SandpitMedic
Crowd pleaser
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No way... 26? That can't be right for a place the size of King County.
Do some fact checking.
KCM1 Now Hiring
- Thread starter KingCountyMedic
- Start date
Do some fact checking.
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From my understanding they suck at symptom management and turf a lot of calls to BLS crews that shouldn't be sent BLS.
However, that's hearsay and I have no evidence to back that up.
I know their survival rates look good because, if I remember correctly, they only include witnessed VF/VT arrests in that number but I may be wrong. That's not to say they aren't great at resuscitation but that's only a fraction of the arrests we see. The biggest reason their save rate is so high is the "MedicTwo" program which is the massive push to train every day people in CPR and lots of access to AEDs.
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ExpatMedic0
MS, NRP
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If your looking to settle down for the rest of your life at one agency and do EMS as a career, this is a top one. One of the best pay rates and benefits in the entire country. Otherwise, some big challenges. As a paramedic you'll need to repeat your entire paramedic program at medic ones program in harbor view. The good news is that your paid. It's over 3000 clock hours compared to the national standards of around 1000_1300.
Gurby
Forum Asst. Chief
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Get paid to sit in class for 3000 hours? Sounds more like a "pro" than a "con" to me at least...
"Training is approximately 11 months long. The cost of your training is paid for by the Medic One Foundation. During this time, employees have full benefits – medical, dental, vision, and contribution to a state pension plan (LEOFF 2). Employees are paid an hourly rate while in school that ends up grossing approximately $50,000 for that year."
Sounds friggin amazing.
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Yeah, I wouldn't view that as a downside, either.
A big waste of money for King County perhaps, but not a negative from the paramedic's perspective.
ExpatMedic0
MS, NRP
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I can see it as both a pro and a con. A huge pro if you're an EMT basic. Also, a pro if you want to spend the rest of your life living in Seattle working at medic 1. Another pro that the training is paid and it's probably pretty good training, at the very least its 2-3 times more hours than a standard paramedic program so we all could probably stand to learn something and refresh on things regardless of our provider level. A con is it is a very intense year worth of training. For comparison, 40 hours a week times 52 weeks equals 2,080 hours a year. 3000 hours is much more than a fulltime job and thus the salary offered for training is not very good when analyzed from an hourly perspective. Secondly the 3000 hour program is vocational training, it is not recognized any more than any other 1300 hour paramedic program if you ever leave the small bubble of Seattle. It also does not result in any type of degree or transferable credits toward a degree more than a standard paramedic program does. Another con is if you're already an experienced provider and a paramedic with a degree who is willing to go through something like this there are other options. For example, PA school is also a 1-year intense classroom program, followed by 1 year of clinical... and your salary and working hours are better than even Medic 1. Just playing the devils advocate a bit...
EpiEMS
Forum Deputy Chief
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It looks like 26...per the 2014-2019 Strategic Plan for the whole of King County, as promulgated by the county's EMS office -- "There are 26 ALS units located throughout King County which are strategically placed for optimal response times" (see pg. 12). This is 26 ALS units covering the whole county -- operated by six agencies (Bellevue Medic One, King County Medic One, Redmond Medic One, Seattle Medic One, Shoreline Medic One, and Vashon Medic One). Their model is explicitly based on medics only responding to ALS calls...they only respond to a quarter of calls (per pg. 8 of the 2016 King County EMS annual report).
King County Medic One, which covers the southern half of the county only operates 8 units, with 73 paramedics.
For the county, it's split between 19 ALS units covering the county ex-Seattle, and 7 ALS units covering Seattle. BLS units are not included in this count.
SandpitMedic
Crowd pleaser
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26 units for 2 million people?!
Everyday we have about 100 911 responding ALS ambulances that are transporting units (that doesn't include fire trucks). Plus about 20 or so CCFD ambulances (rescues) that are capable of transport. Add another flex of about 20-25 area wide for large scale events and holidays
That's for about 750,000 residents of Las Vegas, and a transient population of another 100,000-200,000 travelers depending on what's going on at any given time.
So, 26 ALS transporting 911 units for a population of 2.1 million (according to the latest data) seems to be a little underwhelming when we can put over 100 ALS 911 transporting units for half the population size.
Either they are taking the "fewer medics makes better medics" mantra way too seriously, or your research is off somehow. It would seem to me that would leave a large amount of the population underserved with limited to no access to prehospital ALS transport.
It is also true that what works for one system may not work for another, and that my perspective is simply altered because of my own experiences. But I've worked in a lot of places, and I still say that numbe seems low.
I suppose if we only responded to true EMS calls we'd only need half as many units, which is a double edged sword. Would be nice to only respond on only ALS calls, no doubt.
And can someone answer why they're all tagged as "Medic One?"
Everyday we have about 100 911 responding ALS ambulances that are transporting units (that doesn't include fire trucks). Plus about 20 or so CCFD ambulances (rescues) that are capable of transport. Add another flex of about 20-25 area wide for large scale events and holidays
That's for about 750,000 residents of Las Vegas, and a transient population of another 100,000-200,000 travelers depending on what's going on at any given time.
So, 26 ALS transporting 911 units for a population of 2.1 million (according to the latest data) seems to be a little underwhelming when we can put over 100 ALS 911 transporting units for half the population size.
Either they are taking the "fewer medics makes better medics" mantra way too seriously, or your research is off somehow. It would seem to me that would leave a large amount of the population underserved with limited to no access to prehospital ALS transport.
It is also true that what works for one system may not work for another, and that my perspective is simply altered because of my own experiences. But I've worked in a lot of places, and I still say that numbe seems low.
I suppose if we only responded to true EMS calls we'd only need half as many units, which is a double edged sword. Would be nice to only respond on only ALS calls, no doubt.
And can someone answer why they're all tagged as "Medic One?"
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VentMonkey
Family Guy
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I think (thought) Boston EMS had a similiar ALS to BLS unit ratio, but could be completely wrong. I was under the impression that KCM1 ALS units only responded to/ transported ALS level patients and were cancelled the rest of the time; could be completely wrong.
As far as the name, @DEmedic breaks it down really well, and shares a link to their history in this thread. That's what threw me off as well initially.
http://emtlife.com/threads/central-skagit-wa-paramedic-opening.44733/
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Did you read the report or are you going to tell him to keep doing more research? A direct quote has been provided from the King County government. Some systems may be different than yours. Peak ALS ambulance staffing in the city of Boston is five, plus two paramedic lieutenants and a deputy superintendent paramedic. There might be a few other "semi-clinical" paramedics floating around. There are 21 BLS ambulances and a myriad of privates providing backup, mostly staffed BLS. The estimated daytime population is over a million.
SandpitMedic
Crowd pleaser
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That's wild. I concur, there's more than one way to skin a cat, but as I stated, my estimation is that leaves a lot of folks underserved. That's my own opinion. It's a hard thing to study and quantify. Are their success rates so high for OHCA because they are performing above average, or because they run fewer because it takes them longer to get there leaving the patient in a state where efforts are futile?
I did say it could just be my perspective. I have never worked in a system where BLS was the only responding unit to a 911 call in a major metropolitan area.
SandpitMedic
Crowd pleaser
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Thank you.
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We cover half a million people plus 250k commuters with 17 dual medic ambulances, a single medic squad, three paramedic commanders and are never holding calls or use privates for backup....
How many calls are y'all running daily?
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Summit
Critical Crazy
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I believe the primary reasons for their super hi OHCA survival are massive ammounts of bystander CPR faciliated by huge education drives and public access AED, plus a bit of selective stats.
Is KCMO still doing old school stuff like starting central lines in the field?
Is KCMO still doing old school stuff like starting central lines in the field?
ExpatMedic0
MS, NRP
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Beautiful city, though, if I ever move back to the Pacific Northwest it will be Seattle. Strange Thunderdome of an EMS system they have, but a great city
RocketMedic
Californian, Lost in Texas
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I wonder how they do at everything that's not cardiac arrest?
They do everything the same as any medic everywhere else, there are no magic bullets out in Seattle. (The earlier posts about what OHCA they specifically study as well as public access to AEDs and bystander CPR are definitely true.) The only catch is they have to contact a doc every call. Now they are not asking for permission/Mother-May-I as much as telling them what they are going to do and giving an ETA. But a lot of medics get bent out of shape about contacting a doc every call, which I can understand.
The training program is set up like boot camp for a reason. Three thousand hours in 11 months is designed to break you down (and boy do they break you down; the Seattle medics can be extremely delightful to deal with in the context of being a medic intern), and build you back up in the Medic One way. It is what it is and I know two friends who have gone through that program. Both they and their spouses were told ahead of time that it would be the hardest year of their lives and it absolutely lived up to that. However it is like any medic program: if you can juggle school with the rest of your life, you will make it. Some of the dumbest knuckle dragging hose jockeys you could imagine make it through that program. Trust me, you can make it through too.
FLMedic311
Forum Lieutenant
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Hey all! So I thought I might take a second to chime in here.
So I am currently employed here at KCM1 in the 3rd month of my FTO period, I was hired late in 2015 and finished school at the UW Harborview Paramedic Training Program July of this year. I was Born and raised in Florida and at the time of hire I was working full time as a FF/PM with 9.5yrs experience and also working part time as a Flight Paramedic (Rotary Wing/Helicopter). I can honestly say that as I applied for the position I did so without the expectation of getting to any significant stage of the hiring process, much less a job offer. So when I got the call and said Yes it would be a understatement to say that I was extremely nervous about what I had just gotten myself into. Going back to school, that was well known for being not only intense but not afraid to send people they didn't think were cutting it home packing. Now just over a year later I can easily say that it was more then worth it! School had it's challenges, but the learning and clinical opportunity were second to none.
What opportunities are you referring too? We have Helicopter Medics, MAT-Medical advisory team, Truck Team, Regional Disaster Team, Forestry Team, and Your typical opportunities to promote
During training your Hourly wage is 16.82, based on a 40 hour work week. Meaning that any time worked beyond 40hrs per week is 1.5x Pay, with this you also have full Medical, Dental and vision benefits for you and your family (They are excellent BTW)
All your training hours are transferable to Central Washington University
As Far as working hours, well I don't know anything about a PA's Shifts What I do know is that it is estimated that the Mean salary for a PA is 96k
We work 24on 24off 24on 5 Days Off with 10 Debit Days for a total of 102 shifts per year, (Also start at 10 Vacation annually)
The work week is based on 40hrs, Pay starts at 32.4479/Hr and by Year 4 you will be making 42.1616 this does not include any bargained COLA. OT is very available and Mandatory typically will not happen more then 2 12hrs shift per year
Any how as your probably can tell I am very enthusiastic about KCM1. I write this because I believe in what we do here and want people with love for medicine to know how great this department is. I am excited for the opportunity to work with anyone that brings the same passion/drive for medicine and taking care sick people! Please feel free to PM me if you have a detailed question you have or just want to chat for that matter!
So I am currently employed here at KCM1 in the 3rd month of my FTO period, I was hired late in 2015 and finished school at the UW Harborview Paramedic Training Program July of this year. I was Born and raised in Florida and at the time of hire I was working full time as a FF/PM with 9.5yrs experience and also working part time as a Flight Paramedic (Rotary Wing/Helicopter). I can honestly say that as I applied for the position I did so without the expectation of getting to any significant stage of the hiring process, much less a job offer. So when I got the call and said Yes it would be a understatement to say that I was extremely nervous about what I had just gotten myself into. Going back to school, that was well known for being not only intense but not afraid to send people they didn't think were cutting it home packing. Now just over a year later I can easily say that it was more then worth it! School had it's challenges, but the learning and clinical opportunity were second to none.
Vents-No; RSI-Yes; ABX-Not for the Pt's, only for providers S/P Exposure/WMD; Blood- No, Maybe coming...
What opportunities are you referring too? We have Helicopter Medics, MAT-Medical advisory team, Truck Team, Regional Disaster Team, Forestry Team, and Your typical opportunities to promote
Clearly my opinion at this point would be deemed bias, I would recommend you come do a ride along and make a determination for yourself!
Yes we have the training and ability to do central lines, we also have IO Sternal, Humeral and Tibial. I like to think of it more as having a extra tool in your tool box!
There is a lot to this one but I felt the need to address it so you can have the full story of what the first year really entails..
During training your Hourly wage is 16.82, based on a 40 hour work week. Meaning that any time worked beyond 40hrs per week is 1.5x Pay, with this you also have full Medical, Dental and vision benefits for you and your family (They are excellent BTW)
All your training hours are transferable to Central Washington University
As Far as working hours, well I don't know anything about a PA's Shifts What I do know is that it is estimated that the Mean salary for a PA is 96k
We work 24on 24off 24on 5 Days Off with 10 Debit Days for a total of 102 shifts per year, (Also start at 10 Vacation annually)
The work week is based on 40hrs, Pay starts at 32.4479/Hr and by Year 4 you will be making 42.1616 this does not include any bargained COLA. OT is very available and Mandatory typically will not happen more then 2 12hrs shift per year
Any how as your probably can tell I am very enthusiastic about KCM1. I write this because I believe in what we do here and want people with love for medicine to know how great this department is. I am excited for the opportunity to work with anyone that brings the same passion/drive for medicine and taking care sick people! Please feel free to PM me if you have a detailed question you have or just want to chat for that matter!
VentMonkey
Family Guy
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Howdy, welcome, and thanks for the insightful post
.Out of curiosity, what would really be the reason to perform a central line in the prehospital setting? I understand you guys work very closely with your ED docs, but given the various IO choices I am of the "I would rather have a tool(s) in my toolkit that I can justifiably use with a fair amount of frequency and practice that is backed by EBM" variety.
From what I know a central line placement is a sterile procedure and can be quite time consuming without experience, are you guys being remediated if you don't meet your quota for the year like your ETI's?
Also, I think the vent in the prehospital setting has more significance than CLP, but alas, I too have my biases
.-VM
FLMedic311
Forum Lieutenant
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Howdy, welcome, and thanks for the insightful post
Out of curiosity, what would really be the reason to perform a central line in the prehospital setting? I understand you guys work very closely with your ED docs, but given the various IO choices I am of the "I would rather have a tool(s) in my toolkit that I can justifiably use with a fair amount of frequency and practice that is backed by EBM" variety.
From what I know a central line placement is a sterile procedure and can be quite time consuming without experience, are you guys being remediated if you don't meet your quota for the year like your ETI's?
Also, I think the vent in the prehospital setting has more significance than CLP, but alas, I too have my biases
-VM
Fair question! I can say that the current emphasis is on IO first, some reasons that they are preformed in the field could include poor performance of IO and the lack of IV access in a critically ill Pt. Also the need for extended duration of a vasopressor "Levophed" without IV access (anecdotally they are not as effective IO).
We use the Arrow kit via seldinger technique (same used in the ER) with sterile technique. Yes we do have a quota of 2 per year or remediation.
I also agree and I think I would find a Vent very usefully, alas that is not something we have been able to obtain as of yet