Ambulance Certificate

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Cdurham0510

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Hey guys!
So I took my ambulance written test this Monday and passed..
However, after the DMV process, I had to answer “yes” when the question regarding convictions was asked.
I’ve been cleared by ICEMA and national registry.

I have not yet received my “temporary”.
Is there a longer expectation?
DMV noted I will receive a letter in the mail.
Thanks guys.
 
Usually you will get your temporary license before you leave the building after you test. I imagine you are going to have to wait a little bit before you get an official response from the DMV if they approve your license.
 
Moved to appropriate forum
 
DesertMedic66 said:
Usually you will get your temporary license before you leave the building after you test. I imagine you are going to have to wait a little bit before you get an official response from the DMV if they approve your license.
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Thank you. So it’s just a matter of waiting.
 
I’m assuming you’re in California so good luck. I never had a easy time with the ambulance driver certificate. They lost my paperwork a few times, gave me wrong information several times, had me come back with paperwork a couple times, and when I finally left the state for the last time I still had been using my temporary cert for a couple years because they couldn’t find my paperwork and said to use that one till the permanent one came in the mail or it was time to renew. Their system showed I had done the process but they couldn’t find the actual paperwork and nobody in Sacramento could give a straight answer to what to do.
 
luke_31 said:
I’m assuming you’re in California so good luck. I never had a easy time with the ambulance driver certificate. They lost my paperwork a few times, gave me wrong information several times, had me come back with paperwork a couple times, and when I finally left the state for the last time I still had been using my temporary cert for a couple years because they couldn’t find my paperwork and said to use that one till the permanent one came in the mail or it was time to renew. Their system showed I had done the process but they couldn’t find the actual paperwork and nobody in Sacramento could give a straight answer to what to do.
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Ah. Well thank you for the information.
now I can stretch my expectations. And yes. I am in California.
 
Great. I'm back in California and I've been gone too long so I can't just renew my old one. So I have to jump through all the California specific hoops yet again.

Not looking forward to this. :/
 
fm_emt said:
Great. I'm back in California and I've been gone too long so I can't just renew my old one. So I have to jump through all the California specific hoops yet again.

Not looking forward to this. :/
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So the lesson here is never leave Califirnia, and never return to California?
 
I don't know why people would want to return to California. I'll just assume that people who live in California do it because they need to. I'm always impressed by the high numbers of restrictions placed upon Californians and their various industries. But, it looks like once one is all set up in that state he should be good for awhile. Good luck to any Californian, truly. Wyoming is so much easier.
 
Cdurham0510 said:
Well that was negative. 🤷🏻‍♀️
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I'm assuming you were referring to my post. I apologize. I read it and it does appear to be on the negative side. I was meaning that it's crazy how limiting California makes basically anything, and I'm further intrigued why so many people rush into those scenarios. The realistic side of me understands that people live there and have established themselves in that state, so leaving is not a true option. I don't mean to say that people should leave. I have never heard of an ambulance driver certificate. I didn't know such thing existed. When I was working in Oregon, we just had to have our certification (EMT or paramedic) and a driver license. It's the same practice in Wyoming, to my understanding.

Again, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring you down with my post. 🍻
 
fm_emt said:
Great. I'm back in California and I've been gone too long so I can't just renew my old one. So I have to jump through all the California specific hoops yet again.

Not looking forward to this. :/
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Would you happen to know the Sacramento number to reach these guys? It’s been over a week and no letter in the mail. Or if this is just a DMV deal- strictly
 
WyoRecast said:
I don't know why people would want to return to California. I'll just assume that people who live in California do it because they need to. I'm always impressed by the high numbers of restrictions placed upon Californians and their various industries. But, it looks like once one is all set up in that state he should be good for awhile. Good luck to any Californian, truly. Wyoming is so much easier.
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Long story summed up: I moved to TX in 08. life happened. in early 19 I reconnected with someone I've known for years. lotsa love happened. she moved to TX to be with me. She had a good job lined up. Moved to TX. 'Rona happened. Job said "lol, we're cutting everyones hours, and your full time offer is now part time." She starts new job, first day it's "Well you're now PRN, and we can't put you on the schedule for maybe 4 more months." She got ahold of her job here in California (healthcare provider gig, union protected, no layoffs) and they said "oh please please come back."

So it was either tell my now wife "sorry, I'm staying here" or begrudgingly move back here. At least I like the northern part of the state where we are.

I miss Texas a lot. But there are definitely trade-offs. I love the rivers & mountains here.
 
Cdurham0510 said:
Would you happen to know the Sacramento number to reach these guys? It’s been over a week and no letter in the mail. Or if this is just a DMV deal- strictly
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In your case: I'd drop by a field office and just ask them. There does not seem to be a way to contact them, and many departments are working remotely anyway.

I know that people do search for "California Ambulance Driver Certificate" or something, and DMV has changed their website so a lot of links from reddit or forum posts here are not valid anymore.

My steps so far, as of Dec 9, 2020. If it's not obvious, I'm a little salty about the entire process.

* Go to DMV, buy $5 "Ambulance Drivers Handbook" and start studying it.

* Get DMV Form DMV 8016 - "Request for Live Scan Service." Go spend $77 and get a Live Scan. Even if you already had one done for your state certification or county stuff, you have to do it again. Lovely, eh?

* Go to a doctor and get a DOT exam. Form MCSA-5875.

* They'll also fill out MCSA-5876 which I think you're supposed to carry with you.

* Note that your usual Primary Care Physician probably cannot do this exam for you. You have to find someone certified to do DOT physicals. So, probably Concentra or something like that. In my area? I literally ended up in a strip mall chiropractic office. Cost me $55 for the exam, which was a complete joke. At least the provider was friendly and the whole thing took less than 10 minutes.

This is as far as I got so far. If what I read is still accurate, all I need to do now is:

* Go back to DMV, wait in line again, take the ambulance drivers test. Get temporary which is good for 180 days. I should get something in the mail.

Apparently you need to go renew this physical every 2 years now. I thought it used to be every 5, but the doctor said it was 2 years.

I already have my state Paramedic card but now I need to find a local job so I can gain county accreditation. Apparently I need to have "5 ALS calls" documented, and they have to take place in that system. I cannot use any the 672 ALS level calls over the past year alone that my previous agency has documentation and PCRs for. Nope.
 
fm_emt said:
In your case: I'd drop by a field office and just ask them. There does not seem to be a way to contact them, and many departments are working remotely anyway.

I know that people do search for "California Ambulance Driver Certificate" or something, and DMV has changed their website so a lot of links from reddit or forum posts here are not valid anymore.

My steps so far, as of Dec 9, 2020. If it's not obvious, I'm a little salty about the entire process.

* Go to DMV, buy $5 "Ambulance Drivers Handbook" and start studying it.

* Get DMV Form DMV 8016 - "Request for Live Scan Service." Go spend $77 and get a Live Scan. Even if you already had one done for your state certification or county stuff, you have to do it again. Lovely, eh?

* Go to a doctor and get a DOT exam. Form MCSA-5875.

* They'll also fill out MCSA-5876 which I think you're supposed to carry with you.

* Note that your usual Primary Care Physician probably cannot do this exam for you. You have to find someone certified to do DOT physicals. So, probably Concentra or something like that. In my area? I literally ended up in a strip mall chiropractic office. Cost me $55 for the exam, which was a complete joke. At least the provider was friendly and the whole thing took less than 10 minutes.

This is as far as I got so far. If what I read is still accurate, all I need to do now is:

* Go back to DMV, wait in line again, take the ambulance drivers test. Get temporary which is good for 180 days. I should get something in the mail.

Apparently you need to go renew this physical every 2 years now. I thought it used to be every 5, but the doctor said it was 2 years.

I already have my state Paramedic card but now I need to find a local job so I can gain county accreditation. Apparently I need to have "5 ALS calls" documented, and they have to take place in that system. I cannot use any the 672 ALS level calls over the past year alone that my previous agency has documentation and PCRs for. Nope.
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Thanks for this!
I’ve called twice and both times they inform me to call next week.
uncertainty but hopeful .
 
I did in fact go back to DMV, stood in line again, told them why I was there, stood in another line, got a number, and waited in the parking lot for just shy of "eternity." Then I went in to speak to a clerk, they led me to the testing room, and I took the test. Got 100% on it. It really asks some stupid questions and words them in a "gotcha" kind of way. The employee gave me the pink copy that is apparently my temporary Ambulance Driver Certificate.

A potential employer requested a "full H6 DMV report."

DMV now says: "Effective March 20, 2019, driver records formerly referred to as an “H6” or “10 year record” that included information intended for internal department purposes are no longer available. Driver records will only include all reportable information: convictions for three, seven, or ten years, departmental actions, and accidents on a person’s driver record as required by California Vehicle Code (CVC) §1808."

It's too close to the holidays, so I don't expect to see anything from DMV just yet. I did get a printout from the DMV kiosk today (12/20/2020) at Safeway, and it shows my ambulance endorsement expiring in 2008. I hope that they fix that soon. I had one way back then but they changed rules & regulations and I couldn't just renew it.

Good luck with everything! Hopefully you can get through and they'll figure it out. But.. covid-19, and holidays....
 
I know I'm bumping an old thread, but it's still quite relevant, especially after the utter buffoonery I had to deal with today.

KEEP YOUR LIVE SCAN FORMS. Take photos of everything. SCAN things. Label the files properly so you can find them.

In my case, my employer does random DL verifications, and mine came up today as having a California Ambulance Drivers license that expired in 2008. Yes, 2008. How can this be? I got the permanent one in the mail in April. I also have no idea, but when I went to DMV today, they showed that I had never done a Live Scan. You know, the Live Scan that you have to do (and show proof) before you can even take the ridiculous computer based test at DMV. They lost all of my paperwork. They lost the 5 page Medical Examiners form. They have no idea where it is. Somehow the medical form was entered and shows renewal in 2022, but that's all that made it.

I had to go get *another* Live Scan done, at my expense. DMV lost it, but their answer is essentially "Oh no! Anyway..." So there's $47 (again) down the drain.

There was also mass confusion because it says that an EMT-1 certificate is required. Nowhere on any of my paperwork or documentation does it say EMT-1. I'm a Paramedic. My state card is blue, not grey. This caused yet another lengthy delay as they tried to figure out what to do. Mind you, this wasn't a podunk county office. I'm right here in the state Capital city of Sacramento, mere blocks from the legit DMV headquarters.

So wish me luck, and we'll see what happens in another 4 months. Cross your fingers, and always make copies of everything. Cloud storage is cheap and your Notes app on the iPhone is an excellent scanner. I did have some other stuff scanned that turned out to be helpful.

May the odds be for ever in your favor.
 
fm_emt said:
I know I'm bumping an old thread, but it's still quite relevant, especially after the utter buffoonery I had to deal with today.

KEEP YOUR LIVE SCAN FORMS. Take photos of everything. SCAN things. Label the files properly so you can find them.

In my case, my employer does random DL verifications, and mine came up today as having a California Ambulance Drivers license that expired in 2008. Yes, 2008. How can this be? I got the permanent one in the mail in April. I also have no idea, but when I went to DMV today, they showed that I had never done a Live Scan. You know, the Live Scan that you have to do (and show proof) before you can even take the ridiculous computer based test at DMV. They lost all of my paperwork. They lost the 5 page Medical Examiners form. They have no idea where it is. Somehow the medical form was entered and shows renewal in 2022, but that's all that made it.

I had to go get *another* Live Scan done, at my expense. DMV lost it, but their answer is essentially "Oh no! Anyway..." So there's $47 (again) down the drain.

There was also mass confusion because it says that an EMT-1 certificate is required. Nowhere on any of my paperwork or documentation does it say EMT-1. I'm a Paramedic. My state card is blue, not grey. This caused yet another lengthy delay as they tried to figure out what to do. Mind you, this wasn't a podunk county office. I'm right here in the state Capital city of Sacramento, mere blocks from the legit DMV headquarters.

So wish me luck, and we'll see what happens in another 4 months. Cross your fingers, and always make copies of everything. Cloud storage is cheap and your Notes app on the iPhone is an excellent scanner. I did have some other stuff scanned that turned out to be helpful.

May the odds be for ever in your favor.
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It gets worse if you have a donorcycle license. Usually your driver license and ambulance cert expire the same time, but not when you get a motorcycle license. The motorcycle license gives you like another 5 years or something on your driver license, but not ambulance. This was more of an issue with my company thinking something was wrong since I had two different dates.

I love living in California, but I don't like the ambulance driver cert or all the different LEMSA accreditation. Sucks I can't just work anywhere in the state.
 
Aprz said:
I love living in California, but I don't like the ambulance driver cert or all the different LEMSA accreditation. Sucks I can't just work anywhere in the state.
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In my experience, this is one of the things that is very California specific and makes absolutely no sense anymore whatsoever. However, as mushrooms growing under the fungus that is our state government, we are powerless to actually get any change. I've tried talking to my local elected officials, and all I got in return was subscribed to their email newsletters.

The irony is that the state capitol building is like 2 miles from my house.

Maybe I need to go stand on the Capitol steps with a sign. Next week, though. It's too hot.

I agree with the LEMSA thing. I now have 3 LEMSA cards that I have to deal with. Each one was like $100 for their orientation class. At least the renewals are free, and with all of their required classes, I have a whole bucketload of CEUs already.
 
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