Falcon Critical Care Transport Nor-Cal

[gagereiner]

Has anyone ever had experience with FalconCCT?

I'm straight out of EMT school and I was hired by Falcon so now I go to orientation on Tuesday. They have a skills assessment and I'm just wondering what a typical Assessment consists of.

I know each company is different but I am the first one in my class to go through this so I'm basically the lab rat for all my friends.

Any advice or thinks I should 100% know going into this Orientation/Assessment?

Thanks all!

 

[Aprz]

I have heard of Falcon in the Bay Area. Remember that people in this group are all over the United States and even some members internationally. It is probable that there are multiple companies with the same name so you gotta be specific.

Most ambulance companies usually have very straight forward orientation. It isn't meant to be a pass/fail thing, but to orient you to the company. The first day might be literally HR stuff like giving them your certs again, ID, filling out paperwork, and things like that. They'll usually tell you about why their company is the best of the best. Depending how long orientation is, 1-2 days to weeks (when I was at one company, their orientation was almost a month!), you might go over next to nothing to go over every little detail (posts, protocols, go over skills). Generally companies that are IFT (interfacility transport/transfers, usually non emergent transport from one facility to another like emergency department to skill nursing facility or skilled nursing to dialysis) don't have long or thorough orientations. Falcon in the Bay Area I believe doesn't have any 9-1-1 contracts, at least locally, so they'd likely have a pretty short and straight forward orientation.

Any company that has you go over scenarios, you should follow the NREMT format that you learned in EMT school.

 

[Akulahawk]

While I don't have any specific insider info about FalconCCT, they likely will want to know what you do know. I would imagine that their "skills assessment" will be something similar to an NREMT practical. They may want to know if you know how to operate a gurney, lift patients properly, and the like. Given that they will mostly do CCT transfers between hospitals, you'll probably do very little actual hands-on assessments as their RN staff will do most of that. You'll do a LOT of basic stuff like putting the patient on a monitor, getting vitals, doing some paperwork, and possibly some equipment setup. They'll also do a lot of teaching you where the various facilities are and how to get in/out of them appropriately. From what I've seen, some of their ambulances can be a bit old. That doesn't mean that they do poor care. As long as the ambulance is mechanically sound, the equipment works, I can do the job in a 1983 Stoner just as well as I can in a 2021 Wheeled Coach. Sure, with older ambulances you have to be attentive to their needs, but other than that, as long as the things are well-maintained, that stuff is no big deal.

Also remember that hospitals can change their transport contracts pretty quickly, so "good customer service" and a "professional demeanor" will be a necessity for you to maintain. They will drop you like a hot potato if it means keeping a transport contract. That means do your best to NOT be the EMT they focus on when there are issues with a crew member at a hospital. That means no bad-mouthing your company in front of any potential customers. Ever. Eventually you'll get a reputation among the field crews. It WILL precede you when you move on elsewhere.

I'm coming at this from having several YEARS of experience doing IFT work on the field side and several YEARS of experience as an ED RN dealing with IFT crews (all levels) on nearly a daily basis.

 

[supreme]

While I don't have any specific insider info about FalconCCT, they likely will want to know what you do know.

Looks like they're rebranding. https://www.falconambulance.com/

They're probably called Falcon CCT because it was founded by nurses who probably ran CCT calls back when it first started.

About Us

Founded in 1998 by husband-and-wife team Tim and Carin Johnson, Falcon Critical Care Transport sets the standard in CCT and BLS Transport.

web.archive.org

They then morphed into your generic IFT company. Their website used to have a lot more history about the company. I wonder if they got a fusion of private equity cash and are now rebranding like lot of private mom and pop IFT companies in the Bay Area have been doing.


All IFT companies in the Bay Area do a typical NREMT skills scenario type test when you interview or during orientation.

 

[Akulahawk]

Looks like they're rebranding. https://www.falconambulance.com/

They're probably called Falcon CCT because it was founded by nurses who probably ran CCT calls back when it first started.

About Us

Founded in 1998 by husband-and-wife team Tim and Carin Johnson, Falcon Critical Care Transport sets the standard in CCT and BLS Transport.

web.archive.org

They then morphed into your generic IFT company. Their website used to have a lot more history about the company. I wonder if they got a fusion of private equity cash and are now rebranding like lot of private mom and pop IFT companies in the Bay Area have been doing.


All IFT companies in the Bay Area do a typical NREMT skills scenario type test when you interview or during orientation.

The fact that they've got a "BLS" division means they're branching out away from CCT. Eventually they might also further branch into ALS or possibly CCT-Paramedic. I suspect you're right about the "rebranding" so....

 

[Aprz]

I think most of their units are BLS? That's what I thought. I think the critical care transport was just a part of their name, not their level. :/ I see mostly "BLS" on their ambulance. When it says BLS, it still has CCT in the name too.

 

[supreme]

I think most of their units are BLS? That's what I thought. I think the critical care transport was just a part of their name, not their level. :/ I see mostly "BLS" on their ambulance. When it says BLS, it still has CCT in the name too.

Falcon Ambulance CCT is their name. Has nothing to do with what level the actual ambulance is running at. Confusing, I know. I swear I've seen some ambulances without CCT in the name (probably due to the confusion)-so maybe they're rebranding?

The archive link shows the company was founded by nurses which is probably why it is called Falcon Ambulance CCT. I would also name my company the same if I thought all I would be doing was CCT calls. The founders probably realized there wasn't enough money in doing only CCT and branched out to being a generic IFT company while keeping the original name.