Central Cal EMS

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Outskies

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Hey all! If any one has info on any good prospects of EMS agencies to work for in Central California, I want to hear what you have to provide! I am a medic in CO and looking to possibly move back home.
I've been looking at American in Fresno, Riggs in Merced, and Pistoresi in Madera.
Any info helps guys!
I'd appreciate it.
 
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CBRMEDIC

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dont know anything about american or Pistoresi. riggs is the sole als provider in merced county, fire is bls there. great place to learn with a decent amount of calls. you just missed the deadline to file application, there doing their hiring this month or so
 
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Outskies

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So I take it they will probably hire again in another 6 months or so?

I've been reading what small amount of info I can acquire about American. They have a specialized rescue team. That is definitely a perk to be employed there and the fact they have their own flights. From my understanding there aren't any other ALS providers in Fresno county. No solid info on that though.
 
Angel

Angel

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riggs will hire again in about 3 months, maybe, i think theyre contract expires in august so i guess it depends on who puts in a rfp and wins.

as far as american, im also applying there though i have heard they like to hire their own. guess well see.

have you considered hall in bakersfield?
 
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Outskies

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Bakersfield is a little far for my possible commute.

It seems like Riggs hires often. Kind of a bad sign to me for their attrition rate.

Is American a renowned service for them to only hire internally?
I've looked at the Medic programs in that area a few years ago and was not impressed. Hopefully it's not because they send them to those programs haha.
 
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CBRMEDIC

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Angel said:
riggs will hire again in about 3 months, maybe, i think theyre contract expires in august so i guess it depends on who puts in a rfp and wins.

as far as american, im also applying there though i have heard they like to hire their own. guess well see.

have you considered hall in bakersfield?
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riggs won the rfp against amr
 
Angel

Angel

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Outskies said:
Bakersfield is a little far for my possible commute.

It seems like Riggs hires often. Kind of a bad sign to me for their attrition rate.

.
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For paramedics, I think only ~50% pass the FTO period. It's basically another internship (480 hours) which is why they are a last resort for me.


CBRMEDIC said:
riggs won the rfp against amr
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Correct. I believe that was last year. I was told the contract is up for bid again this year.


Outskies said:
@ Angel. Any idea when American will start a round of hiring?
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No I'm not sure...hopefully soon though
 
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Outskies

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CentralCalEMT said:
What's wrong with medic programs in that area?
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Not going to harp on the programs that I did not attend. But from when I looked at their pass rate stats, accreditation, and personal opinion of the medics that came out of those 2 programs around fresno (not all the graduates) seemed to me that something was wrong with faculty or method of getting information across in an academic setting. That was back in 2010, but even now they had one good year of 1st attempt passing rate in the 90's. That's what is not impressive to me. I mean come on, the Nat Reg was a little too easy in my opinion. So something must be wrong if they can't instruct students well enough to pass it the 1st attempt.
 
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Outskies

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Angel said:
For paramedics, I think only ~50% pass the FTO period. It's basically another internship (480 hours) which is why they are a last resort

Are you serious? I wonder why the FI process has such a high turn over.
Where else have you looked besides Fresno and Merced? Hall?

No I'm not sure...hopefully soon though
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If I had to guess I would anticipate around fall time. That seems to be a typical hiring process time. Twice a year, once every 6 months maybe.
 
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CentralCalEMT

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Have you looked at Tulare County? American Ambulance of Visalia (different from fresno American) is hiring. I know AMR Tulare County is also down medics. Exeter Ambulance might also be hiring. All of those companies follow CCEMSA protocols. (Fresno, Kings, Madera, and Tulare Counties have the same EMS administration.) Also, in Fresno County, there is also Sequoia Safety Council, and Sierrra Ambulance, both of which are good companies as well. Overall there are a lot of companies so usually someone is hiring. I work in both Tulare and Kern Counties so if you have any questions feel free to ask!
 
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Outskies

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So you work for American but completely different operations?
I'm actually really curious about those areas. What's the schedules like? 12's, 48's?
Average transport times?
Call acuity?
Morale with every one in those ops?
Of course pay?
I'll probably have more questions later. Thanks!
 
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Outskies

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Also, capnography. Is there only use of colormetric Capno for intubation confirmation? Or is there waveform available for all the other excellent applications?
 
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CBRMEDIC

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Angel said:
For paramedics, I think only ~50% pass the FTO period. It's basically another internship (480 hours) which is why they are a last resort for me.




Correct. I believe that was last year. I was told the contract is up for bid again this year.




No I'm not sure...hopefully soon though
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Riggs won their rfp like a week or 2 ago. I maybe wrong but i believe they have a contract for the next 10 yrs. i know couple of people who worked there and said they are hiring this june because of work hour schedules changes from 56 to 48, so they need more employees
 
Angel

Angel

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Sweet. Yea your news is more recent than mine. Good for them, I've heard super good things about types of calls they run and how busy they are. But again, the FTO period sucks. And there's not much to do in the area but it pas decent.
 
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CentralCalEMT

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Tulare County Details

About Tulare County: Tulare county is huge with over 4,000 square miles. The population is over 400,000 and the primary cities are Visalia (pop 150,000), Tulare (pop 60,000) and Porterville (pop 60,000). The rest is dispersed through rural farm towns. Like any county, it has its nicer areas, and gang infested high crime areas. There are major highways, a national forest, national park, lakes, rivers, and some of the richest farming areas in the country. Cost of living is low as far as apartments and houses go. If you are into the outdoors, there is great hiking, fishing, camping, and hunting all over the county.

About the system: the 5 companies (American Visalia, AMR, Lifestar, Exeter, and Imperial) operate a borderless dispatching system. There is one central county dispatch and the closest unit goes regardless of company. All 911 response units are ALS, usually with EMT/Medic. Generally, between the companies, there are 15-20 ALS units to cover that huge area. Despite the thin coverage, response times are surprisingly good. There are a lot of hardworking dedicated paramedics in the system. Most fire departments with the exception of Visalia Fire and Tulare city Fire are BLS departments so you are the only medic on scene. There are a whopping three hospitals in the county, with one being a STEMI and Level III trauma center. The others are small community hospitals. We have an ALS helicopter based in the county for the most serious cases. The system is part of CCEMSA (Freso, Kings, Madera, Tulare counties) so a paramedic license in one of those is good in all of those.

Now on to the companies

AMERICAN VISALIA:
They cover Visalia and the surrounding rural areas. They are an extremely high call volume system with 90% or more 911 calls.
What's the schedules like: 24s and some 12s
Average transport times? 5 minutes in town, 20 minutes in the rural areas or more.
Call acuity: Very many high acuity calls
Morale with every one in those ops: Morale is good from what I have heard.
Of course pay: A little over 12/hour from what I have been told.

AMR Tulare County
They cover Visalia and the surrounding rural areas. They are a high call volume system but more split 50/50 911 and transfer since they have the contract with the largest hospital in the county.
What's the schedules like: 24s with 12s mixed in at times.
Average transport times? 5 minutes in town, 20 minutes in the rural areas or more.
Call acuity: While they run less 911, they still are busy and get decent calls.
Morale with every one in those ops: Morale is high.
Of course pay: A little over 12/hour to start and they are a union shop.

LIFESTAR
They cover the city of Tulare and the surrounding rural areas. They are an extremely high call volume system that calls for mutual aid hundreds of times a year. It is easily 80% of more 911 calls
What's the schedules like: 3 24 hour units and 1 12 hour unit daily.
Average transport times? 5 minutes in town, 30 minutes in the rural areas or more.
Call acuity: Their units in the city get lots of high acuity calls. The one rural unit they have is much slower but does get a lot of trauma calls from the highway and the high crime in some of the smaller towns.
Morale with every one in those ops: Honestly I have heard mixed reviews. They do get run into the ground but no increased staffing has happened as of yet,
Pay: I do not know but I know per diem make more hourly than full time.

EXETER
They cover Exeter and the surrounding rural areas. They are a low call volume rural system that covers a small town that is very nice.
What's the schedules like: 1 24 hour unit and 1 12 hour unit daily.
Average transport times? There is no hospital in town so a minimum of 15 minutes.
Call acuity: They have a low call volume, but due to the nature of the county they do get their share of critical calls.
Morale with every one in those ops: Morale is good from what I know.
Of course pay: I have heard 13 or more, but do not quote me on that. They are not a private company but rather a healthcare district funded ambulance.

IMPERIAL
They cover Porterville and the surrounding rural areas including a large portion of the Sequoia National Forest and a large Indian Reservation. They are a moderate to high call volume system with 75% or more 911 calls.
What's the schedules like: They have 3-5 24 hour units depending on the day. No day cars unless there is a standby for a special event.
Average transport times? 5 minutes in town, 20 minutes in the rural areas or over an hour if in the mountains/forest. They also have occasional calls that require hiking to your patient, sometimes for hours or more.
Call acuity: Very many high acuity calls. They have a good mix of medical and trauma. Also, there is no ALS fire department unlike Visalia and Tulare.
Pay: $12.50 an hour to start.
Morale with every one in those ops: Morale is good and they just got two new ambulances.


If you have any more questions feel free to ask!
 
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