Event Medic gigs

[OceanBossMan263]

Any members of the forum currently working for any of the event medical companies? I'm looking into it for some extra cash and wondering how the experience has been for some people, especially for info on how the legal aspects work (independent contractor status, actual medical direction in place, etc)

The outfits in my area (NYC/Long Island) seem to be Event Medic Services, Amphibious Medics, CrowdRx, and ParaDocs.

Any info, experiences, nightmare stories would be appreciated

 

[DrParasite]

Based on the questions I asked from paradocs, everyone is an independent contractor, including doctors and nurses, and have their own medical directions (which can happen if you have your own doctors on site). They provide a shirt, and you can bring your own equipment, or they will provide it for you. They do have liability insurance covering their providers.

To be honest, it's extra cash, and I'm hoping it's fun to do. Pay isn't great, but it's drinking money on a 10-99.

I've spoken to some of the higher ups at CrowdRx, and it seems to be pretty much the same type of setup. Core group of FT employees, with a lot of independent contractors, especially in those areas away from NYC, esp for larger events (I hear NYC does have have FT EMTs and Paramedics who staff ambulances at events).

They seem to be more event EMS organizers (the actual companies), with local people handling the boots on the ground details, but within NYC, they might be more hands on.

I'm working an event next month, so it should be an interesting experience.

 

[joshrunkle35]

I work with a guy that does a lot of them (like 20-30/year). He said he basically gets paid $100 whether it is 1 hour or 24 hours long. He said most are about 14-16 hours long, so you’re making about $6-7/hour. He said he gets a free shirt at about 75% of the events, but has to pay for a company shirt ahead of time for some of them. They are supplied gear for 75% of events, and are required to bring their own to 25% of events, and ARE NOT reimbursed for gear.

He said he does them because they give him access to working with a wider range of providers and he sees stuff he doesn’t normally see. I plan to work one with him (and a few other coworkers) this summer which is a huge music festival. Last year they had hundreds of overdoses. Where I am at, overdoses are less common than they are in most other areas, so, I will take lower pay to get some good experience in something I don’t normally deal with.

To me, the money isn’t worth it. The expenditures are higher than the pay. You really get paid in experience. You should do it if you want to be a part of a specific event (like work on the set of a tv show you like). But, it’s not worth the pay.

 

[Tigger]

Nearly all of the special events here are covered by the AMR op or whoever operates the ambulance in the area. AMR here has a special event division with EMTs that go through the the two week academy with everyone else and then do an abbreviated field training time on the ambulance. After that they can work BLS non-transport roles. These folks get first dibs at events (they're all part time), anything left or needing a paramedic gets paged as overtime for street crews.

I recently came across a group in Colorado that provides coverage to mountainbike races, dirtbike events, and some skiing stuff in the winter. With them you're a W2 employee, have a medical director with his guidelines, and all equipment is supplied. It looks pretty sweet. Not sure if I can justify having seven different employers tho...

 

[CCCSD]

I used to work for a company that did local Speedways and Drag strips. Low pay, GREAT trauma and extrication experience, as well as learning about burning cars with different fuels. As was said, good experience evens out poor pay.

Three of our guys got on at local FDs because of that experience, one is running a HAZMAT Div still.

 

[DrParasite]

I worked an event for Paradocs over the weekend. And to be totally honest, had a blast. The Venue itself had some issues, but that wasn't the fault of the medical provider. Once the event started, they provided all equipment, and had contracted nurses and doctors on site. Saw a good ortho trauma which the on-site doctors fixed and a good medical, along with multiple head injuries and, surprisingly, not that many alcohol related issues.

The money wasn't great (it was actually lower than all my jobs in NC, both public safety and not), but it was fun, most of the people were cool (even though they had some people who were super green, which was ok, and some who were green, and had no clue how EMS actually worked). The supervisory and management staff (all 5 of them) were from NYC and all pretty awesome, but almost all the boots on the ground guys and girls, some 30 or so EMTs and paramedics, and a handful of doctors and nurses, were contracted 10-99 locals (with locals being a relative term, as we had people camping out in tents during the event, because they drove 2+ hours to get there).

Would I do it full time? heck no, the pay just isn't there. But at a concert, music festival, sporting event, or venue, on a weekend when I wasn't working? absolutely, and it definitely beats working on the ambulance, any day.

And if they do it again next year, I'll definitely be back.