Jobs for Paramedic in AZ or TX

Tmedix30

Forum Ride Along
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Hey so my family is considering moving to either Phoenix or Houston area. I’m just curious what the job opportunities are like for a Paramedic with 3 years experience. I would ideally like a job in fire that has EMS or a flight job but understand how competitive they are. For medics in either area do you like it and what are some pros and cons. Also my wife has masters in business marketing so being able to find her good opportunities will be important also. Everything I read tells me Houston is better between the two but all the reading and research make Phoenix area seem like a great fit for our family. Thanks
 

TransportJockey

Forum Chief
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Galveston hires single role medics. County service, good retirement, decent pay (no state tax), for medics it's pretty much all 911 work. City trucks and more rural trucks in our fleet. We cover the island and parts of the county.
 

RocketMedic

Californian, Lost in Texas
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Houston is way better than anywhere in Arizona. Pay in Arizona sucks, and unless you're made of fireman dreams, you're unlikely to get on with an FD out there anytime soon. HFD, on the other hand, is essentially continuously recruiting, if you want to go FD. If you want to be a single role 911 medic, we have that too.
 

RocketMedic

Californian, Lost in Texas
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Arizona starting medic pay is like $13ish. Cypress Creek (where we start field blood transfusions) starts medics at like 18.50 I think for brand new medics. Ketamine, etc...


Its late and I'm tired, but this is like asking if it's better to live in a single wide trailer without A/C in the desert or a nice new house in Tomball, Texas.

Www.ccems.com, Harris county emergency corps, Cy fair vfd ems, MCHD, Fort Bend and Galveston counties, etc.
 
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Tmedix30

Forum Ride Along
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Wow really like the cost of living there in north Houston. Is that a nice area? Is that a private ambulance service that’s contracted by the county? Did a little research that seems like a great place to work. Good pay and benefits.
 

RocketMedic

Californian, Lost in Texas
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Most of the Houston metro is pretty cheap, especially compared to Arizona's cities. The cost of living isn't terrible- you're looking at around 1200ish for a nice apartment or house.

Approximately 1/3rd of the metro (the Houston incorporated city) is covered by Houston Fire. The rest of the metro is covered by a patchwork of non-profit 'private' services (Cypress Creek, Harris County Emergency Corps, Cy-Fair VFD EMS *paid EMS, Channelview, South Lake, Westlake, Community VFD) that are actually 911-only, the nonprofit Northwest EMS (Tomball) which does 911 and IFT, and more formal governmental entities like Montgomery County Hospital District (MCHD), ESD 48 (the old West I-10 service area) and Atascosita, Fort Bend County, or a few other little services of various type. Harris County and the surrounding counties have a lot of options.

Most of EMS here is pretty good in comparison to the mean. Ketamine is a pretty common drug out here, and some places like Cypress Creek do exotic things like field blood transfusions. HFD is clinically mediocre, but it's basically average fire-EMS.

Texas in general is really a great place for EMS.
 
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