Austin TX- Acadian Ambulance?

AlexandraMay3155

AlexandraMay3155

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Howdy!! I had a few question for those who know of Acadian Ambulance in Austin, Texas. I am graduating as a paramedic on April 27th, and driving down the first week of May. I live in Fairbanks, Alaska.

What is the starting pay? Overtime? What are the shifts like? Employee atmopshere and workload?

Would you suggest that I wait for the Austin-Travis County to open up their Medic 1 program? I have heard great things regarding this program. What is their pay for Medic I/II? What are the pros and cons of each company?

Thank you in advance!!!!
 
Come work for Cypress Creek in Houston. It's better in every possible way. We do some interesting things here and are way cooler than Acadian.

Www.ccems.com

Acadian Austin is nearly exclusively IFT and embodies mediocrity. Do you want 911?
 
I enjoy my employment with ATCEMS. It's a great department with a dozen or so specialities so you'll never be "stuck" on an ambulance for your career unless you choose to be.
 
To expand on that, Acadian is mediocre at best. They have a few 911 pockets in their Texas operations- East Texas, Llano I think in Central, Pasadena/Webster in the Houston area, and Bexar County/not!-San Antonio- but they aren't really terribly great to work for. Wages are meh, the company itself is infamous for "training" pay rates @ 75% of what you are hired at, non-paid sick days, terrible PTO policies (block-granted at a year), and a solid focus on money. They're not terrible, and they're still better than a lot of their competitors. Given a choice between Acadian and some seedy Houston private like City, I'd choose Acadian. But the purpose of moving to Texas isn't to work for mediocre employers. All things being equal, I'd rather work for AMR than Acadian, because you can make similar money and transfer to a better area.

If you're locked to Austin, look north to Waco (Paramedics Plus, for now) or close-by to San Marcos/Hays County (a great service from what I hear). You've also got Caldwell County (Luling and Lockhart), North Blanco County, AMR-Temple, Fayette County, or Kendall County. All of these places are equal to or better than Acadian. If you've got green on the brain, Acadian San Antonio at least offers 911. But there's better places than Austin. MedStar in Fort Worth is a high-performance, high-volume system great for cutting teeth, as is EMSA in OKC (although MedStar is better IMO). And with a fresh new medic patch, you've got great options. AMR-Abilene has potential, as does Amarillo and UMC-Lubbock. Those smaller places offer you some additional growth potential, should that be your interest, and will balance IFT and 911 (mostly 911). There's also a lot of smaller county and hospital-based services.

If you want to go east, then you've got Houston and some world-class services. Creek, MCHD, HCEC, ESD-48, and some very good ones like Galveston, Cy-Fair, Atascosita, etc. There's a lot of opportunities here. So, where do you want to go?

FWIW, my old partner just moved back to New York and is thrilled with Empress EMS.
 
Medico said:
I enjoy my employment with ATCEMS. It's a great department with a dozen or so specialities so you'll never be "stuck" on an ambulance for your career unless you choose to be.
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I heard they have a new modified program for paramedics. Do you have any information about that? I actually want to work for ATCEMS as they were my original choice. I'm only considering Acadian because I'm doing my paramedic internship with them this May!

What are the advancement opportunities from Medic I to Medic II? I filled a Interest Card on their website, do they usually have their program in the summer?
 
RocketMedic said:
To expand on that, Acadian is mediocre at best. They have a few 911 pockets in their Texas operations- East Texas, Llano I think in Central, Pasadena/Webster in the Houston area, and Bexar County/not!-San Antonio- but they aren't really terribly great to work for. Wages are meh, the company itself is infamous for "training" pay rates @ 75% of what you are hired at, non-paid sick days, terrible PTO policies (block-granted at a year), and a solid focus on money. They're not terrible, and they're still better than a lot of their competitors. Given a choice between Acadian and some seedy Houston private like City, I'd choose Acadian. But the purpose of moving to Texas isn't to work for mediocre employers. All things being equal, I'd rather work for AMR than Acadian, because you can make similar money and transfer to a better area.

If you're locked to Austin, look north to Waco (Paramedics Plus, for now) or close-by to San Marcos/Hays County (a great service from what I hear). You've also got Caldwell County (Luling and Lockhart), North Blanco County, AMR-Temple, Fayette County, or Kendall County. All of these places are equal to or better than Acadian. If you've got green on the brain, Acadian San Antonio at least offers 911. But there's better places than Austin. MedStar in Fort Worth is a high-performance, high-volume system great for cutting teeth, as is EMSA in OKC (although MedStar is better IMO). And with a fresh new medic patch, you've got great options. AMR-Abilene has potential, as does Amarillo and UMC-Lubbock. Those smaller places offer you some additional growth potential, should that be your interest, and will balance IFT and 911 (mostly 911). There's also a lot of smaller county and hospital-based services.

If you want to go east, then you've got Houston and some world-class services. Creek, MCHD, HCEC, ESD-48, and some very good ones like Galveston, Cy-Fair, Atascosita, etc. There's a lot of opportunities here. So, where do you want to go?

FWIW, my old partner just moved back to New York and is thrilled with Empress EMS.
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Thank you for such a thorough reply!! . I'm only considering Acadian because I'm doing my paramedic internship with them this May, as I am actually in Alaska and our hospitals are not busy enough to meet my programs requirements.

We are actually set on Austin, as my husband is applying for their law enforcement academy. I have heard great things about ATCEMS and Wilco so I will definitely be contacting them.
 
AlexandraMay3155 said:
Thank you for such a thorough reply!! . I'm only considering Acadian because I'm doing my paramedic internship with them this May, as I am actually in Alaska and our hospitals are not busy enough to meet my programs requirements.

We are actually set on Austin, as my husband is applying for their law enforcement academy. I have heard great things about ATCEMS and Wilco so I will definitely be contacting them.
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Just remember, last I saw WilCo required a year paramedic experience just to apply and it's a very competitive service to get on with. But one that's pretty amazing.
 
San Marcos/Hays, Caldwell County (Luling and Lockhart, BBQ capitals of TX), Gonzales County, Fayette County, North Blanco County, the weird cult that is Marble Falls, Kendall County, the city of Schertz, Allegiance Ambulance, and Milam County (AMR)/Temple (AMR) are all good options as well. Waco's Paramedics Plus, not so much. Also Spring/Bulverde and the other departments out thataway. If you've got to stay in ATX city limits themselves....well, that kinda limits you. Acadian isn't terrible, but ATX Acadian is mostly transfers with silly rules.

If you're willing to drive a little bit from Austin, you could also look into Coryell County. They're in Gatesville, a hospital-based EMS system that does great things. @TransportJockey knows more than I do.

Of all of them, I'd heartily recommend the counties, especially Fayette County. They're a really solid service and work 48/96s, which gives you lots of time off.
 
AlexandraMay3155 said:
I heard they have a new modified program for paramedics. Do you have any information about that? I actually want to work for ATCEMS as they were my original choice. I'm only considering Acadian because I'm doing my paramedic internship with them this May!

What are the advancement opportunities from Medic I to Medic II? I filled a Interest Card on their website, do they usually have their program in the summer?
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The dept is hoping to roll out a Provider Level 1-6 program this springish. A PL4 will be a medic who is allowed to perform their skills at a Medic 1 level. A PL5 is a Medic 2. And PL6 is a critical care/advanced practice provider.

There are plenty of promotional opportunities with pay increases. Those are just subject to civil service contract, which is a good thing in my opinion. They just started an academy with 26 people 3 weeks ago. They will likely have another hiring process this summer for a call academy.
 
TransportJockey said:
Just remember, last I saw WilCo required a year paramedic experience just to apply and it's a very competitive service to get on with. But one that's pretty amazing.
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Not true good sir. Wilco will hire new medics straight out of school.
 
aquabear said:
Not true good sir. Wilco will hire new medics straight out of school.
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Thank you for the correction. I don't know know why I thought I read that ava that it was true lol
 
AlexandraMay3155 said:
Do you happen to know when the next hiring phase is, and approximately how long the process is for Wilco?
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I’m not 100% positive, but rumor has it Wilco will hire again in the Spring/early Summer. It’s a 3-4 day hiring process and if offered a job, the academy would start about a month after. Wilco has offered positions to people in the very final stages of paramedic school, but you must have your state license prior to getting on an ambulance. There are a some recent posts here where I have given more detail about Wilco and their hiring process, just give it a quick search.
 
aquabear said:
I’m not 100% positive, but rumor has it Wilco will hire again in the Spring/early Summer. It’s a 3-4 day hiring process and if offered a job, the academy would start about a month after. Wilco has offered positions to people in the very final stages of paramedic school, but you must have your state license prior to getting on an ambulance. There are a some recent posts here where I have given more detail about Wilco and their hiring process, just give it a quick search.
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Thank you very much!
 
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