Ambuserve

[exodus]

If you want to work for Hall (which would be your best bet for full-time employment), you would be better off to move. The cost of living here is pretty reasonable. I would check apartmentfinder.com and look for either southwest, northwest, and some parts of northeast. Anything east of the 99 freeway and north of California ave is BAD NEWS.

Once you get out of training, there is usually plenty of overtime, mostly in the form of standbys and whatnot. Don't quote me on this but I think basics start around $12.50/hr (at least that's what it was for me when I started).

1.50 more than what I make now. Hmmmmm. And I currently live in the ghetto... So it's not too bad.

 

[medictruth]

I have a a few friends that work at Americare and the say its ok. You need to remember its just another IFT company and the grass is always greener on the other side. Just be thankful we have jobs.

 

[airupthere]

Hi guys, this is my first time here. I'm wondering if anyone with any information about Ambuserve can give me an idea of what they're all about?

I was told by them that they do backup 911 calls maybe a couple times a day? Is that right?

Thanks for any info, it's greatly appreciated.

 

[MusicMedic]

i worked there for about 8 months.. they are your run of the mill IFT company... not the best ones and the pay isnt the best for IFT but its a job i guess

Note also that i havnt worked their since december so a few things have changed...
for alot of the EMT/Medics that work their its really considered a inbetween jobs company..theres alot of people that work there that are waiting for bigger and better opportuntities.. so the turnover rate in the company is pretty high..

the dispatch doubles as management at the company.. they do play favorites sometimes.. so dont piss them off..

The Rigs are all used and beat to crap and will break down constantly
from what i hear they got new gurneys since ive work there so thats a plus..
they have their workers that stock and clean the rigs so thats another plus..
your partners willl vary from awesome to not so awesome..

a siginifcant majority of your calls will be dialysis.. followed second by psych (which are my fav and were actually pretty fun)
the closest to 911 youll be doing are Nursing home to ER calls (which sometimes can be serious)

of the 8 months i was there i only did 1 backup 911 call so.. its VERY VERY rare that youll be doing backup.. mainly because mccorkmick has enough units to cover their load. so dont get your hopes up..

good luck PM if you have any more questions..

 

[airupthere]

THANKS A LOT MUSICMEDIC

yea I actually tried to PM you but I just joined the site so it wouldn't let me PM before I got up to 5 posts lol (I do have a few more q's for when I'm able to PM you). Thanks a lot for the information. My situation is that I can either accept their job offer now, or be a hopeful and wait to still interview with Americare, which i've read is somewhat better...but i feel that would be a longshot. Better to accept what I have in front of me I guess.

And yea, i figured McCormick would have their shi* together. Hopefully ambuserve will be an alright experience though.

I don't know if you're allowed to talk about payrate here or not (i keep reading that it's not good to talk about your company)...but...if you are, i'm wondering what they were paying when you were there?

 

[MusicMedic]

i would go ahead and take the offer you have now.. if americare gives you an offer, you can jump over to their company.

When i was working starting rate was 9.50/hr for EMT's and 12/hr for Medics..
which is really low for IFTs.. thats one reason people dont stay at the company too long.. from what i hear americare pays 12/hr for EMT's which is pretty good..

 

[ITBITB13]

Hi guys, this is my first time here. I'm wondering if anyone with any information about Ambuserve can give me an idea of what they're all about?

I was told by them that they do backup 911 calls maybe a couple times a day? Is that right?

Thanks for any info, it's greatly appreciated.

Hey man. I was recently hired by AmbuServe. I'm on my last day of training. And as of now, i'm loving it there. Management is really nice. The rigs are definitely used, but I wouldn't say they're "beat to crap".. I've had no problems with the rigs in the few shifts i've had. I love the Sprinter rigs.. Also, I have not met or run into someone in this company that wasn't pretty nice and helpful. A downside is that they don't cover the fee for your DOT permit. Which if you've never had before, will cost you about $140. But they pay for your uniforms. And yes, we got a bunch of new gurneys, which are VERY nice by the way. As far as calls go, yes, the majority were dialysis. I've had one 5150, which was VERY fun. And a clinic to ER call, which was also VERY fun and interesting. And the crew i've been training with did tell me that 911's don't really happen often, and not to get my hopes up. But contrary to that, I always see ambuserve rigs running code 3, right alongside the FD. So I really don't know. This also seems like a very respected company. Again, i've only been there for a few days, so I might not have seen everything there is to see. But over all, I think this company is great. Alot better than the IFT company I worked for before.. PM me if you'd like.

 

[18G]

I feel so bad for you guys on the West Coast where "EMT's are a dime a dozen" and jobs are few and far.

I have never heard of an EMT having trouble getting a job over here unless its because of reputation, etc. Granted pay isn't the best for EMT's (usually 10-12/hr) but at least you can get hired and the majority are 911.

Congrats on the job though and glad your liking it so far.

 

[airupthere]

MusicMedic and Ivan, thanks for the responses.

Yea Ivan I still have to do my DOT stuff this week, the paying never ends lol. I'll probably run into you eventually and I'll make sure to introduce myself. So it seems MusicMedic's info is just straight on about the types of calls. Hopefully this is a good experience, and if not, well things come and go lol. Happy 4th to both of you and thanks again for the info.

 

[MedicJon88]

Personally never worked for Ambuserve- We call them Ambuswerve when I used to work in the field... I had a couple of partners who used to work for them- they didn't hate it.. they just felt it was time for a change. They pay better than Gerber- which provided 911... but Gerber has other problems... good luck- best thing that can happen to EMTs out here in Southern Cali is to get a hospital job or... get more training... happy hunting.

 

[Cuf]

Does anyone know what the pay is for medics at ambuserve? How is the management? Rigs? Equipment? I know they do 24's for the medics but didnt know much else about the company

 

[luke_31]

14/hr. Pays the whole 24hr typically the shifts are 48hrs and then your done for the rest of the week. If you want more pm me

 

[Cuf]

still have a few more posts to go before i can pm

 

[Cuf]

do they have daycars,OT?

 

[Star of Life]

Anyone else know anything about this company? Im thinking about applying here since theyre hiring and theyre kinda local for me

 

[TRSpeed]

Good job searching and not starting another thread. But for ift only as medic 14 that's horrible. Come to amr and do 911 for 16. Or ift in americare herd pays really good. Gl

 

[ITBITB13]

Anyone else know anything about this company? Im thinking about applying here since theyre hiring and theyre kinda local for me

I just left ambuserve not to long ago , and I'm now with Care. Ambuserve is a somewhat decent place to gain some experience running calls, but working here for about4months now, I feel like I just got out of an abusive relationship. Ambuserve has issues w ith employee morale, and people were getting fed up and talks about getting a union together were floating around. Around a week or so before I left, they let go of most of management, and replaced them all with new people for what seemed to be no reason. As far as fire calls go, I worked there for almost 11 months, and got placed in fire coverage once, and got no calls. 90% of the rigs are beat to crap (I know I said ot herwise once before, but now that I know what good equipment is, I have had a change of mind ) And don't get me stated on dispatch. .. pm me with questions.

 

[Star of Life]

Ive been working at ambuserve for about a month now, its pretty chill here. I started at $10.50. Ive heard a lot of talk about a union vote that took place a couple months back but idk whats going on with that. The ambulances are absolute crap though. No joke they always break down. And dispatch takes some shady calls that 911 should probably be called for. Also i have not seen or heard of anyone doing any 911 work since Ive been here. They are super chill with the scheduling though.

 

[Cuf]

Does anyone know anything about Ambuserve merging with Shoreline?

 

[Star of Life]

Does anyone know anything about Ambuserve merging with Shoreline?

Yea.

Shoreline's owner owns bunch of convalescent homes in LA county that his shoreline rigs couldn't pick up from so he wanted to merge with someone with LA county licenses. Shoreline got pinged more than 10 times for picking up in LA county so they'll probably never be able to get LA county licenses ever again.

Ambuserve wants a 911 contract so they figure merging with Shoreline will help get that since Shoreline does the 911 transport for the city of Westchester, which is in Orange County.

The two companies merged but stayed separate if that makes sense. The owner of Ambuserve is running them both. Rumor is she's broke and Shorline's owner paid something upfront which kept her afloat. She's had a leased Benz for years with no license plates which is sort of odd. Also our checks bounced 6 months ago and they claimed "fraud" occurred in our bank account. They must think we're stupid. Also due to a series of emails sent to all of the field employees I know Ambuserve's owner is getting sued for racist and sexist comments, although to be fair the guy suing was kind of a clown.

I know it caused a lot of drama with the dispatchers and billing, but it didn't really affect the field employees. Although now all Ambuserve field employees are being forced to get their Orange County scope of practice too, which means more work for us for the same pay.

I know the dispatchers answer the phone saying just "dispatch" instead of a company's name so I guess both companies calls must go just to the Ambuserve dispatch now. There are more desks now in dispatch than there was before the merger.

The flexible scheduling was the best part of this place, but now that's disappearing too.