McCormick vs AMR/AMR vs McCormick

[Tony Maximilian]

AMR Riverside, Hemet, and Palm Springs divisions are offering scholarships for medic school at NCTI, Moreno Valley College, and Crafton Hills College.

Good to know. Thanks! Do you happen to know what the 'stings' are, like repayment, minimum contract following school, etc?

 

[gonefishing]

Good to know. Thanks! Do you happen to know what the 'stings' are, like repayment, minimum contract following school, etc?

Hall Ambulance will do just the same.

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[CALEMT]

minimum contract following school

3 year commitment, if you break your commitment then obviously you repay what you owe. I can't give all the details (Im part time putting myself through medic school). All I know is they'll probably be running scholarships for the foreseeable future in RivCo.

Hall Ambulance will do just the same.

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He doesn't want the Kern Co. Cult ok!

 

[gonefishing]

3 year commitment, if you break your commitment then obviously you repay what you owe. I can't give all the details (Im part time putting myself through medic school). All I know is they'll probably be running scholarships for the foreseeable future in RivCo.



He doesn't want the Kern Co. Cult ok!

LOL! When it comes to company health, Hall is superior in comparison.

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[CALEMT]

LOL! When it comes to company health, Hall is superior in comparison.

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Until all the cult members drink the funny drink or take the funny pill and next thing you know y'all are national headlines. "Cult mass killing in California"

 

[gonefishing]

Until all the cult members drink the funny drink or take the funny pill and next thing you know y'all are national headlines. "Cult mass killing in California"

LOL ?????? Jones Town? LOL

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[Tony Maximilian]

You guys are cracking me up over here. Much needed.

 

[Amberlamps916]

This whole "AMR is in charge of the scene in such and such other county" isn't exactly true, regardless of the policies, or protocols. You're still running with ALS departments, some of whom have their own modus operandi.

-VM[/QUOTE]

It is true for Santa Barbara at least. 6 out of the 9 fire departments are BLS. And the departments that are ALS have nowhere near the large egos as their compatriots down south so it's an interesting change from someone who as worked in other areas.

Also, no MICNs

 

[VentMonkey]

This is just getting weird. Anyhow, I've been around both company's to know which is the better choice. It has nothing to do with water, or drinks lol it's company (i.e., employee) investments.

AMR is not a bad option, and @Nick15 I would never be ashamed of where I worked per se. It's mostly the politics tied to the EMS within that county, and AMR like CARE and McCormick who are merely playing the game. The nurse and fire unions strengths and presence are remarkably prevalent there.

Back to your original question: again, when I started it was still Westmed/ McCormick and they were in the middle of a transition and acquisition. They've since become a 911 workhorse for their county contract. I don't know how realistically sustainable this is from a "keep the lights on standpoint" though.

IFT pays the bills plain and simple and to say or think that 911 is where it's at is an all too common misconceived notion. It seems neat, and fun, and thrilling, and exciting...until it's not and you're losing your hearing, and/ or finding ways to avoid having to listen to those damn things in your ears while going to the address of a patient who's address you already know and complaint you can recite; sad, really.

Anyhow, in LA if you want "fire calls" go CARE (seems easiest to get on with), AMR and McCormick open up frequently also. If not there are a few decent IFT only companies where you could learn some good stuff doing CCT and picking the CCT nurses brain as well. This is actually an excellent, and often overlooked option as well.

@Addrobo no MICN's huh? That's pretty interesting. Who answers the radio, the attending? Or are you all just working off of off-line protocols?

 

[CALEMT]

Also, no MICNs

That's interesting. Curious on how that works.

OP, I joke about hall but it's a good company to work for. However, if you're gonna work in LACo. as a EMT and no offense to Jim but go AMR. At least when your get your paramedic you can transfer within AMR to a different county.

 

[VentMonkey]

if you're gonna work in LACo. as a EMT at least when your get your paramedic you can transfer within AMR to a different county.

100% this, though I would still opt for Ventura or Santa Barbara AMR. Two words: beach weather. Again, another no brainer, IMO.

 

[CALEMT]

Two words: better protocols. Again, another no brainer, IMO.

Fixed.

 

[VentMonkey]

Fixed.

Eh, I vote beach weather over "better protocols" any day. Also, retirement trumps both.

 

[CALEMT]

Eh, I vote beach weather over "better protocols" any day. Also, retirement trumps both.

Considering I'm a mountains and pine trees kinda guy beach weather is "eh". Retirement is #1 IMO.

 

[Amberlamps916]

That's interesting. Curious on how that works.

OP, I joke about hall but it's a good company to work for. However, if you're gonna work in LACo. as a EMT and no offense to Jim but go AMR. At least when your get your paramedic you can transfer within AMR to a different county.

All five hospitals here are base hospitals with no MICNs. When we need orders, we talk to the physician directly. Per protocol, physician radio contact is mandatory for STEMIs and all AMAs. Everything else is just advising whichever nurse picks up the phone/radio of what is coming in.

It's really nice to have the ability to speak with a physician directly without jumping through hoops. Coming from a different area, it was almost impossible to do so.

 

[DesertMedic66]

This whole "AMR is in charge of the scene in such and such other county" isn't exactly true, regardless of the policies, or protocols. You're still running with ALS departments, some of whom have their own modus operandi.

When it is county protocol it certainly does help..

 

[RocketMedic]

How is the pay in Santa Barbara?

 

[Amberlamps916]

How is the pay in Santa Barbara?

Really good for central/southern Cali. Not as good as the bay area but I'll take it for a not too busy system close to the beach (Just had 0 calls on my 24 hour overtime shift last night).

There are three shift types: 12 hour days, 12 hour nights with differential, and 24 hour.

You get credit for experience.

 

[Daiawa]

Man this thread is making me incredibly thankful to be on the east coast.

They way addrobo makes it seem, is that its a big deal for services out there to talk with a physician? Refusals here are done simply by an agreance between the crew, the only thing in our protocols we need on line med control for is to use Vec over Sux. If I want to do something that is out of my protocols, all I have to do is call on the radio and request a Dr. and one is there immediately. If you can present a valid reason of why you want to do what you want to do, they will almost always approve it, or converse with you and look at an alternative. FD and EMS all get along and there's no pissing matches about what scene is who's.

Our EMT's start at 35K, couldn't imagine living on minimum wage in CA.

 

[Tony Maximilian]

IFT pays the bills plain and simple and to say or think that 911 is where it's at is an all too common misconceived notion. It seems neat, and fun, and thrilling, and exciting...until it's not and you're losing your hearing, and/ or finding ways to avoid having to listen to those damn things in your ears while going to the address of a patient who's address you already know and complaint you can recite; sad, really.

Anyhow, in LA if you want "fire calls" go CARE (seems easiest to get on with), AMR and McCormick open up frequently also. If not there are a few decent IFT only companies where you could learn some good stuff doing CCT and picking the CCT nurses brain as well. This is actually an excellent, and often overlooked option as well.

All fair and excellent points. But, for what it's worth, I'm not an adrenaline junky. I just want to keep the full range of my skills as sharp as possible for the year or two I'll be working as an EMT before medic school. I know EMTs working IFT sometimes end up with really interesting, challenging medical cases. But, to be blunt, most of the IFT companies I've looked into (at least locally) are either dialysis taxi services or primarily hospital discharge. (I'll not mention names here out of a desire not to burn potential bridges.)

Great point about CCT. From what you know, about how long before a new EMT is able to do CCT, even occasionally?