AAS New Mexico

[rural911]

I had some questions about AAS New Mexico. Does anyone work there, or know someone that currently works there? Thanks Much!

 

[TransportJockey]

Albuquerque ambulance service? I've done internship there, seen them work while I was at another ABQ service, and have friends that work for them, both in ABQ and ruidoso and espanola. I might be able to help ypu with questions.

 

[rural911]

Thanks for replying JT. I have a blast of questions. Would it be better to PM you? or just post them all here?

 

[rural911]

1. What is the base salary hourly ratre? EMT-B and EMT-P? Do you know if there are regular pay rate increases?
Typically how long you are at each rate? and what the cap pay rate is for medics?

2. Uniform allowances?

3. Health, dental, vision - good? - bad? - ugly?

4. Is there usually a good amount of overtime available? Extra shifts? ( do they mandate that you can't work more than like 36hr straight etc)

5. How does shift bidding work? Are you on a unit/shift for say 3-6 months then they rebid? or?

6. Is there some type of union?

7. How is management, community, hospital staff, and fire dept towards paramedics/emt's

8. How are the EMT's and Paramedic's treated by Hospital staff i.e. RN's, Md's, etc?

9. Unit set-up emt-p/emt-b? emt-p / emt-p...Are there first responding medics on the engines?

10. Do you call ahead via radio and give a report to a radio RN, or are you just giving a heads up of your ETA?

11. How is the management?

12. Equipment? is most of the equipment in good working order? e.g rigs, etc?

13. Protocols?

14. Anything else you can add. That would help me make an informed decision of possibly relocating, and working for this company.

Thank you

 

[TransportJockey]

Some I can answer, some I'll have to ask and get back to you Here goes

1. What is the base salary hourly ratre? EMT-B and EMT-P? Do you know if there are regular pay rate increases?

EMT-B typically starts at over $11/hr. I know my preceptor was making in the neighborhood of $18/hr as a medic.
Typically how long you are at each rate? and what the cap pay rate is for medics?

2. Uniform allowances?
Something like $350 yearly for uniform expenses
3. Health, dental, vision - good? - bad? - ugly?
Decent insurance benefits overall. They are owned by Presbyterian Healthcare, so that helps a bit.
4. Is there usually a good amount of overtime available? Extra shifts? ( do they mandate that you can't work more than like 36hr straight etc)
There are usually OT shifts to pick up. Normal shifts are 13s and you are usually schedule for 3/week. There are two areas of the city with 24s, but you are not allowed to work a 24 followed by a 13. No working over 16 hours a shift.
5. How does shift bidding work? Are you on a unit/shift for say 3-6 months then they rebid? or?
Shifts are on a seniority basis, but I'm not quite sure how that works. I know friends of mine that are brand new or upgrading to medic or intermediate get tossed into the float pool for a few months. I think it's scheduling on a monthly basis though
6. Is there some type of union?
Not sure, I'll ask about it
7. How is management, community, hospital staff, and fire dept towards paramedics/emt's
See under this post.
8. How are the EMT's and Paramedic's treated by Hospital staff i.e. RN's, Md's, etc?
See under this post.
9. Unit set-up emt-p/emt-b? emt-p / emt-p...Are there first responding medics on the engines?
EMT-I/EMT-B trucks run transfers and some low acuity 911 calls. There are some EMT-I/EMT-P trucks that run 911, but most are EMT-B/EMT-P. The EMT-Bs are mostly EVO, as County EMS protocols state that AAS must have at least an EMT-I in the back with the patient.
10. Do you call ahead via radio and give a report to a radio RN, or are you just giving a heads up of your ETA?
You give a short radio report to whatever hospital you are going to, and then give the full report to the RN at bedside/trauma room.
11. How is the management?
Seems to be very good towards the staff. There's not a lot of turnover among the medics there.
12. Equipment? is most of the equipment in good working order? e.g rigs, etc?
Good equipment. All fully upgraded LP12s (last I heard 15s were being considered.) Sprinter Type IIs for some of the IFT trucks, most of the 911 trucks are F350 boxes, with some being E350 boxes (those are being phased out in favor of the long nose rigs)
13. Protocols?
Not bad. More restrictive than state protocols in general are, but that's due to you being in proximity to eight hospitals in the county, including the state's only Lvl1 trauma center.
Protocols can be found here http://www.bernco.gov/live/..%5C%5Cupload%5Cimages%5Cfire_rescue%5Cems_protocols.pdf
14. Anything else you can add. That would help me make an informed decision of possibly relocating, and working for this company.

Thank you

First a little background on the EMS system of ABQ, NM.
You have AAS which is the first response/911 transport agency. They respond to all 911 calls and handle a good portion of the Pres Health System IFTs.

You have Superior Ambulance Service which runs IFT in Bernalillo County and 911 in three other counties in the state. Not the best pay, but they're a good place to start. They are not allowed to run 911 in Bernalillo County 99% of the time.

ABQ Fire Dept is an ALS agency that has dual medic Rescues and some of their Engines/Ladders have at least one medic on them. At least an engine is dispatched to most 911 calls, with ones coded Charlie, Delta, or Echo's getting a Rescue as well, along with Rescues going to some other calls when they're close. AFD rarely transports to the hospitals.

Bernalillo County FD is covers the county. They will also back up AFD on overlapping areas. They run B/P or I/P Rescues and some of their Engines/Ladders have medics on them. They also rarely transport, but respond to 911 calls and helps out AAS.

Hospitals you have the main state VA hospital, University of NM Hospital (the lvl 1 Trauma), Lovelace Health Systems (which has 3 hospitals. Womens, Westside, and Downtown), and Presbyterian Health Systems (which has a hospital on the east side of town, one in Rio Rancho, and the Downtown hospital). For the most part the RNs and MDs treat EMS very well. They are used to working with them and know what they can do. It also helps that all the EDs have a lot of medics and EMTs working as ER Techs.

Oh, you also have Rio Rancho FD out in Rio Rancho. They are a transporting ALS FD. Rio is the only place in the ABQ Metro that AAS doesn't generally cover.

If you need anything else, let me know. Or if you need clarification Hope this has helped!