Advice for a newbie?

[StarOfLife]

If you are thinking career, many places do 24's. You can live a long distance away and commute twice a week for 24 hour shifts. We had one of our guys at my fulltime gig (Sanford, Maine fire) who lived in Conway. He was 10 minutes from Cathedral ledge and 1.5 hours from work. I thought he had his priorities straight

You could get in at AMR Somersworth and commute. I know there one or two mom and pop companies in the lakes region. Someone from Acton Rescue works for one of them (dunno the name). Did you ride with Conway Ambulance? Carroll County is pretty big, what part are you in?

I rode w/ N. Conway Ambulance. They seem like a group of good folks. I live one town south of Conway.

What would be the benefit of AMR? I suppose it would have to outweigh the gas bill. I know someone who lives in Fryeburg and commutes to Somersworth - I don't know if it is AMR he works for, but he and his almost wife will be moving there. I'm not ready to do that, however.

How is the pay with a larger company like AMR vs. a smaller local service? The other one I am thinking of is MedStar. I really like the guys there - our rescue works more closely with them.

Would the mom and pop place in the lakes region be Stewarts? That is the one I was talking about being 45 minutes away.

 

[StarOfLife]

Don't get me wrong - the gas alone would not be enough to keep me out. It would just have to serve a greater purpose working for such a company. Right now, I am so unfamiliar with the business -this part of it - that I do not know the difference between an AMR and a smaller service.

And 24s seem pretty good, but I have worried about learning to sleep. I suppose it comes in time, however. I know some here do 12s, 24s and 48s. I know someone who worked all seven days 24 hours a day. Of course he didn't do that always, but wow! That is what I mean when I say that a lot of places around here need help badly - there aren't a lot of people, it seems, that desire a full-time EMS career. It is a shame.

Thanks for your replies, cfrench. Its nice to meet an almost local.