EMT-B pay rate?

[medic001918]

the pay rate:



not enough

I have to respectfully disagree with you to your "not enough" comment. Your typical EMT-Basic program consists of 120-150 hours of educational time from start to finish. That's a little more than three to four full time weeks worth of education. The basic curriculum the way it stands now is little more than a basic first aid course. How many other positions can make in the range of $10-15 an hour for that little amount of time invested in education?

In order to demand better wages in EMS a few things need to happen. The first is to increase our educational requirements. With knowledge (not training...there is a difference) comes more responsibility and better pay.

Now that that's out of the way, there are a few things holding back our educational process. The first is that more people work in EMS as volunteers rather than paid professionals. As volunteers, most people tend to have other careers and are limited to the amount of time to invest in the training and commitment to a service. The way to get around this is to limit training, and limit the amount of time that someone needs to commit in order to remain an EMT. If more people were working in EMS as a career, you'd find that the educational requirements could be expanded significantly. This brings us to the next issue. There are plenty of volunteer services who would oppose increasing that time commitment since they'd lose their volunteers. It's a vicious circle. There are also those who volunteer and say "if we didn't provide EMS, our town wouldn't have it." Nothing could be further from the truth. If volunteers didn't provide EMS for the town, the town would find some way to provide it. They would bring in a commercial service, or start their own. Either way, the town wouldn't do without. And for those that live in low population areas, they could create a county wide system. There are areas of the country that have this in place and it works well. It's hard to demand decent wages when the majority of people in the field are providing the same job service for free. Comparing a paid person to a volunteer performing the same job without pay, anything looks like decent wages.

Increase our educational demand, create more jobs so that there isn't such a supply of employees and our wages will increase accordingly. Until that happens, we're going to stay where we are.

Shane
NREMT-P

 

[MedikErik]

Back home in MD, it was about $9-10/hr to start for a rookie... here in MO it's about $10/hr as well. Experience gets you $0.50-$1.00 extra per hour, depending on the service (some don't pay based on experience, but those who are experienced tend to promote faster).

 

[rafaxel]

Boston EMS.

In Boston if you work for BEMS, as a recruit you make $17 and change and after you graduate is about $22.00, for EMT-B, Paramedics i'm not sure, plus the benefits are great.

 

[John E]

Like most things...

it depends.

There are some private companies who are actively recruiting EMT's and EMT-D's, (drivers) in the SoCal area with sign-on bonuses and other enticements. Then there are the ones who will go unnamed who promise one hourly rate only to change it when you're hired and who want their EMT's to work on a "stand-by" basis without being paid until they get a call.

On the other hand, there are jobs with companies like McCormick (sp?) who pay their EMT's in Los Angeles a whopping 8 dollars an hour to work on a 911 ambulance.

And on yet another hand, there are jobs where EMT's make an average of over $20.00 per hour working at events and on film sets. Obviously that sort of work isn't for everyone and it's pretty well localised to Los Angeles.

Check out Craig's List under the Health/Medical job listings, there's usually at least one listing for private company EMT's on there every day.

You should be making at least 10 to 12 dollars per hour WITHOUT the misleading enticement of overtime in my opinion but I'm one of those guys who work on film sets so I'm a bit more critical of what the guys who drive ambulances make per hour.

John E.

 

[Derek]

the pay rate:



not enough

^ That just about sum's it up. With the amount of money and time we devote to our education I doubt we will ever get an hourly pay rate that would make someone say 'WOW I should go to EMT School for the money'. The pay isn't bad... but it isn't great either. After the first life you help save or the first thank you that you get from a patient or patients' family member it will make it well worth-while though. In my humble opinion.

AMR (South Central Region) here in Mississippi is on average:

Driver: $8.06/hr
NREMT-Basic: $9.00/hr

Not sure about paramedic's starting out rate... I plan to attend a Paramedic/RN bridge program when it opens at Hinds Community College.

 

[TEK 679]

15 dollars an hr here that what my partner makes.

 

[CFRBryan347768]

Actually, in California they are in need for EMT's. Job range is widely available. That's the point of my question.

6.50/hr!? wow.

I heard between the range of $10 and $14/hr.

Thats how it is around here, if not more for some people

 

[MedCoast Ambulance]

EMTs in greater Los Angeles pay rates

Hello All,

I am new to this forum but have been in the LA EMS since 1991. Now I run a private ambulance company.

We start our EMTs at 10-12/hour depending on experience. I can pay experienced more because of the short learning curve and savings not spent on not making sure you are a good EMT first.

We are starting to bid fire contracts but most of our work is private (you are medical control)

Some companies start at $8.50 and some range up to $15/hour

be careful because sometimes the pay rate seems high but they make you work 8 or 9 hour shifts 3-4 shifts a week (ask first) to keep OT low - which hurts your check

Some companies are paying people wrong -I know of one company that is having people sign a waiver to get straight time for 60 hours in a week (breaking labor law)

Ask lots of questions on your interviews......remember you are interviewing the company as an employer

If you need resources in this area (for my company or others) just drop me an email and I can at least direct you

 

[KEVD18]

anybody bother to check the date on this thread??

10-28-2007, 03:56 AM was the last post until somebody brought it back fromt he dead.....

 

[Ridryder911]

anybody bother to check the date on this thread??

10-28-2007, 03:56 AM was the last post until somebody brought it back fromt he dead.....

Still the pay sucks!

 

[VentMedic]

I have to respectfully disagree with you to your "not enough" comment. Your typical EMT-Basic program consists of 120-150 hours of educational time from start to finish. That's a little more than three to four full time weeks worth of education. The basic curriculum the way it stands now is little more than a basic first aid course. How many other positions can make in the range of $10-15 an hour for that little amount of time invested in education?

In order to demand better wages in EMS a few things need to happen. The first is to increase our educational requirements. With knowledge (not training...there is a difference) comes more responsibility and better pay.

Exactly!

What do you expect for 120 hours of training? Did the school not tell you that EMT-B is not a well paying job? It should not even be considered as a "career". One's career as an EMT-B should last only long enough to get an education as a Paramedic, RN, other health professional or whatever degree leading to an actual career be it in health care or banking.

An employer should be proud of an EMT turnover rate if it is because they have encouraged their employees to pursue higher education and these employees are graduating into a good career move. Employers that hire warm bodies will always have a high turnover for other reasons because these employees will always be looking for something better without putting forth their own effort.

Of course there are those that have made the choice to remain an EMT for personal reasons like putting their family first provided the family is well taken care of and has not suffered from the bread winner(s)'s lack of ambition. If they view their job with professionalism and do their very best to promote themselves as professionals, then they should be respected for there is a place in patient care for them also.

 

[Desert Ranger]

I started as a GS-3 seasonal Ranger in '93 a $8.60 an hour. Now I am a GS-9 and my base rate is $23.75. Time and a half for overtime, time and a quarter for Sundays, and double time for holidays.

 

[Short Bus]

Been a while since I have been there, but I think most places around here for a basic are $8-12.xx

 

[ErinCooley]

in 08 in metro-Atlanta, GA im finding that a newbie EMT-intermediate makes in the 12-13 range starting out.

 

[mdkemt]

Holy smokes I would die. Here at PCP level which is a litle higher then EMT-B you start out at $19.86/hr and max out at $24.68/hr.

MDKEMT

 

[TheMowingMonk]

yeah up here in norcal the average starting runs between $9.00/hr to $12.00/hr I know the service i work for starts at $10.00