Austin Travis County EMS hiring Paramedics and paying them as Basics

[RocketMedic]

All I get from you @RocketMedic is that you think you are gods gift to pre-hospital care. We get it, you have a drive like no else on this planet. We get it, you would be much happier at some other company. We get it, ATC does not fit your unicorn standards. We get it, you can step foot in any system and hit the ground running. We get it, you believe the morale issues are due to being stagnant (dead wrong by the way). We get it, you do not like the way ATC hires. We get it, you think everyone here is a robot. We get it, you would never work for ATC.

Guess what, no one cares. The only reason I am writing back (this will be the last time I post in regard to anything you say) is because it seriously baffles me that you feel the need to write paragraphs about a place that you have never worked, when people are trying to figure out if they want to work here or not. Let me answer the questions eh? I will tell them like it is, if I have to PM them answers I will/have. Find a new hobby bud, continue on that ever long journey of finding the perfect job so you can finally find some inner peace. Holy crap.

I tell people my opinions of places because they are completely legitimate impressions about certain agencies. No, I have never and will never work for ATC, but that does not diminish the value of my outsider's view observations. If they choose to consider my opinion, they will. If they choose to ignore it, they will. However (and I know this may be a shock to you) persons of intelligence often weigh multiple sources of information, and although valuable, a new EMT's firsthand insider's view is not definitive or even universally applicable to a paramedic moving to Austin, while another paramedic's outside opinion and advice could be useful.

 

[RocketMedic]

Most issues with employees have little to do with their actual production but rather their attitude.

It sucks to hire a pain in the ***.... Especially if the only way to shut them up is to go along with their agenda.

It sucks worse to find yourself at a crappy employer.

 

[gotbeerz001]

A (subjectively) crappy employer affects the one...
A pain in the *** affects everyone.

When I go to work, I am paid to meet the expectations of my employer. The employer is not obligated to accommodate my wishes. While we seem to be concerned about "the best" thing for the pt (also subjective to a degree), an employer is concerned with consistently providing a standard level of care while being able to make a profit. Satisfaction generally occurs when everybody is able to achieve a certain level of what they are looking for.

It is my understanding that you, in particular, seem to have a difficult time finding that satisfaction while most people here at least operate at an agreeable level with our employers. Coincidence?

 

[RocketMedic]

You completely miss the point that we are not obligated to settle and accept crappy employers.

 

[triemal04]

I don't get it...why would anyone want to listen to the opinion of someone who has never worked for a department, never tested with a department, never ridden along with the department, has no first or second hand knowledge of a department and apparently gets all their information from the news media and similar sources?

Someone who will explain their spotty track record with employers as a consequence of being a "new medic," yet at the same time feel like they are qualified to pass judgement on a department they know little, if anything, about?

Someone who constantly, without fail, goes from a "bad" department to a "good" department only to, within a matter of months, decide that the next department is also "bad?"

Everyone's opinion is legitimate to them; that's what an opinion is. But that's a far cry from it being an objective, informed view.

 

[RocketMedic]

I don't get it...why would anyone want to listen to the opinion of someone who has never worked for a department, never tested with a department, never ridden along with the department, has no first or second hand knowledge of a department and apparently gets all their information from the news media and similar sources?

Someone who will explain their spotty track record with employers as a consequence of being a "new medic," yet at the same time feel like they are qualified to pass judgement on a department they know little, if anything, about?

Someone who constantly, without fail, goes from a "bad" department to a "good" department only to, within a matter of months, decide that the next department is also "bad?"

Everyone's opinion is legitimate to them; that's what an opinion is. But that's a far cry from it being an objective, informed view.

Nothing they do, or how they operate, or how they treat people is secret. Plus my concern for your opinion is absent.

 

[RocketMedic]

And I happen to think it's better to take charge of your life and find a great job than it is to compromise on places that never will be what is necessary. I am entirely satisfied with my work and the course I have taken and don't particularly care for the judgements and opinions of people who only judge people in their bad times.

 

[Handsome Robb]

So because you disagree with an agency that utilizes civil service and hires all at one level and requires time in the agency to promote you feel that you've the authority to tell people interested in the agency how "bad" said agency is because you, personally, don't agree with the way they hire?

Yea that makes a lot of sense...

 

[RocketMedic]

It makes more sense than idolizing them because of PR.

 

[Tigger]

No one is idolizing them here.

Also, some people want to work at large, "high-performance" EMS systems. You don't. Great. Move forward.

 

[Carlos Danger]

It makes more sense than idolizing them because of PR.

FWIW, I don't remember ever seeing anyone "idolize" ATCEMS on this forum. Maybe say positive things about them, but no idolatry that I've seen.

I think it is great that career satisfaction is so important to you. Most of us choose to balance other aspects of our lives with our job, or find satisfaction somewhere outside of our career entirely. Myself for instance......I know I could find jobs elsewhere that would pay considerably more and probably be more enjoyable to me than where I work now. But family and other priorities keep me where I am for now, with a job that is not perfect by any means, but works quite well for me as far as balancing what it important in my life now. I actually count myself very fortunate to have found the position I have right out of school, even though there are probably some others somewhere who would look at where I work and find it completely unacceptable for some reason. Guess how much I care that my job might not be someone else's first choice?

What gives an individual satisfaction is entirely subjective, and many people don't even necessarily count on their jobs to bring them a sense of purpose or satisfaction or accomplishment. Telling those people, essentially, that they are lazy or brainwashed or some sort of a sell-out or that they could do much better if they only cared to look around because they "accept" a situation that you don't personally find ideal is pretty bold and pretty dumb, IMO. It's like telling someone they are wrong for preferring night shifts over day shifts, or even for liking green better than blue.

 

[DrParasite]

So because you disagree with an agency that utilizes civil service and hires all at one level and requires time in the agency to promote you feel that you've the authority to tell people interested in the agency how "bad" said agency is because you, personally, don't agree with the way they hire?

totally off topic, but doesn't Boston EMS do the same thing?

 

[Tigger]

totally off topic, but doesn't Boston EMS do the same thing?

Yes and no. Boston EMS only hires for EMTs, if you're a paramedic you are welcome to apply but it's not a huge application boost. Most of the new hires are EMTs, and the system is based on many BLS ambulances and a few ALS. So if you happen to be a medic working as an EMT it's not like you're working on a medic and can't function as such, you are on a BLS ambulance with only BLS equipment. When there is a paramedic vacancy they hold an internal paramedic program, I am not sure if you have to go through it if you are already a medic (ala Medic 1 in Seattle).

 

[RocketMedic]

Boston EMS is another program buoyed by hype and low expectations.

 

[gotbeerz001]

Boston EMS is another program buoyed by hype and low expectations.

Naturally.

I'm surprised you even need to work… I kinda figured you **** gold bars.

 

[gotbeerz001]

Boston EMS is another program buoyed by hype and low expectations.

Have you given considered consulting… Seems strange that you would give away all this valuable information for free.

 

[Chewy20]

He has all the inside scoop over at Boston EMS as well. With probably never stepping foot in MA at all. Listen to his words.

The more you read his posts, the more he sounds like a psych patient, no?

 

[RocketMedic]

I like how none of you actually possess the faculties to do more than laugh. It really reinforces just how mediocre this industry and some of this forum's members are- stunted, "novel" BLS-heavy systems with good PR are idolized with little or no justification and critical analysis is written off as the rantings of a bitter hermit.

Chewy20, you're a Kool Aid drinking newbie who thinks your selection for a fairly exclusive service qualifies your opinion over all other ones. You literally do not have any experience of value to people smart enough to look around at the world.
Gotshirtz, you're a new California paramedic with a superiority complex becaise you haven't earned the emity of the Internet's legions of wannabes and newbs. Color me impressed by your depth of knowledge.

Remi, I have no idea who you are, but I really don't care. Yes, for me, finding a unicorn is important. I feel far too many of us settle for what we are told is good and justify it by playing up the good and denying the bad. I don't judge people by their employment decisions, but I do certainly feel that some of us brainwash ourselves into accepting a situation, and I think that's unfortunate.

 

[RocketMedic]

He has all the inside scoop over at Boston EMS as well. With probably never stepping foot in MA at all. Listen to his words.

The more you read his posts, the more he sounds like a psych patient, no?

Boston EMS relies on generally short transport times, limited on-scene interventions and robust telephone triage to complete its mission. They do a good job, but are firmly on the "ambulance driver" side of the industry for most patients.

 

[RocketMedic]

Heck, looking at BEMS protocols, they seem to be just as Mother-May-I as Southern California and very, very limited in what they can functionally do.

Check out that pain management protocol there, for example. Or the respiratory-distress. Or the focus on transporting, with or without ALS. Certainly, it's great service by numbers...but it seems poor for the patients served.