Sorry for the delay in responding.
First, congratulations on the possible position and yes you have a good chance of getting it as they are very short staffed in some areas.
I hope you are asking for the sign on bonus of 5K. Please tell me you were aware of it, do not get shafted.
http://www.acadian.com/
I worked for Acadian after Katrina and during Rita as a contract medic. They were extremely short staffed and overworked due to the storms. I enjoyed my time working there and actually considered signing on full time as they were also offering a 10K sign on for medics. I am glad I held out cause they are now offering a 20K sign on for medics in certain areas and it is something I am considering.
Pros:
1. It is employee owned and several of the old timers that I talked with were very pleased with their retirements and they were going to be leaving with some hefty pensions.
2. Health insurance was decent and affordable compared to what I was used to.
3. EMS is still EMS, there was very little fire involvement on calls and the areas they work in have very little interest in ever merging fire and EMS. It just can not happen under the current way of operating.
4. They do have a lot of nice equipment and trucks. (there is a reason for this I will get to in a minute).
5. As a basic, you get to work with a medic partner and learn many new things. You also get to do some transporting on your own.
6. The company is ever expanding but they do it at a reasonable pace as not to outgrow themselves and cause problems. Since they are for profit, they heavily investigate an area before moving in.
7. The company has an in house paramedic program. You have the chance to go to their academy and get your medic training for free. They will also house you and pay you while attending school!!! You have to make a 2 yr commitment after getting your medic in order to receive this.
8. There is a huge opportunity for promotions due to the company being so large.
9. There are also many different departments to work in if you choose as well. You can dispatch, call take, work the lifeline center, work the billing dept, work on the helicopter(medic), work on the rigs(medic), teach, etc.
10. You do not write any run reports, you call them in on the phone and dictate the run to a call taker who then emails you the final version. At the end of shift, you review your runs and hit accept if they are correct.
11. All the trucks have GPS tracking so dispatch knows where you are at all times. (This could be a con as well) But it helped me greatly as I had no clue where I was most of the time.
12. Radio comms are done by pushing buttons for the most part. You do not need to speak on the radio to go enroute, on scene or whatever. You just touch a button on the computer screen to mark your status. You can also send live messages between other trucks, supervisor or dispatch by typing on the dash console.
I will add more as I remember them, overall my impression of them is good. They are a great, stable company and it will do you well to work with them. I have worked for many different systems and in many different states and they rate as one of the most enjoyable for me.
Cons:
1. Very few of the trucks are 24 hour shifts, as they are extremely busy all of the time. What this means is you are doing SSM when not on runs. This means you are in the truck posting or staging somewhere for the entire shift usually. There are days when you get to the station and are able to sit for a few, but that time is usually doing reports or restocking.
2. Interfacility transports make money no matter how bad they suck. Every truck/crew runs both calls. There are no trucks dedicated solely to 911 or to transports. So in the course of a shift you make go from a MVC to a dialysis run, or you may get caught in the triangle and do nursing home after nursing home run. (the good side to this, as a medic, is that the basic usually takes ALL of these calls)
3. Uniforms...the uniforms suck period. You will learn the history of the company during orientation and find that the company was started by 3 returning Vietnam vets, and they opted to keep the army color and appearing uniforms. No further comment other than they suck.
4. Con for medics/pro for basics is that the trucks are Medic/EMT. Sorry but I like double medic trucks as I worked in a system that was that way for years. View this whichever way you want but it is a pro and a con depending on which side of the fence you are on. There were a few times I needed help and the basic could not perform at the level I needed and the FD only has first responders, so I had to wait for another unit to get a 2nd medic.
5. Overall Louisiana EMS is behind the times. I am used to very progressive systems, so working there was a step back in time regarding education level and skills/drugs authorized to be used. It is just the way it is, however as a newbie you may not ever realize the difference.
6. The medical director is not an ER doc. He is a psychiatrist. This is a huge con for me and I am sure other medics will agree.
I will try to think of some other cons and post for you later.
It is always best to solicit advice from many sources, but as I said earlier, despite the cons, overall it is a decent company to work for.
The trucks all have a drive safe program. I can not remember the name of it at this time, however it was a very frustrating system for me. It has a machine that warns you if you accelerate too fast, slow down too fast, corner too hard, etc. Dispatch also knows if you are over the speed limit and for how long, so you have to constantly watch yourself while driving.
You get a 30 day grace period to adjust to the system, however after that you start getting written up if you make it click too many times in a shift.
The plus side to this program, aside from potential unsafe driving is remember the company is EMPLOYEE owned. That means if you reduce wear and tear on the vehicles, reduce maintenance costs, reduce fuel consumption, it will put more dollars back into your pocket. You, the employee. You have a vested interest in doing what you can to save the company money, so yes the program sucks but it does make you more money in the long run.
I hope all this information helps, and if you have any further questions please feel free to ask.
