Best Ambulance Companies in Boston

[umami]

Hello. I'm almost an EMT-B in Boston, MA and I'm wondering what the best ambulance companies are for new EMTs who want to work part time.

I've heard that it's difficult to get a job as a new EMT with no experience, but I've also heard that companies like hiring from the EMT program I took. I also have some pt care experience as a psychiatric technician, but I'm not sure how important that is.

What are some companies that give flexible hours for people who are continuing their education?

Also, is it hard to get a job as an ER tech with no experience?

 

[Gurby]

General sentiment seems to be: Brewster > Cataldo > Armstrong = Fallon > Lifeline.

 

[Meursault]

The good news (for you, anyway) is that all of the companies mentioned would love to hire a warm body new EMT with no experience.

Especially because you need schedule flexibility, you want to shop around. All of these companies employ a fair number of college students part-time or per diem. They may or may not want to hire you per diem, but if you tell them up front, they'll quickly make it clear if that's the case. If you get multiple job offers, keep your options open until you've finished orientation and third riding.

General sentiment seems to be: Brewster > Cataldo > Armstrong = Fallon > Lifeline.

This is a solid ranking, but its two criteria appear to be "how much money will I make" and "will I do 911 calls"*. At the bottom of the list, my ranking would be "Eascare = Lifeline > McCall"
Other questions: Are you going to have to fight to pick up shifts? Are they temporarily overstocked on employees and unwilling to accommodate you? What does their management care about? What do your prospective coworkers care about? Do you see yourself getting along with them? Is the company rapidly expanding, just doing its thing. or taking on water and in denial about it?
You can learn about scheduling/company priorities during the hiring process and culture/prospects from here and by looking at and talking to crews from any of the services you're interested in.
*Maybe. No matter where you work, the majority of your calls aren't going to come in through 911, and you're not going to get a 911 shift until well after you should have moved on to better things. If anyone tells you otherwise, they're either clueless or think you are.

 

[umami]

Thanks for your responses. We had some people come in from a few companies. I got the impression that Brewster doesn't hire many part-time/per-diem EMTS.

What about ER tech? Does anyone know if it is hard for a new EMT to get into that? I talked to a paramedic who seemed to think you need more experience for that. But when I did observation time, the tech I was with had never even worked on an ambulance...

 

[Chewy20]

When I worked for brewster they had part-time and per diem. So id make sure to ask. Overall a pretty good company to work for, I didn't have any issues there as a new EMT.