Bay Area, Central CA, NorCal EMS

VentMonkey said:
The “BLS handoff” in Kern Co. was designed to return ALS units back into service, and into the system.

If a paramedic gets on scene, deems the call BLS-able, they make base contact, confirm the order, and wait for the BLS unit to arrive. They have to contact med control for consult. It’s a thing apparently.

I have heard of paramedics waiting a ridiculous amount of time on scene just to turf the patient.

For me personally, I have never taken advantage of this particular option as I find most BLS-able patients to be an easy chart, and reprieve from all of the other “potentially critical calls”.

TLDR: Go get’em, tigers...
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But in Kern you guys are also having BLS only responses to 911 calls which is a thing not a lot of counties in CA are doing.
 
DesertMedic66 said:
But in Kern you guys are also having BLS only responses to 911 calls which is a thing not a lot of counties in CA are doing.
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They’ve responded to low-acuity (Priority-3) calls for years. The Priority 1 & 2’s that they’re now allowed to be dispatched to is ~3% of the total volume per/ month(?), or something along those lines.

The supply/ demand vs. volume is still out of whack, and it doesn’t help that fire is almost universally convinced ALS needs to still be dispatched to most of these calls.

IIRC, the EMD codes were restructured to allow for more P-1’s and 2’s to be automatically coded as BLS. Fire is notorious for confirming the level of provider the ambulance co. is sending—I’m sure you’re aware.

@RocketMedic Kern Co. is just like any other busy urban metropolitan system. Factor in many of the outlying stations being pulled in to cover metro Bakersfield. JS, know what you’re getting into ahead of time.
 
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In Santa Clara County, a call can be BLS'ed. There isn't a protocol I am familiar with it for it. You and your partner just agree on it, and then they take it. Some EMTs will take any call, some will be difficult to give calls to. It depends on your partner.

In San Mateo County, when I worked there, it was medic only.
 
VentMonkey said:
They’ve responded to low-acuity (Priority-3) calls for years. The Priority 1 & 2’s that they’re now allowed to be dispatched to is ~3% of the total volume per/ month(?), or something along those lines.

The supply/ demand vs. volume is still out of whack, and it doesn’t help that fire is almost universally convinced ALS needs to still be dispatched to most of these calls.

IIRC, the EMD codes were restructured to allow for more P-1’s and 2’s to be automatically coded as BLS. Fire is notorious for confirming the level of provider the ambulance co. is sending—I’m sure you’re aware.

@RocketMedic Kern Co. is just like any other busy urban metropolitan system. Factor in many of the outlying stations being pulled in to cover metro Bakersfield. JS, know what you’re getting into ahead of time.
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I just drove 74.5 miles one way to drop some dude off at a nursing home in a tiny Texas town. I am the BLS transfer king, and I’m about to try and rack out in a dingy old linoleum covered room in an old hospital building that probably held nightmare extraction devices or something. My father is looking for a raspberry beret and a wheelchair themed ascot to commemorate my job here as a Critical Care Wheelchair ParaPassenger (I get sucked along on them with my van-certified partner). I am totally OK with some busy metropolitan SSM EMS, especially on 12s. What is the Hall Schedule?
 
VentMonkey said:
8, 10’s, but mostly 12-hour shifts in Metro. With some seniority maybe a stand-up 48 in West or East Kern.
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Short shifts all the way lol.
 
DrParasite said:
What is a stand-up 48, and why would senior people want it?
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48 hours of getting your backside handed to you. I wouldn’t want one, I was being facetious.

But to answer your question: because they get 8 days off in a row after their rotations are over.

Also, anything they work over 40 hours for said work week is paid at time and a half. In theory they work less and can potentially make more. But in reality they’re playing a lot of catch up with their sleep cycles IMO.
 
CALEMT said:
I'll just go ahead and put it this way. I work for a FD and I'll clear 100k this year... theres a reason why I'm buying a house and moving to AZ.
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Gross. Ill clear 80k and the cost of living is waaaaay lower in Indiana. Couldnt imagine a 100%+ markup with only another 20k.
 
VentMonkey said:
48 hours of getting your backside handed to you. I wouldn’t want one, I was being facetious.

But to answer your question: because they get 8 days off in a row after their rotations are over.

Also, anything they work over 40 hours for said work week is paid at time and a half. In theory they work less and can potentially make more. But in reality they’re playing a lot of catch up with their sleep cycles IMO.
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So if you’re on 12s, how does the OT work? Like first 8 straight time, next 4 time and a half, and all after 40 time and a half?

Also, what’s the base number of hours per week (42,48, etc)?
 
RocketMedic said:
So if you’re on 12s, how does the OT work? Like first 8 straight time, next 4 time and a half, and all after 40 time and a half?

Also, what’s the base number of hours per week (42,48, etc)?
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I can't speak for Kern County, but in the Bay Area, it is extremely common for companies not to pay daily overtime (ie overtime after 8 hours in a day). They'll pay only weekly overtime (overtime after 40 hours in a week). San Mateo County did pay their paramedics daily overtime while I was there, but Santa Clara and Alameda County do not pay daily overtime.
 
How is the area around Sonoma County? There is an intriguing possibility of moving to Santa Rosa.
 
CCCSD said:
Beautiful. Can be rippingly expensive.
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Sonoma Life Support/AMR, AMR Napa, Falck, Falck Mendocino, Medstar, Medic, Kings American, butte county, Alameda County, AMR San Jose?
 
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