Hey, I'm from RI and I just got my MA state cert, i'm going to be going to nursing school in Boston. So my question is what are the best ambulance companies to work for, from either first hand experience or word of mouth. If there is a thread on this already, just let me know. Thanks.
Boston, Ma
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KEVD18
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well i have written this dissertation before, but here goes again:
everybody will tell you boston ems is the best place to work. this isnt necessarily true or untrue. its a municipal busy urban 911 job. it takes a certain type of person. they hire 2 or three times a year. there is a written exam(emtb final essentially), practical exam(medical assessment, trauma assessment and carry down), then a oral board with the superintendent, deputy superintendent and the medical director, after that, comprehensive drug test, after that full medical work up. if you get past all that and they offer you an academy slot, you have six months in front of you. 12wks in the classroom m-f 8-4. pt every day, uniform inspections, classes. after that, you do your ride time(3-months). if your still around you get pinned and become a member of the dept. there are no part time shifts. you either work 5 8hr shifts or 4 10hr shifts(those are filled y the senior guys usually). all in all, its a tough job.
alert ems: solid private company. they are based in fall river but have a house in hyde park. decent pay(12ish) pretty good shifts(about a year before i left, they had eliminated all 5 day/week schedules). some of the trucks are a bit rough. their main money maker is they are the contract agency for the va in mass. they handle every for all the va's except bedford. you'll do an awful lot of va-va work. they also have a mutual aid agreement with boston, so you'll do some city work too.
amr- well im not going into this again. search any of the amr threads and you find my opinion of them.
fallon: worst pay, best benefits in the privates. your mind will go numb with the stupidity you will deal with over there. they have a fleet of field supervisors whos jobs is to float around all day and hassle you over the stupidest stuff. they are the contract 911 provider for like 7 towns on the south shore, but they are almost exclusively als contracts so forget about it. its the same old stuff, dialysis, radiation, dr appts, discharges. every now and again you might get tapped for a 911 call. you can do better than fallon, but you can do worse too.
eascare: eascares' biggest motive on the planet is to make as much money as possible. while this isnt different from ny of the other privates, they really take it to heart. they set their board up so that whenever possible, the facility your transporting to laso happens to have one coming out. back to back to back calls all day long. want a coffee, too bad your here to work. need some lunch, too bad we arent paying you to eat. they are very very busy. pay isnt bad(12-13IIRC), dont know what they have for schedules, not that bad a place to work if you want to bust your butt all day long every day.
lifeline- based in woburn but they have atleast one base in boston. not the worst job you could get. they're a little fanatical. never worked there but i know a lot of the people that do. not very many complaints coming from that shop.
mercy- oh boy, what can i say about mercy. pay is pretty good(13ish). they lease, so their trucks are young. they have some truly awful contracts so eat your wheaties before your shifts. they never turn down calls unless its absolutely necessary so be prepared to take a call in chelsea from mattapan. theres an incredibly ridiculously exceedingly high amount of petty bs that goes on there. did you enjoy high school? good cause your going back.
everybody will tell you boston ems is the best place to work. this isnt necessarily true or untrue. its a municipal busy urban 911 job. it takes a certain type of person. they hire 2 or three times a year. there is a written exam(emtb final essentially), practical exam(medical assessment, trauma assessment and carry down), then a oral board with the superintendent, deputy superintendent and the medical director, after that, comprehensive drug test, after that full medical work up. if you get past all that and they offer you an academy slot, you have six months in front of you. 12wks in the classroom m-f 8-4. pt every day, uniform inspections, classes. after that, you do your ride time(3-months). if your still around you get pinned and become a member of the dept. there are no part time shifts. you either work 5 8hr shifts or 4 10hr shifts(those are filled y the senior guys usually). all in all, its a tough job.
alert ems: solid private company. they are based in fall river but have a house in hyde park. decent pay(12ish) pretty good shifts(about a year before i left, they had eliminated all 5 day/week schedules). some of the trucks are a bit rough. their main money maker is they are the contract agency for the va in mass. they handle every for all the va's except bedford. you'll do an awful lot of va-va work. they also have a mutual aid agreement with boston, so you'll do some city work too.
amr- well im not going into this again. search any of the amr threads and you find my opinion of them.
fallon: worst pay, best benefits in the privates. your mind will go numb with the stupidity you will deal with over there. they have a fleet of field supervisors whos jobs is to float around all day and hassle you over the stupidest stuff. they are the contract 911 provider for like 7 towns on the south shore, but they are almost exclusively als contracts so forget about it. its the same old stuff, dialysis, radiation, dr appts, discharges. every now and again you might get tapped for a 911 call. you can do better than fallon, but you can do worse too.
eascare: eascares' biggest motive on the planet is to make as much money as possible. while this isnt different from ny of the other privates, they really take it to heart. they set their board up so that whenever possible, the facility your transporting to laso happens to have one coming out. back to back to back calls all day long. want a coffee, too bad your here to work. need some lunch, too bad we arent paying you to eat. they are very very busy. pay isnt bad(12-13IIRC), dont know what they have for schedules, not that bad a place to work if you want to bust your butt all day long every day.
lifeline- based in woburn but they have atleast one base in boston. not the worst job you could get. they're a little fanatical. never worked there but i know a lot of the people that do. not very many complaints coming from that shop.
mercy- oh boy, what can i say about mercy. pay is pretty good(13ish). they lease, so their trucks are young. they have some truly awful contracts so eat your wheaties before your shifts. they never turn down calls unless its absolutely necessary so be prepared to take a call in chelsea from mattapan. theres an incredibly ridiculously exceedingly high amount of petty bs that goes on there. did you enjoy high school? good cause your going back.
JPINFV
Gadfly
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Considering Boston fire was the first in the country...
)
Boston Fire doesn't run EMS calls.
Before getting their training wheels (independence) they were an arm of Boston Police (A "Special" Forces unit, as I remember). They have built this up to be what I see as one of the finest trained and skilled workforces in the country, and they are damn good at patient care.
I now work at EasCare, so can comment a little on their polices. They DO pack each unit's day full, but if you want time to get a coffee, you can find it for yourself. Shifts are a combo of 8s, 10s, 13s, and a few 24s (all medic shifts). When you start you are most likely going to be on 10 he shifts. A month ago, they were on a hiring frenzy, hiring what seemed like anyone with a pulse, but that has slowed down (possibly just for the summer). $$ is a big factor in admin's decisions, but not the only one. Our contracts are mostly dialysis, BMC interfacility, discharges from all area hospitals, a few nursing home contracts (emergencies and MD appts.), Boston MedFlight (from the BMC helipad to the ER) and backup 911 calls for Boston (usually the sh*t calls).
EC has bases in Dorchester, Dartmouth, South Coast and Worcester. The last note of mention is that EC has gotten rid of a narrative section on all but the emergency paperwork (ostensibly to save time, so crews can make more calls).
I really dont mind the work, it really isnt as bad as it seems. We find the time to have fun... I guess wherever you go it depends on your partner and what you make of the calls.
Good luck!
DES