Do city employed medics make as much as fire medics?

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SuperJew

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does anyone know which areas in the U.S. I can work as a city employed medic without havng to become a fire firefighter?

And the city employed medics, do they make as much as someone who is a fire medic?

I'm in my second paramedic semester, and I know it's a couple semesters away, but I thought I would start doing minor research before I graduate and start looking.

Thanks.
 
Philadelphia Fire Dept. Medics make 10% more than FFs. There are no FF/paramedics. But it's Philly and you're practically guarenteed to be burnt to a crisp in 3 years or less.

Considering how long many city FDs have been unionized, I imagine it's going to be hard to find a city that pays it's medics more than a FF. Considering that ff/medics have "more" training, they'll almost always get paid more despite doing half the work.
 
Detroit EMS is separate from the FFs.
 
Are medics are separate from fire but are not city employees and I bet they make a good deal less than fire.
 
Muncipal/Government Entity EMS services in Texas:

Austin/Travis County EMS
Williamson County EMS
Parker County Hospital District
Wise County EMS
Montgomery County Hospital District
Nacogdoches County Hospital District
Harris County ESD 1
Galveston County Hospital District
San Marcos/Hayes County EMS

That's off the top of my head. Varying levels of pay, professionalism, advancement opportunity, ect in there.

Texas EMS, some of the best, and worst, EMS in the nation.
 
City of Alexandria, VA as well. FD employees, but single role medics.
 
Sussex County Delaware. County service, great pay, benefits, retirement. Very good service.
 
San Francisco FD has EMS as a division underneath it, and they are all city employees. You don't make as much as the FF/medics but you make good money. Single role EMT's make around 50-60k, medics make around 80-90k, and ff/medics make just north of 100k.

Let the cost of living commenting begin.
 
SanDiegoEmt7 said:
Let the cost of living commenting begin.
Click to expand...

and to add insult to injury, I just spent a hundred bucks to have a computer geek tell me there wasn't a bug stuck in my monitor screen!

Now THAT's an Avatar!
 
To the OP: depends on the city, but almost always, the answer is going to be no.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I work for East Baton Rouge City/Parish EMS. 3rd Service Municipal. I believe we make more than the FD. Very good EMS service to work for.
 
Bradenton, Florida
 
SuperJew said:
does anyone know which areas in the U.S. I can work as a city employed medic without havng to become a fire firefighter?

And the city employed medics, do they make as much as someone who is a fire medic?

I'm in my second paramedic semester, and I know it's a couple semesters away, but I thought I would start doing minor research before I graduate and start looking.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Chicago and FDNY you can be a paramedic without being a firefighter. I can't speak for FDNY, I venture they're similar, but in Chicago they hire separately, have their own promotional positions/ranks, etc. You're based in the firehouses and are part of the department, but you're a single role medic running on the ambulance. Each ALS ambulance is dual-medic. CFD is an ALS department, so firefighters who were hired after I believe 1996 are also at the very least EMT's, if not paramedics.

I can't speak for what FDNY medics make, but CFD medics get paid well and are on par with what firefighters make, exception being firefighter/paramedics because they are cross-trained in both areas but it's not a huge difference.

EMS has its own ranks that are similar to firefighter ranks so there is room for growth and increased salary. As is the case in other major cities, the biggest challenge is avoiding burnout. Many do avoid it and make a full career out of it, but there are definitely those who flame out and move on to other departments or careers. If you can tough it out, it's a great place to have a career in EMS.
 
speaking for Indianapolis only, the third service medics make a lot less than the ff's
 
I am a municipal paramedic and make considerably more than the municipal fireman and entry level police officers in my community.

Many municipal paramedics make at least equal pay as the FD if not
more.

The thing about municipal medics are that the services usually have much less staff than the PD and FD making things like OT much more frequent then throw in our paid cme hrs, license renewals, and other required training such as pals, acls, protocol updates etc, holiday and differential we easily clear 90+k.

My suggestion is to find a city job vs private service or strive to get one while you gain experience at a local service. We municipal medics rarely leave our jobs due to pay, bennies, and retirement packages so experience is the key to getting that job. I worked many years at a private service before landing a municipal job and am now working on my second pension, so gain experience become an instructor for everything you can, make friends with
Municipal medics, keep your
Nose clean (Driving hx, arrest free, good credit Score), keep your
Trauma stories to yourself so you are
not considered the slapper they don't need and keep job searching.

Good luck in your search.

Pm me with any other questions.
 
Boston EMS basics make close to the same amount as Boston firefighters who are mostly basics. I believe they have the same benefit packages and pension plans as well. I'm assuming BEMS medics do better than this considering how few of them (comparably) there are.
 
Thanks for the help, you guys.

I finished my paramedic program, and I have my Florida state certification too. Later this month I'm about to take my national exam. I was wondering, based on my original post, will the below certifications be enough to get a job for a city as medic? And how do I go about looking for city jobs? Can you suggest any websites where I can contact these places?

EMT-P State of Florida
ACLS – American Heart Association
PALS – American Heart Association
PEPPS – American Heart Association
ASLS – University of Miami
ACS – University of Miami
EMT-B State of Florida,
EMT-B National Registry
CPR Certification
EVOC
FEMA Certifications,
Hazmat Certifications

Thank you!!!
 
you can check for jobs my googling the departments websites directly from the dept people suggested on here. Also check out 911 hot jobs, craigslist, ems1.com jems.com emsworld.com monster.com careerbuilder.com ect.
 
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