Best Place To Get Feet Wet?

Lo2w

Lo2w

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So I've been working in the Surgical/Trauma/Burn ICU at a Level 1 Trauma as an unlicensed nurses aide since April. LOVE IT - definitely want to continue in healthcare. I'm currently going through an EMT-B course which will finish in December and then take the NREMT. I'm waiting for clinicals to see what life is like on the back of the truck and see which setting I prefer better as I continue pursuing my education. I'm loving the EMS side the more I move forward in class and feel I would be happier pre-hospital in a medic role down the line, but we'll see.

A few questions cropping up:

What are some decent third service [non-fire] companies/cities/counties that hire new EMTs?

I'm looking at things like ongoing training, in house or support towards EMT-P, decent pay [living wage - I'm at $11 and change in the hospital with good bennies]. I'm open to relocating - no kids, no spouse.

So far I've bookmarked:

Cleveland Ohio - hires EMT and trains to paramedic at hire; close to where I currently live
Several in NC - Wake, Durham, Medic 911
New Orleans - [saw that they ride with MDs on some critical calls, really like what I see with this one]
Indianapolis
Jersey City Medical Center
AMR in DC
Austin-Travis
REMSA
Detroit [I think I saw they are moving to dual response by '18]

Obviously those are bigger names - any smaller or less well known ones I missed?

Or would I be better served staying local at the hospital, picking up some PT work with a local private and finishing my Medic before attempting to relocate?

As far as applying out of state, how does it work in terms with requirements? If I pass I'll have my national registry but in terms of State Drivers License, State/County EMT certificates etc. how do agencies or companies work with that?

Thanks!
 
Austin-Travis County is a great system for a basics. Pay is good, it's all 911 with good protocols, Austin is a great place to live (albeit slightly higher cost of living), they're just now starting an in-house paramedic school, and they just got a stellar new medical director from an already well-respected service.

As for Texas reciprocity, they accept NREMT. So if you have that, reciprocity is pretty simple.
 
STXmedic said:
Austin-Travis County is a great system for a basics. Pay is good, it's all 911 with good protocols, Austin is a great place to live (albeit slightly higher cost of living), they're just now starting an in-house paramedic school, and they just got a stellar new medical director from an already well-respected service.

As for Texas reciprocity, they accept NREMT. So if you have that, reciprocity is pretty simple.
Click to expand...

They're up there on my list if something opens up. I'm not worried about the reciprocity it's all the others. NOLA, for example, has the NREMT listed but also wants State/Parish certificates, drivers license etc. Not clear if that's at hire/once hired or if that's at application.
 
Galveston ems.

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In all honesty, it depends on what you are looking for. If you are looking for a job as an EMT, to get your feet wet, and then moving onto somewhere else when you have some experience under your belt, I would look at University Hospital EMS (Newark NJ), anywhere in the FDNY EMS system, Trenton NJ EMS, Cooper Health Care EMS (Camden NJ), or pretty much any urban area where you will see a large volume of patient contacts. Once you are comfortable with your patient assessment skills, and working in an ambulance, then you can go to paramedic school, and look at your career.

Once you get your paramedic, and want a career, I would look at Wake County, Durham County, Orange County and Medic in Charlotte, Delaware, Austin/Travis, Kings County Medic 1, Pittsburg, No Orleans, or any other government run system. Privates are good for experience, but they tend to pay worse and burn people out more.

Also note, most of NC (and PA) is a single tier system, so if you are the paramedic on the ambulance, you will be treating a high volume of BLS patients. Delaware is 2 tier, parts of washington state are 2 tier, DC is single tier, but moving toward 2 tier, and Pittsburg is single tier (but they have an awesome rescue and special operations division). and NJ is two tier too.

And Detroit has issues paying their employees. Great for experience, but I don't want my paychecks to bounce.
 
I grew up in New Jersey(Newark specifically) University Hospital sees A TON of people. Newark is not the safest place in the states by any means, but you'll get a lot of calls and Ras Baraka isn't the worst thing to happen to the cities emergency services, so thats a plus. Currently I work in Albany County NY(not as EMS, but Law enforcement), which has a ton of EMS opportunities (mohawk ambulance(ifts mainly), Albany county Sheriffs EMS unit(where i just applied actually), Working at Albany Med, working at Saint Peters hospital,Colonie EMS) All of those are within the city, then if that doesn't work there is Rensselaer and Troy (both smaller cities, but still have potential)
 
Generally Austin/Travis County wants either a Paramedic cert or 1 year of EMT experience.

REMSA is a private service that operates under a Public Utility Model, not a third service, and will require EMT-I to be on a 911 truck.

I think NOLA has either Med Students or Residents doing ride alongs, not technically working as a first responder but I may be wrong. We have Med Students ride with us every now and again where I work.


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What always amazes me when I see these threads is this....

I think you are going about it the wrong way. The question you should ask first is "what kind of life do I want?" That means, do you want urban, rural or some mixture of both? Do you want mountains or beaches, etc? Do you have certain hobbies that are best suited or only suited for a certain area? And a million other similar questions about LIFE, LIVING it and enjoying the QUALITY.

After you have answered those questions, make a very short list of places that meet those criteria. Then, once you have that...then start you search on employers within that area who will meet your needs for a similar list you have made for who you desire to work for....examples, you have negotiables/flexibility with salary or benefits because you are single with no kids so you are ok taking a lesser paying job if it meets X criteria. Or a NON-negotiable might be if they cannot provide Y then you will not take that job.

While people have given you many options of all the "big ones"....the fact remains there are many gems you will NEVER know about unless you search specific areas. In my travels I have run across some kick *** departments I had never heard of...the reason being they were small, or mid size, not attached to any major metropolis yet still had amazing volume, great protocols, advancement, pay, you name it....these do exist in so many places. Bigger does not equal better, being "known" does not mean quality.

In short...pick the life you want and then go live that life. Insert work into it provided it meets your personal requirements as opposed to finding work somewhere and then inserting your life around that.
 
Ada County Paramedics in Boise, Wake County EMS, King County Medic 1. I've also always liked REMSA in Reno and MEDIC in NC.
 
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