EMS employment in Bay Area California.

[The Possum]

Okay so I'm coming back to EMS part time after a long absence. I have job offers on the table from a couple of companies in the Bay Area. United ambulance, Eagle ambulance, Pro transport and NorCal.

Has anybody worked for any of these outfits or does anybody have any comment on how they might be working for either of them? I hear Eagle is pretty good.

 

[DesertMedic66]

@Aprz maybe you can assist? I think you were in the Bay Area

 

[The Possum]

I worked at AMR in Alameda County for a long time. Now it's all Falck. All my friends that work there don't seem to like it. And I'm only going to be doing two days a week.

 

[Aprz]

I worked at AMR in Alameda County for a long time. Now it's all Falck. All my friends that work there don't seem to like it. And I'm only going to be doing two days a week.

Falck may suck, but they are also the only 911 private ambulance company in Alameda County. Your other options locally are AMR (San Mateo County, Santa Clara County, Contra Costa County, San Joaquin County, Santa Rosa County), commute to Riggs Ambulance in Merced County or Medic Ambulance in Solano County, or do IFT. United Ambulance, ProTransport-1, and NorCal primarily do IFT. They might do 9-1-1 in some areas, like I know ProTransport-1 had a 9-1-1 contract in a city I never heard of, but not the Bay Area.

Why not go back to AMR? They have a San Leandro location again and have a $1,500 hiring bonus for EMTs. They have the contract with Sutter Hospital.

American Medical Response - AMR Medical Transportation Jobs

AMR is an AA/EEO Employer with medical transportation jobs and other medical career opportunities in your area. Be a part of our team. Apply Here

amr-careers-gmr.icims.com

It looks like AMR San Francisco is also hiring. San Francisco has always confused me, but I think they do something like a combination of 911 and IFT, like the backup provider to San Francisco Fire Department, and are utilized frequently with some units dedicated to 911 only?

American Medical Response - AMR Medical Transportation Jobs

AMR is an AA/EEO Employer with medical transportation jobs and other medical career opportunities in your area. Be a part of our team. Apply Here

amr-careers-gmr.icims.com

If you insist on picking between United Ambulance, NorCal Ambulance, or Eagle Ambulance, I would eliminate United Ambulance. I've only heard negative things about United Ambulance. Essentially a wheelchair/gurney van company that try to lure new EMTs to the company with the hopes of working on a BLS IFT ambulance. Of course, I haven't looked at EMT BLS IFT jobs in years so maybe things have changed, but the last time somebody talked to me about them, it wasn't good.

Never heard anything bad about NorCal Ambulance. People just didn't try going there because they are BLS IFT. They seemed like one of the first IFT-only companies to have electronic gurneys. I remember being impressed with that.

Eagle Ambulance I am guessing is new. I didn't know they existed until I saw them driving down 580 one day. I was shocked to see them at Kaiser Fremont, looked them up, and saw they were from Rodeo, CA. Their website says they serve Alameda County, Contra Costa County, and San Mateo County. They look like they are close to Falcon Ambulance.

I would maybe consider Westmed Ambulance or Royal Ambulance as well. Both are in Alameda County. Again, haven't heard very bad things about them, just that people use them as a stepping stone to get hired on with companies like Falck or AMR to do 911. Bayshore Ambulance is in San Mateo County, which I think is a beautiful county. I am guessing they had a contract with Peninsula Burlingame because I used to see them there all the time in 2014/2015.

Royal Ambulance - Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) - Alameda County

ALAMEDA COUNTY - ALCO Ranked in 2021 as one of the Top 50 Best Places to Work in the United States (Glassdoor), we pride ourselves in the Driven and Motivated team members that join our family. You will get experience like no other - with the HIGHEST Code 2 Call Volume in the Bay Area, excellent...

jobs.lever.co

Current Openings - OnShift Employ Applicant Tracking System

Personally, I would just go for 911 companies. 911 in the bay area is usually union while IFT usually isn't. 911 also generally pays better, and has better benefits. I feel like even the worse 911 systems usually have higher standards than IFT. IFT companies I feel like tend to be shadier, have worse equipment, and worse vehicles. If it rolls, it can be dispatched, lol. People at the 911s might complain, but there is a reason they are working there instead of doing IFT. 911 people have every right to complain about their job, but it doesn't make the IFT companies any better. We are just used to raising our voice so we are louder than the IFT folks.

 

[The Possum]

Falck may suck, but they are also the only 911 private ambulance company in Alameda County. Your other options locally are AMR (San Mateo County, Santa Clara County, Contra Costa County, San Joaquin County, Santa Rosa County), commute to Riggs Ambulance in Merced County or Medic Ambulance in Solano County, or do IFT. United Ambulance, ProTransport-1, and NorCal primarily do IFT. They might do 9-1-1 in some areas, like I know ProTransport-1 had a 9-1-1 contract in a city I never heard of, but not the Bay Area.

Why not go back to AMR? They have a San Leandro location again and have a $1,500 hiring bonus for EMTs. They have the contract with Sutter Hospital.

American Medical Response - AMR Medical Transportation Jobs

AMR is an AA/EEO Employer with medical transportation jobs and other medical career opportunities in your area. Be a part of our team. Apply Here

amr-careers-gmr.icims.com

It looks like AMR San Francisco is also hiring. San Francisco has always confused me, but I think they do something like a combination of 911 and IFT, like the backup provider to San Francisco Fire Department, and are utilized frequently with some units dedicated to 911 only?

American Medical Response - AMR Medical Transportation Jobs

AMR is an AA/EEO Employer with medical transportation jobs and other medical career opportunities in your area. Be a part of our team. Apply Here

amr-careers-gmr.icims.com

If you insist on picking between United Ambulance, NorCal Ambulance, or Eagle Ambulance, I would eliminate United Ambulance. I've only heard negative things about United Ambulance. Essentially a wheelchair/gurney van company that try to lure new EMTs to the company with the hopes of working on a BLS IFT ambulance. Of course, I haven't looked at EMT BLS IFT jobs in years so maybe things have changed, but the last time somebody talked to me about them, it wasn't good.

Never heard anything bad about NorCal Ambulance. People just didn't try going there because they are BLS IFT. They seemed like one of the first IFT-only companies to have electronic gurneys. I remember being impressed with that.

Eagle Ambulance I am guessing is new. I didn't know they existed until I saw them driving down 580 one day. I was shocked to see them at Kaiser Fremont, looked them up, and saw they were from Rodeo, CA. Their website says they serve Alameda County, Contra Costa County, and San Mateo County. They look like they are close to Falcon Ambulance.

I would maybe consider Westmed Ambulance or Royal Ambulance as well. Both are in Alameda County. Again, haven't heard very bad things about them, just that people use them as a stepping stone to get hired on with companies like Falck or AMR to do 911. Bayshore Ambulance is in San Mateo County, which I think is a beautiful county. I am guessing they had a contract with Peninsula Burlingame because I used to see them there all the time in 2014/2015.

Royal Ambulance - Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) - Alameda County

ALAMEDA COUNTY - ALCO Ranked in 2021 as one of the Top 50 Best Places to Work in the United States (Glassdoor), we pride ourselves in the Driven and Motivated team members that join our family. You will get experience like no other - with the HIGHEST Code 2 Call Volume in the Bay Area, excellent...

jobs.lever.co

Current Openings - OnShift Employ Applicant Tracking System

Personally, I would just go for 911 companies. 911 in the bay area is usually union while IFT usually isn't. 911 also generally pays better, and has better benefits. I feel like even the worse 911 systems usually have higher standards than IFT. IFT companies I feel like tend to be shadier, have worse equipment, and worse vehicles. If it rolls, it can be dispatched, lol. People at the 911s might complain, but there is a reason they are working there instead of doing IFT. 911 people have every right to complain about their job, but it doesn't make the IFT companies any better. We are just used to raising our voice so we are louder than the IFT folks.

I worked 911 in mid County Alameda County for a long time. I'm at the age where I don't want to go back to that. Just too much drama. I'm looking to try to get CCT or something more low-key. I've got 9 years to retire from my corporate job. San Mateo is a 2-hour drive from my house and I don't really want to drive that far. I'm looking for something close by Contra Costa County. Bayshore ambulance no longer exists. It was sold to pro-transport.

My kid worked for Pro transport for 2 years. He said it didn't pay very well and the equipment was pretty outdated. Eagle is pretty well respected it seems. Everything there is brand new and they start at 19 an hour. A good friend of mine works at United. He's a retired Oakland fire department captain. I think he's just the trainer there. When I went there for my interview it looked pretty shady. Looks can be deceiving so I wanted to get somebody else's opinion.

This will be working 1 to 2 days a week at most. I'll probably wind up at Eagle because they pay the most and they have power gurneys.

 

[supreme]

I worked 911 in mid County Alameda County for a long time. I'm at the age where I don't want to go back to that. Just too much drama. I'm looking to try to get CCT or something more low-key. I've got 9 years to retire from my corporate job. San Mateo is a 2-hour drive from my house and I don't really want to drive that far. I'm looking for something close by Contra Costa County. Bayshore ambulance no longer exists. It was sold to pro-transport.

My kid worked for Pro transport for 2 years. He said it didn't pay very well and the equipment was pretty outdated. Eagle is pretty well respected it seems. Everything there is brand new and they start at 19 an hour. A good friend of mine works at United. He's a retired Oakland fire department captain. I think he's just the trainer there. When I went there for my interview it looked pretty shady. Looks can be deceiving so I wanted to get somebody else's opinion.

This will be working 1 to 2 days a week at most. I'll probably wind up at Eagle because they pay the most and they have power gurneys.

Did Bayshore really sell out to Protransport? Very interesting

If you just want to do CCT in Contra Costa County, I would apply for AMR Sutter. You should ask but I'm sure they do all the NICU/PICU for Suter if they have the IFT contract. Similar to how Rural/Metro did all the NICU/PICU for Kaiser before they lost the contract.

Eagle and Falcon are probably mostly BLS IFT with a few CCT throw in. Protransport and NorCal probably have more CCT runs than those two.

Rural/Metro with the Kaiser contract was golden for EMTs who wanted to do nothing but shuttle nurses and patients around in a NICU/PICU bus.

Bay Medic is another company out there in Contra Costa County. There's another one around San Ramon, Cabulance or something lol

Contra Costa County EMS should have a list of all ambulance providers licensed in the county.

 

[supreme]

If you insist on picking between United Ambulance, NorCal Ambulance, or Eagle Ambulance, I would eliminate United Ambulance. I've only heard negative things about United Ambulance. Essentially a wheelchair/gurney van company that try to lure new EMTs to the company with the hopes of working on a BLS IFT ambulance.

This was their go to while trying to build into a IFT ambulance company. They're still steadily growing so props to the owner but it's still a shady mom and pop shop.

 

[BeachMedic]

I was AMR Alameda County too. Left when AMR lost the contract. Maybe we know each other.

 

[The Possum]

I bet we do sir.

 

[Aprz]

I was AMR Alameda County too. Left when AMR lost the contract. Maybe we know each other.

Don't you work SFFD now? I thought you did. I didn't know you because I was there a couple of years after Paramedics Plus started there, like late 2015. I was there for only like 2 months before failing field training.

 

[BeachMedic]

Don't you work SFFD now? I thought you did. I didn't know you because I was there a couple of years after Paramedics Plus started there, like late 2015. I was there for only like 2 months before failing field training.

I do. I was thinking I knew the Possom. They were AMR ALCO and it was pretty tightknit at the time.

Did not hear good things about Paramedics Plus. Didn't hear good things about Falck. AMR was good for 20 years but people still complained. The devil you know vs the devil you don't I guess.

 

[supreme]

I do. I was thinking I knew the Possom. They were AMR ALCO and it was pretty tightknit at the time.

Did not hear good things about Paramedics Plus. Didn't hear good things about Falck. AMR was good for 20 years but people still complained. The devil you know vs the devil you don't I guess.

AMR is a mess but at least it's an organized mess which has been consistently functioning as an organized mess for years versus other companies who have no previous 911 experience getting 911 contracts

 

[The Possum]

When I worked at AMR. I loved what I did. I absolutely detested AMR as a company though. They were very focused on who they liked and didn't like. Certain companies they acquired through acquisitions like the one I came from, many of those employees were treated differently than people who were hired through AMR. They almost hunted for you. I don't know what it's like now, but back then it was not good. The calls were great, the company was terrible.

 

[Tigger]

AMR is a mess but at least it's an organized mess which has been consistently functioning as an organized mess for years versus other companies who have no previous 911 experience getting 911 contracts

Man this describes my own AMR op that’s a thousand miles away to a T.

 

[The Possum]

I do. I was thinking I knew the Possom. They were AMR ALCO and it was pretty tightknit at the time.

Did not hear good things about Paramedics Plus. Didn't hear good things about Falck. AMR was good for 20 years but people still complained. The devil you know vs the devil you don't I guess.

Send me your email address if you would please?