AEMT vs EMT-I

Summit said:
Bend is nice. Mmmmmmmmmmmount Bachelor
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Yessss! When I lived there I rode a ton at bachelor and XC at all the snoparks, rode my road bike almost every day it was nice and kayaked almost every weekend. Competed in Pole, Pedal, Paddle a couple of times. Camped in the middle of BLM wilderness and just had an amazing life.

Damn EMS is all fire based though.

What an amazing place to live.
 
DEmedic said:
Yessss! When I lived there I rode a ton at bachelor and XC at all the snoparks, rode my road bike almost every day it was nice and kayaked almost every weekend. Competed in Pole, Pedal, Paddle a couple of times. Camped in the middle of BLM wilderness and just had an amazing life.

Damn EMS is all fire based though.

What an amazing place to live.
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Sadly, now it is plagued by a bunch of rich people moving in from California
 
LanceCorpsman said:
Sadly, now it is plagued by a bunch of rich people moving in from California
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Same with Portland unfortunately. Rental prices have skyrocketed but not wages. I miss the Pacific Northwest but if I move back I think it will be to Washington state and I've lived in Oregon most of my life
 
But before this thread goes side ways, I was an Oregon intermediate for several years. seemed like a big help in the rural areas, especially for pain management and ACLS.
 
ExpatMedic0 said:
But before this thread goes side ways, I was an Oregon intermediate for several years. seemed like a big help in the rural areas, especially for pain management and ACLS.
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Did the service not have paramedics available?
 
EpiEMS said:
Did the service not have paramedics available?
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A lot of volunteer areas or areas that are mixed with paid and volunteer staff don't have many medics. I'm not sure about now, this was over 10 years ago. Oregon is full of fire engine tier response systems where in engine responds to most Ems calls and in theory arrives before the ambulance. In the big cities most have 1 paramedic on board, but not always the case in rural areas. At my fire academy out of 100 or so guys I was the only intermediate I know of and 1 guy was a paramedic. in Portland though all 911 ambulances are double paramedic and most engines have at least 1 paramedic on board.
 
EpiEMS said:
Did the service not have paramedics available?
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There was an old EMT who moved to Oregon once on of our AMR ops closed several years ago. From the sound of things the service he ended working for covered large areas of rural Oregon, and would have hours long (or several) transports weather permitting, perhaps this was a factor?

Fun fact: this service was also featured on the movie "Kindergarten Cop".
 
In my county, besides the one paid agency with two medic units (that do respond out of dist) we maybe have 5 medics spread across 12-15 ambulances. And those medics are spread in between two volunteer departments. Like my department, we have three intermediates and that is it. Our most reliable ALS support is from the HEMS agencies. But most of the time, if I do require a medic, I just treat with diesel.
 
LanceCorpsman said:
In my county, besides the one paid agency with two medic units (that do respond out of dist) we maybe have 5 medics spread across 12-15 ambulances. And those medics are spread in between two volunteer departments. Like my department, we have three intermediates and that is it. Our most reliable ALS support is from the HEMS agencies. But most of the time, if I do require a medic, I just treat with diesel.
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How long are your transports?
 
Tigger said:
How long are your transports?
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It all depends, for my department usually between 10-15 mins to the closest level III trauma hospital. But in some of the more rural/remote locations, it can take more than an hour going code 3.
Some departments have a 30 min minimum transport time (with no ALS) and I know a few departments that can be three hours away from the closest hospital.
 
LanceCorpsman said:
It all depends, for my department usually between 10-15 mins to the closest level III trauma hospital. But in some of the more rural/remote locations, it can take more than an hour going code 3.
Some departments have a 30 min minimum transport time (with no ALS) and I know a few departments that can be three hours away from the closest hospital.
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That is a drag.

I feel fortunate that we can provide paramedics to our area. 5 paramedic ambulances for 1000+ square miles and 35k people.
 
Tigger said:
That is a drag.

I feel fortunate that we can provide paramedics to our area. 5 paramedic ambulances for 1000+ square miles and 35k people.
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There definitely has to be a change.
 
LanceCorpsman said:
It all depends, for my department usually between 10-15 mins to the closest level III trauma hospital. But in some of the more rural/remote locations, it can take more than an hour going code 3.
Some departments have a 30 min minimum transport time (with no ALS) and I know a few departments that can be three hours away from the closest hospital.
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Oof. Are these mostly volley EMS or are we talking volley fire running one or two ambulances?
 
EpiEMS said:
Oof. Are these mostly volley EMS or are we talking volley fire running one or two ambulances?
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Mostly volley fire. Im only aware of two volley EMS agencies in my county.
 
My "career" in the fire service lasted about 4 weeks... Was not for me. It's a shame if you want to make any money as a paramedic in Oregon you have to be a fireman.
 
LanceCorpsman said:
Mostly volley fire. Im only aware of two volley EMS agencies in my county.
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Gotcha -- and most are BLS or limited ALS (AEMT)?

ExpatMedic0 said:
My "career" in the fire service lasted about 4 weeks... Was not for me. It's a shame if you want to make any money as a paramedic in Oregon you have to be a fireman.
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So there's no solid third-service, hospital-based, or privates to make a career at? That's a shame.
 
EpiEMS said:
Gotcha -- and most are BLS or limited ALS (AEMT)?



So there's no solid third-service, hospital-based, or privates to make a career at? That's a shame.
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From my experience as a paramedic in Oregon, working for a private ambulance company will pay between 35-50k a year before any overtime, a crappy 401k and mediocre to bad health insurance. No stations, all system status management living your 12 hour shift in a parking lot somewhere. Some private ambulances have unions(AMR portland) but most don't. Oregon is an at will employer so you can be fired for any reason, your employer does not have to give a reason. Firefighter paramedic on the other hand, can range from 50-100k+, you get an actual public pension, top of the line health benefits, an incredibly powerful union and a station to hang out in during your shift. You respond on every EMS call in the engine and do patient care for 1-5 minutes before the ambulance arrives or cancel yourself because the ambulance is already on scene.TVFR and Portland Fire are 2 good examples. Obviously, this varies by region and location and I have not lived there in years...
 
However, I guess its worth noting that in the very rural areas, what I said above does not always apply. That is where they rely more on EMT-I's and volunteers. I am only familiar with Portland area
 
ExpatMedic0 said:
However, I guess its worth noting that in the very rural areas, what I said above does not always apply. That is where they rely more on EMT-I's and volunteers. I am only familiar with Portland area
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Metropolitan Oregon sounds a lot like metropolitan California (yaaay west coast).

Just out of curiosity what is (was) the relationship like with the AMR Multnomah County paramedics and Portland Fire. I was under the impression that the AMR paramedics had scene control on the 911's. I could be completely mistaken BTW.

Also does Astoria have an ALS fire department? I've always been fascinated with that part of the PNW, thanks.
 
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