EMT pay

[TransportJockey]

How about you guys just get rid of all the EMT courses then? How about you get rid of all EMT-B's too? Leave all the work to the EMT-I's and EMT-P's. I'm sure you all started where we are now, so how about you not $#!T on us?

Keep in mind, if we went to a two year educational minimum, people like me would be out of work too. But as JP said, just because we aren't trained to a level as we would like to be, doesn't mean we have to excuse the minimally trained standards that our country runs their EMS systems with

 

[Rob123]

When summing up education levels, it's not an assumption that EMT-Bs lack education since betting that the average EMT-B has an extensive post-secondary education is like betting on 00 in roulette.

There's nothing wrong with betting on 00. The odds are 1/38 just like any other individual number. It also pays 35 to 1 just like any other individual number. In Atlantic City, even money bets (like black/red or odd/even) have a slight advantange over other locales because half the bet is returned when a "green" number comes out.

Ooops... wrong forum.

Seriously though 1 out of 38 (2.6%) feels like an accurate number although I have nothing to back me up.

 

[Trauma Chaser]

EMT's that are poorly trained is their own fault for not researching the school and putting more effort into leaning the skills. Just because there are poorly trained idiot out there doesn't mean that all EMT's are poorly trained and deserve to be paid crap! If you think someone working at McDonald's deceives to make as much as an EMT your full of yourself and you are a disgrace to the EMS system. I can't believe some of you would put down people who are trying to do good and help people. You should have more respect for them since they are working for such minimal wages! Yeah I'm a paramedic and I've been doing it for 6 years, it doesn't mean I'm better than some of my fellow coworkers on the fire department or other EMS services just because they do not have as much schooling as me. The fact is, even as a paramedic it doesn't take a genius to keep someone alive long enough to get them to the hospital.

 

[adamjh3]

I said it before, and I'll say it again, I spent more time in training for my grocery store job than I did getting my EMT certs.

Many of the people on here who are saying that EMT's don't receive enough education are also advocating for EMS to do much more than "keep someone alive long enough to get them to the hospital." They want EMS to have a more proactive role in keeping the community safe, and helping to PREVENT people from needing to call 911 in the first place. Emergency medicine is (or should be) much more than just a skills check-off sheet.

 

[EMTinNEPA]

EMT's that are poorly trained is their own fault for not researching the school and putting more effort into leaning the skills. Just because there are poorly trained idiot out there doesn't mean that all EMT's are poorly trained and deserve to be paid crap! If you think someone working at McDonald's deceives to make as much as an EMT your full of yourself and you are a disgrace to the EMS system. I can't believe some of you would put down people who are trying to do good and help people. You should have more respect for them since they are working for such minimal wages! Yeah I'm a paramedic and I've been doing it for 6 years, it doesn't mean I'm better than some of my fellow coworkers on the fire department or other EMS services just because they do not have as much schooling as me. The fact is, even as a paramedic it doesn't take a genius to keep someone alive long enough to get them to the hospital.

Why respect somebody just because they're willing to work for next to nothing? Now, somebody who says "Hell no, I'm not going to work for your s*** wages" and quits deserves respect. If everybody did that, we might have some power, but that would take unity. We don't have unity thanks to the volunteers trying to keep everybody from getting paid, period, and the firefighters trying to keep everybody from being able to get paid decently to be a paramedic without having to do fire suppression. And seriously, a 144 hour first-aid course? They deserve $12 an hour at the most. Paramedics on the other hand deserve closer to $20 TO START, because the difference in knowledge between the two levels is, typically, astounding.

 

[LucidResq]

Trauma -

I don't think EMTs deserve the same pay as a fast food worker, I think that by having such low standards we have created the surplus of EMTs, many of them poorly-trained, that we have today. We have so many that many EMTs gladly accept $0 wages.... nothing against volunteers but that's the truth. It's simple economics. You don't see all-volunteer hospitals with unpaid physicians and nurses. Yes, you will see them occasionally volunteering their skills for a good cause, but they do not say "Hey I'm going to work as an electrician and pull volunteer shifts in the hospital as a surgeon 4 times a month, and that's it for my clinical practice."

I also agree with Adam... yes people are going to have emergencies and we still need to be here to respond to them. But how many of your calls are true, balls-to-the-wall emergencies? Very few. If EMS wants to become a more valuable service, thus making EMTs and Medics more valuable, we need to become more relevant to people's health care needs today. I think EMS will always and should always, to some extent, be considered a public safety / emergency service. This shouldn't be the only field we relate ourselves with. I strongly believe that EMS as a whole, our people, and the communities we serve would find great benefit in an EMS system that embraces it's position as a public HEALTH service and a field of medicine.

 

[TransportJockey]

EMT's that are poorly trained is their own fault for not researching the school and putting more effort into leaning the skills. Just because there are poorly trained idiot out there doesn't mean that all EMT's are poorly trained and deserve to be paid crap! If you think someone working at McDonald's deceives to make as much as an EMT your full of yourself and you are a disgrace to the EMS system. I can't believe some of you would put down people who are trying to do good and help people. You should have more respect for them since they are working for such minimal wages! Yeah I'm a paramedic and I've been doing it for 6 years, it doesn't mean I'm better than some of my fellow coworkers on the fire department or other EMS services just because they do not have as much schooling as me. The fact is, even as a paramedic it doesn't take a genius to keep someone alive long enough to get them to the hospital.

I take it from your name and the 'Keep people alive long enough to get them to the hospital' that you wouldn't like doing community health paramedicine? I see our field heading that way and I hope it gets there.

 

[adamjh3]

Trauma -

I don't think EMTs deserve the same pay as a fast food worker, I think that by having such low standards we have created the surplus of EMTs, many of them poorly-trained, that we have today. We have so many that many EMTs gladly accept $0 wages.... nothing against volunteers but that's the truth. It's simple economics. You don't see all-volunteer hospitals with unpaid physicians and nurses. Yes, you will see them occasionally volunteering their skills for a good cause, but they do not say "Hey I'm going to work as an electrician and pull volunteer shifts in the hospital as a surgeon 4 times a month, and that's it for my clinical practice."

I also agree with Adam... yes people are going to have emergencies and we still need to be here to respond to them. But how many of your calls are true, balls-to-the-wall emergencies? Very few. If EMS wants to become a more valuable service, thus making EMTs and Medics more valuable, we need to become more relevant to people's health care needs today. I think EMS will always and should always, to some extent, be considered a public safety / emergency service. This shouldn't be the only field we relate ourselves with. I strongly believe that EMS as a whole, our people, and the communities we serve would find great benefit in an EMS system that embraces it's position as a public HEALTH service and a field of medicine.

Stated much more eloquently than I ever could. Thank you, miss.

 

[Theo]

I also agree with Adam... yes people are going to have emergencies and we still need to be here to respond to them. But how many of your calls are true, balls-to-the-wall emergencies? Very few. If EMS wants to become a more valuable service, thus making EMTs and Medics more valuable, we need to become more relevant to people's health care needs today. I think EMS will always and should always, to some extent, be considered a public safety / emergency service. This shouldn't be the only field we relate ourselves with. I strongly believe that EMS as a whole, our people, and the communities we serve would find great benefit in an EMS system that embraces it's position as a public HEALTH service and a field of medicine.

Well put. I too think more involment by EMS in community health/preventative care is on the not too distant horizon. There are some more progressive/rural areas already using paramedics for preventative care going into the homes of patients. It's an excellent idea and saves the EMS system from getting calls from patients that ask to go to the hospital, when all they really want is some attention and a checkup.

Let's save 911 for real emergent situations and get out in our communities and show our worth. This is an area where the EMS community needs to corner the market before another field recognizes the opportunity and cuts us off of a potentially vital segment of our future. This is a perfect opportunity to demand higher educational standards for any paramedic that wants to work in this area. It's also a chance to create a career step for paramedics that doesn't involve becoming an RN.

 

[xsilverfantasyx]

I dont know anything yet. But this intimidates me, confuses me and makes me worry how some of you are about it.
No matter what the pay its (thou i dont wanna be on welfare, i need something) I want to do this job and get this education becuase this is something i feel in my heart i want and will love to do, help people!
I choose this over nursing (not becuase its shorter time in college) but becuase this field is more ideal for what i wanna do!
Associates degree is all thats needed but you can extend that or go have a second career!

 

[Fbarba123]

IFT Company

12 an hour.


6 dollars an hour when on call.

 

[Focallength]

Some friends of mine and I often joke about how were are going to get t-shirts printed up that say "I save lives for $8 an hour" or "I save lives for minimum wage" another "will save lives for food"...something to that effect.

 

[atropine]

How about you guys just get rid of all the EMT courses then? How about you get rid of all EMT-B's too? Leave all the work to the EMT-I's and EMT-P's. I'm sure you all started where we are now, so how about you not $#!T on us?

Sounds like a great idea, but then we won't have anymore hot emt girls to drive us to the hospitals.

 

[redbull]

take the onsite testing, it's sooooooo worth the money and the trip if you have to make one.

and come across the river to NJ, most places pay more in NJ for EMTs than in NY

Lol "Come across the river" that actually sounds like a good idea. I'll look into it if I cant find anything in NYC.