys from MWA and when I was with AMR ABQ we had a transfer from there for a while nefore she went back. I've heard good things about them.


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## NPO (Dec 6, 2014)

TransportJockey said:


> Cool. I deployed to Isaac with guys from MWA and when I was with AMR ABQ we had a transfer from there for a while nefore she went back. I've heard good things about them.


Seemed like a good operation.


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## SandpitMedic (Dec 7, 2014)

You have been misinformed.

AMR is still hopping. Currently LVFR* (not LVFD) transports delta calls, vehicle collisions, and whatever they get to first. AMR is still churning out calls, and while there is limited overtime no one has been let go. In fact, they are still hiring and are working only a little less in regards to call volume. AMR still has a lot of the large urban county areas (suburbs) as well as part of the strip that is county, and the airport.

Beginning in January they will be dispatched in CITY areas only to alpha level calls (code 2 911 calls) and bravo level calls (code 3 low coded 911 calls)- not including car accidents. Now, I don't know about you, but I have ran more legit alphas and bravos than I have charlies and deltas - the supposed critical calls.

Heck, today we had a bravo fall that turned out to be some chick who fell off of her second story balcony last night. About 15 ft, full on smacked the entire left side of her body with hip/knee/arm/face pain. She got the Fentanyl.

Before that was a Bravo SOB, and that guy I CPAP'd with an in-line Neb. An aside, ER Doc put him on the BiPAP for about an hour and then he did fine- didn't buy a tube.The reason why we have this job.

So to say that they will only run BS calls is a misnomer. We all know that a huge lot of our calls are what some consider BS. They'll be getting the same ALS contacts as the rest of us.

They will still run codes and collisions in the county area and I'm sure they will in the city at times as well.  This is a very, very busy system.

And the pay is decent. Especially compared to California.

Additionally, yes AMR and MWA are both owned by Envision. However, we each have our own AO, HQ, dispatch centers, and chain of command. And no, MWA has not been affected by the city thing.


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## Angel (Dec 7, 2014)

Thanks for clearing that up. I also figured fire took over a lot in LV


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## Angel (Dec 8, 2014)

I applied to both AMR and Medic West...well see what happens


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## SandpitMedic (Dec 8, 2014)

It's the same. You  do your tests and interview, and then if you pass you're in a pool and the first company that needs a body is where you go. They ask who you would prefer to work for... But it doesn't really matter. Needs of the company.

Good luck.


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## SandpitMedic (Dec 8, 2014)

Apologies for the side tracking of this thread. This has nothing to do with LA.


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## Angel (Dec 8, 2014)

@SandpitMedic, I thought so, but just wanted to be safe...though it wouldve saved me some time. anywhoo. ill shut up and let the thread get back on topic


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