Finding another job when you been fired?

[Monte]

I've been having trouble finding work as an AEMT. I was working for AMR and I absolutely loved working for that company. Until I violated a company policy one day. Because of that I got terminated and received a lifetime ban from ever being employed by them again. I tried getting on with another company but after finding out about my termination they immediately discard me. Any advice?

 

[Chimpie]

To be immediately fired with a lifetime ban, you must have done something very bad. Not just wrong, but bad.

While I'm curious to know what you did, I won't ask you to post it here (unless you want to). With that said, is it something that you think will prevent you from getting employment again? Do you think you'll have to find a different career path?

 

[mgr22]

Monte, are we talking patient abuse, a wardrobe malfunction, driving on the wrong side of the street, etc? Something more administrative than criminal?

 

[DrParasite]

So you got fired from AMR.... big deal. I've been fired before; sometimes from part time jobs, sometimes from full time jobs. It happens. I've also quit several jobs. Unless you live in an area where AMR is the only game in town, you should be fine. I also used to work part time in addition to full time, so I always had a backup plan. The last time I was let go from a full time EMS (actually the only time, the rest of the time I was fired after I had already gotten a new FT job and was still there part time) I didn't have a backup plan, and it sucked. I was unemployed for a bit, unemployable for a bit, but I networked well, and ended up getting an EMS job about an hour from where I lived through one of my connections. Always have a back up plan, and if AMR is the only game in town, you might want to consider relocating or looking at a different career path.

That being said, why are you fired? As others asked, did you commit a crime, break an AMR rule, do something so heinous that you shouldn't be working in EMS every again? You don't have to say why they banned you for life, but being fired isn't necessarily a career ender; however the circumstances that lead up to your firing may be.

 

[Monte]

I got fired for having an accident and I didn't report it because I didn't know how to report a accident.

 

[DrParasite]

well, ummm, that's a pretty serious offense (administratively though AMR, not so much in the grand scheme of things, but also keep in mind you can be terminated for getting into an accident too). But you should have been told how to do that during your orientation. Or your partner should have known what do to. I can understand why you have the lifetime ban.

At the very least, once you were involved in the accident, a phone call to your supervisor should have been at the top of the list you did......

Not going to sugar coat this, but leaving the scene of an accident in an ambulance, not reporting it to anyone (until management confronted you on it), and sounds like you were covering something up. I can see why anyone who calls AMR for a reference will be hesitant to hired you.

 

[Monte]

well, ummm, that's a pretty serious offense (administratively though AMR, not so much in the grand scheme of things, but also keep in mind you can be terminated for getting into an accident too). But you should have been told how to do that during your orientation. Or your partner should have known what do to. I can understand why you have the lifetime ban.

At the very least, once you were involved in the accident, a phone call to your supervisor should have been at the top of the list you did......

Not going to sugar coat this, but leaving the scene of an accident in an ambulance, not reporting it to anyone (until management confronted you on it), and sounds like you were covering something up. I can see why anyone who calls AMR for a reference will be hesitant to hired you.

We didn't leave the scene, there was barley any damage to the truck. The driver that hit us only bumped in to us. Her bumper was pushed in alittle no major damage or injury. My partner told me to not to worry about it. Then we went on our way. When we were confronted by management. My partner pretty much put everything on me and made it out to be my fault. That I told him to don't report it and whatnot.

 

[mgr22]

If you're very young -- say, 18 or so -- and your partner is much older and much more experienced, you could try that sort of explanation to prospective employers -- e.g., "I was just a kid, I made a mistake listening to someone who I thought knew better. I'm older and smarter than that now."

The idea is to be honest about what happened, take responsibility for your part of it, then convince the interviewer that it wouldn't happen again. It would help if you had something stabilizing in your employment background, like holding a job for a while or saving a carload of nuns. Seriously, you'd want to be able to argue that the accident was an aberration in light of all the other positive stuff you've done.

 

[DrParasite]

We didn't leave the scene, there was barley any damage to the truck.

sorry, I should have been clearer. You left the scene of an accident without notifying your supervisor or management. Not that you were involved in a hit and run

The driver that hit us only bumped in to us. Her bumper was pushed in alittle no major damage or injury.

wait, so she hit you? it wasn't even your fault? ok, you really got shafted for nothing. if it wasn't an at-fault accident, there is no reason not to report it, regardless of how minor.

My partner told me to not to worry about it. Then we went on our way. When we were confronted by management. My partner pretty much put everything on me and made it out to be my fault. That I told him to don't report it and whatnot.

Well, yeah, because if he didn't, than both of you would be looking for new jobs.

Your partner screwed you really good. HOWEVER, and this is huge, if you were driving, it's your responsibility to follow the rules, and you failed to follow them. Ever heard of the phrase "Ignorantia juris non excusat"? It roughly translates to ignorance of the law does not excuse it. So even though you didn't know what to do, you can (and should) be held responsible for not following the rules. And yes, failing to notify management that you were involved in a crash with another vehicle is grounds for immediate termination in most agencies.

You can say you got bad advice from your partner, but at the end of the day, you were rightfully terminated because you were involved in an MVA and failed to notify your agency.

As for what to do, think of it this way.... if you were the hiring manager, what would it take for you to hire someone who was involved in a crash (in a department vehicle) and failed to notify their supervisor? And more importantly, what would it take to convince you to hire this person? Would you want to take that risk that history might repeat itself? If you can think of something, I would start by doing that.

 

[Monte]

It was a big learning experience for me. Now on I know not to make the same mistake.

 

[B100]

Something like this happened to my brothers friend. He's an EMT (not sure what company though) Supposedly he got into a traffic accident on the job. He was terminated but now works for a different ambulance company. I don't know the full details but I guess it's not impossible not to get another job as an EMS provider.

 

[Jon]

@Monte - how long ago did this happen?

I find your narrative to be fairly strange, from a couple of perspectives.

First, there's always a way to appeal your termination within AMR. Ops Manager -> Regional Director -> Regional HR, etc.

Second, I'm not seeing how they terminated you for a "risk and safety" event, under Just Culture, and your partner still has a job. Especially if your defense was "I'm new, I wasn't sure what to do, and my more experienced partner told me not to worry about it". If they felt you were willfully negligent, your partner is just as guilty, and unless you had a ton of corrective action already, I can't see how only you're looking for a new job.


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[DesertMedic66]

We had a crew get fired for actually a pretty funny reason. Driver was backing up without a partner and hit a metal carport. No damage to the ambulance but decent damage to the carport. They both got out and took pictures and agreed to not tell management. Well about a month later they got into a disagreement while working and one of them went into the supervisors office and told him about what happened and showed him the pictures...

 

[Lo2w]

Try for a non-driving slot or go into the ED?

 

[hometownmedic5]

It sounds like the partner beat him to the punch with the "my partner made me do it" line.

AMR would take an event like that seriously. Way too seriously, but thats the culture over there and if you didn't pick up on that before the first coffee break in orientation, shame on you. I think you got railroaded myself, but you weren't blameless. "I didn't know how to report an accident" is a blatant cop out. You could have called dispatch, your supervisor or manager as applicable, the police, hell I bet if you'd called your father he'd have had some idea of where to point you. You did nothing, so you get to take a bite of the crap sandwich. However, it sounds like you're getting more than your share and thats crappy. I also had a bad experience in the brief period of time I worked for AMR resulting in similar circumstances, so I feel your pain.

Yes, you will get another job(provided there is another job to be had). I've been fired before, quit under less than optimal(for them) circumstances before. It's private EMS. If you have a license, somebody is going to hire you no matter how many times you've been canned, how bad you suck at your job, pretty much anything. Current certifications, and a driving record that won't get their insurance cancelled is really all you need to be employed in EMS.

Keep this incident in mind forever. While you might someday find a great partner that has your back even when you're wrong, most people in this business will stab you in the back as fast as they can. The best thing to do when you screw up is own it outright and immediately. Problems are very much easier to drag into the bathroom and drown in the bathtub five minutes after they happen than they ever will be again....

 

[CALEMT]

AMR would take an event like that seriously. Way too seriously, but thats the culture over there and if you didn't pick up on that before the first coffee break in orientation, shame on you.

He crashed a vehicle he didn't own and never bothered to report it to his supervisor. I can't think of anywhere where you wouldn't be fired for that. Ultimately it's his responsibility, he was the driver, no excuses. Theres a SOP/SOG for a reason and it seems to be pretty common sense to report it to your supervisor... Apparently common sense isn't all that common anymore.

 

[hometownmedic5]

Pump the brakes. There's a lot of room between a minor fender bender and "crashed the truck".

Yes, it should have been reported. Maybe I can see firing someone who didn't, but a lifetime no rehire and blackballing them in the local Industry, that's a bridge too far in my book.

 

[DrParasite]

Yes, it should have been reported. Maybe I can see firing someone who didn't, but a lifetime no rehire and blackballing them in the local Industry, that's a bridge too far in my book.

hold on.... I don't think that was the case.

Many places have rules that state once you are are fired from a job you are put on a "do not rehire" list. There are even a few people who found themselves on the "do not rehire" list after they left on their own accord.

And many companies (not just within EMS) won't hire a person in one job title when they were recently fired from another company doing the same job. that's not blackballings (which would be calling every company in the area and saying don't hire the person), that's not wanting someone else's bad penny to affect you as well.

He might be able to get another ambulance job, but I don't think it will be a quick or easy process.

 

[Seirende]

We didn't leave the scene, there was barley any damage to the truck. The driver that hit us only bumped in to us. Her bumper was pushed in alittle no major damage or injury. My partner told me to not to worry about it. Then we went on our way. When we were confronted by management. My partner pretty much put everything on me and made it out to be my fault. That I told him to don't report it and whatnot.

I was in an ambulance once where the driver backed into (an EMT's) vehicle. Everyone just sort of looked at each other and shrugged. Being rather young myself, it didn't seem like a big deal. All this is to say, don't feel too bad if it happened as you describe it. I've nearly t-boned someone in an ambulance (that wasn't even the one that I was fired for) and have gone on to hold other (NON-DRIVING) jobs in EMS.

What lessons will you take from this? That's probably the best way to explain it if you have to. "I made a mistake and here is why I will never make another similar mistake."

Edit: the story behind my being fired had been told on this forum before; nobody needs to make a big deal of it in this thread.

 

[ThadeusJ]

It was a big learning experience for me. Now on I know not to make the same mistake.

Good judgement comes from experience...and experience comes from bad judgement.

I've been let go from more jobs than I care to remember in the admin side of things, and it's harder when you're the main breadwinner. I have been thrown under the bus a few times, because this business is full of politically motivated back stabbers. I beat myself up for not appreciating the signs of bad environments.

There is still lots of road ahead and you don't know where it will take you.