AMR Amarillo or Collin County?

AlexTheChamberlain

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Anyone know anything about either of these operations? Just curious about pay, reputation, IFT to 911 ratio, and how the fire dynamic is for them (like ALS or BLS, and fire takes pt lead or EMS takes lead).

I already talked to Hunt county AMR which sounded nice, but the conversation didn’t go much past “medics make 9 something an hour on a 24” so I assume the rest are kind of similar.
 

RocketMedic

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AMR in Collin County is primarily IFT, with low wages and long hours. Some 911, but a lot more IFT. If you’re wanting to do 911 in DFW, there are many better choices.

AMR is the only game in town for Abilene and Amarillo, pays better and is mostly 911.

Medic?
 
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AlexTheChamberlain

AlexTheChamberlain

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AMR in Collin County is primarily IFT, with low wages and long hours. Some 911, but a lot more IFT. If you’re wanting to do 911 in DFW, there are many better choices.

Huh, I thought they were just 911. At least that’s the way a lot of the Indeed and Glassdoor reviews seemed to indicate.

AMR is the only game in town for Abilene and Amarillo, pays better and is mostly 911.

Know anything else about Amarillo? Like is it just city limits, or do they do county too? Doesn’t sound the worst from what the reviews seem to indicate.


Yep.

Honestly, I’m just looking at maybe transferring to get some Texas footing, before moving on to bigger and better things. As for AMR in Texas though, I’m not seeing a whole lot of good operations. At least in California, you can pretty much go anywhere in the state. But then again it’s still AMR.
 

RocketMedic

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"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
 
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AlexTheChamberlain

AlexTheChamberlain

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@RocketMedic Really, in a perfect world, I’m looking for a 911 operation, in a larger city, with a university, that is willing to work with a school schedule, and has a BLS fire department. I just don’t mind the idea of staying with AMR since most every division I’ve talked to and been with has worked really well with my schedule. Though, I’m pretty much set on Texas since it’s kind of closer to home for me.

I’ve looked into areas like Cypress Creek, down in Houston, and they sound amazing, but I’m not sure they’d be willing to work with a school schedule, especially when they could just as easily hire someone over me who doesn’t have a school schedule to work around. AMR for me is someone I know would hire me, and I know is willing to work with my schedule. I don’t have a problem moving on from there to somewhere better, who is willing to work with me, but I’d rather not go out there, just to get a no. At least that’s the thought process.
 

RocketMedic

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Anywhere is going to work to some extent with a school schedule, depending on how rigorous it is. For most undergrad courses, they are mirrored, so the same lecture will be M/T and then W/Th or so on and so forth. Shift trades and 24s make school easier. Clinical times and hard sciences can be harder, but this can be overcome as well. If you’re working 12s, early day shifts and evening classes or working every weekend can work (EMSA will let you do this). And of course, there’s online.

How many classes and what toward are you wanting to take?

Where are you now?
 
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