"Good" is subjective, anywhere you go. 99% of the medicine is effectively the same everywhere, and there's things that California does better than Texas and vice-versa. If you're wanting to stay with AMR, I'd recommend Las Vegas if you're looking for 911 contact volume, or EMSA-Oklahoma. Although both are far from flawless, they pay reasonably well WRT their area COLs and there's opportunities to learn, advance, etc. I don't know too much about Amarillo, but AMS was pretty well-regarded prior to the AMR buyout in 2012(?) and I don't think much has changed. IIRC they cover the whole county and a few smaller towns north of there; that's some rural medicine where you're going to get a lot of time with patients on 911 and IFT calls (but less volume overall, unless you're metropolitan Amarillo). AMR also runs Abilene, which is pretty similar....moderate-volume SSM EMS on 12-hour shifts with 911 and IFT missions, vents, etc. I think you're looking at wages starting in the mid-to-high 40s at both locations for new medics, EMSA is 51k-ish prior to 'extra' overtime. Hunt County is a trap, those guys make mid-40s for 56-hour average weeks. Collin County likely suffers from the same problem, long hours for low pay. AMR Houston and San Antonio are essentially transfer-only, with the exception of Fort Sam Houston; I think AMR lost their Pearsall contract to Allegiance but don't know for certain. AMR Houston pays very well and does some high-acuity IFT, they're the primary IFT provider for Memorial Hermann.
If you really want to come to Texas, you should know that AMR will gladly take you back under almost any circumstance, so there's not really a great reason to stay brand-loyal. There's a lot of great, good, mediocre and "opportunity to improve" EMS jobs in the Lone Star State, and each has its own merits and challenges. Were I moving from CA without a lot of concern as to where in Texas I go, I'd be applying right now for Cy-Fair Fire, HCEC, Lake Jackson, Montgomery County Hospital District, LifeCare (Parker County, TX, west of Fort Worth), MedStar, ATCEMS, UMC-Lubbock and CHI St. Joseph's in Bryan/College Station. Those are pretty much the 'nice' areas of the state, pay well, and offer a staggering array of diversity in call types, approaches to medicine, opportunities for professional development and where you live.
I'd also like to point out that Texas has a
lot of county, municipal and private services in 911 and IFT response, so there's lots and lots and lots of good options out there that I didn't mention.
A good idea would be to decide where/what sort of lifestyle you want to live, what you want to do (school, etc) and ask those questions, not necessarily "what job is good?" For example, I put myself through school while working at a well-known 911-only Houston-area EMS company, but I only chose them because of individual factors and have since moved on. Every place has pros, cons and lifestyle implications. So, what are you looking for
@AlexTheChamberlain
