Austin-Travis County and Surrounding

TransportJockey said:
Might as well go work for Williamson
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I'm honestly looking for somewhere I can lead, or at least use my fancy book learning. Neither WilCo or ATC seem to offer that opportunity.
 
RocketMedic said:
Being able to be a lead medic after credentialing might make ATC worth it. Maybe.
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42 hour work week. Cannot be held over after working a 24 hour shift. The positives keep adding up :)
 
Eh, we are on the same schedule here. Barring walking in as a supervisor or equivalent, I'm not a good candidate. My next objective is leadership or literally running somewhere
 
Medico said:
I have no doubt that you have sacrificed and devoted a lot to your education. The people on this forum are a minority of the many people who hold an ALS certification. You know, became ALS to get hired with a FD, thought it would be easy, [insert whatever ludicrous reason someone became a medic here]. The people who did not take their education serious then apply to the dept. and those people are not always successful in the academy or during their initial credentialing. Of course, there are still those individuals who fall through the cracks.

I believe this is one thing that sets ATCEMS apart from other departments. Their standards ensure consistent care from their paramedics and protect the integrity of the department; this is evident by the 10-week academy when hired and 16-week academy when promoting to Medic II. During the Medic II academy, you receive advance training exceeding that of what is traditionally taught in a CC course. They invest a lot of money in you, building off of what you already know. People who are most successful are those like yourself.

As a Medic I, you get to provide patient care and treat patients. You still get to use your knowledge and experience to help guide the patient's treatment.
The department is very structured, which I appreciate. It is my opinion that the department looks and is operated more professionally, much like our LE and FD counterparts. This is indeed a positive as the EMS profession continues to establish itself as a career and a stand-alone entity separate from fire. This type of environment attracts people who love medicine, want to be clinicians and advance prehospital medicine.

Oh, I also forgot to previously mention their Community Health Paramedic division that you can work in!
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I'm currently in paramedic school in California.. and work in a busy 911 system in the San Francisco bay area. There is nothing like the structure that ATCEMS has in CA. ATCEMS has always been on my radar. I love Austin and would love to work for an agency like ATCEMS. I like what you said about being able to learn the system/operations in your first year. It impresses me that ATCEMS puts so much time and money into their people.
I hope that one day in the next year or two I might be your coworker...
 
Moving to Texas is never a bad plan. Lots of great agencies,great culture, and Texas is welcoming and friendly.
 
TransportJockey said:
It's more like AEMT-lite if you're a medic and riding in the Medic 1 position. And I have been told by some friends that work at ATC, that they are looking at ways of fast tracking experienced paramedics through to Medic 2 or just hiring them as Medic 2 from the get-go
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TransportJockey said:
It's more like AEMT-lite if you're a medic and riding in the Medic 1 position. And I have been told by some friends that work at ATC, that they are looking at ways of fast tracking experienced paramedics through to Medic 2 or just hiring them as Medic 2 from the get-go
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Is there someone to talk to regarding this? I graduate April 27th and I am highly interested!!!!
 
AlexandraMay3155 said:
Is there someone to talk to regarding this? I graduate April 27th and I am highly interested!!!!
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They have a recruiting department. Not sure the number or email but there's a page on their site i think. If yoi are a new grad medic there's most likely no way they'd fast track you to medic 2 though. You'd probably be at least a year or two as medic 1
 
Medic 1 and Medic 2 are ranks, and we are Civil Service. This means you cannot be hired into or "fast tracked" into Medic 2 without going through the promotional process. Currently we are without contract so we abide by Texas Civil Service Law which means you cannot promote to Medic 2 until you've been in the Medic 1 position for three years. We will likely be under contract again in September and we will promote after one year minimum in the Medic 1 position.

They are creating new provider levels which will allow a paramedic to perform their skills at the Medic 1 level.
 
At what sort of pay, and I'm still amused by this "law" that magically only applies to ATCEMS and not civil service other jobs.
 
RocketMedic said:
At what sort of pay, and I'm still amused by this "law" that magically only applies to ATCEMS and not civil service other jobs.
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Does anyone have a copy of this law?
 
RocketMedic said:
At what sort of pay, and I'm still amused by this "law" that magically only applies to ATCEMS and not civil service other jobs.
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Texas Civil Service 143 applies to all civil service in Texas. It can amended by civil service contracts. The "law" doesn't simply apply only to ATCEMS.
 
Medico said:
Texas Civil Service 143 applies to all civil service in Texas. It can amended by civil service contracts. The "law" doesn't simply apply only to ATCEMS.
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That's because ATC is the only service silly enough to go that route lol. Forcing experienced medics to be METs really cut your recruit pool.
 
To expand on that, let me bring in the example of fire departments- laterals all the time. Police, once again, lateral all the time. EMS, not so much- and as shiny as the paint is, retaining people gets hard and recruiting able individuals is harder when they have to be "trained" for a solid year. I do conceptually like the in-as-a-medic plan, but will pay match role?
 
RocketMedic said:
To expand on that, let me bring in the example of fire departments- laterals all the time. Police, once again, lateral all the time. EMS, not so much- and as shiny as the paint is, retaining people gets hard and recruiting able individuals is harder when they have to be "trained" for a solid year. I do conceptually like the in-as-a-medic plan, but will pay match role?
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Yes, departments can do that when they're under civil service contract and not working under straight Civil Service 143.
 
Did y'all ever do anything real about fatigue?
 
RocketMedic said:
To expand on that, let me bring in the example of fire departments- laterals all the time.
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I know of more municipal departments that will send all new hires back through the academy, than will accept laterals. They might let you skip the EMS training if you have that, but you still need to attend the fire academy. Laterals aren't as common as you would think.
 
RocketMedic said:
Did y'all ever do anything real about fatigue?
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That is relative. They reduced our work week to a 42hr one with one week being 48hrs and the following 36hrs. Providers have been happy with the extra time home. They also started rotating busy stations with slower ones. For example you work one busy shift and will rotate to a slower county station the following shift.
 
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