Relocating to Seattle from CA, Should I go medic or basic

P

Pnut

Forum Ride Along
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Points
0
My fiance and I are relocating to Washington at the end of January, to downtown Seattle more specifically.

I've got plenty of years of experience as a CA EMT-B IFT/Calfire and will be taking my EMT-P NR in a week or two.

I've heard the job scene is brutal for medics in WA, but I need to continue working even if it means in the EMT-B capacity. A dated thread on here explained the WA DOH is terribly slow at giving reciprocity, is there any up to date information/personal accounts?


Also it might be a silly question, but will companies like AMR even look at my application if I'm a medic going for a basic position? It makes me wonder if I should just stay a basic for the time being.

I will be updating this thread with my experience, any information will be greatly appreciated!
 
Go medic. The worst-case scenario is a paramedic that drives while another medic techs. Making paramedic pay.
 
Olympic Ambulance in Lacey and Bremerton both hire paramedics. AMR in Pierce County hires paramedics. All the surrounding counties hire firefighter paramedics.

You will not be able to work as a paramedic in King County unless you're hired by King County Medic One (or a fire department) and attend Harborview's paramedic program. I hear that medic one is testing now. Might be worth it to get into that testing cycle.

By all means, get your paramedic certification. Good luck with the job search. Let us know how it goes.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Get your medic. Always better and technically you're both and EMT and Medic so you have more opportunities for work.
 
Thanks for the info folks,

Medic for sure, I haven't gone this far to stop now :)

I'll take a whack at testing for medic one, certainly couldn't hurt to test.

I'll start my reciprocity process for EMT-B in WA and attempt to gain affiliation somewhere in the immediate area - Since I'm still a month or two out from the P-card in hand. Any words of wisdom, I feel like I'm going to battle a dragon dealing with the DOH!
 
It's not difficult. Fill out the reciprocity paperwork and send it to the Department of Health. Your information will stay in the database as "pending" until you have a job. No job, no certification. As soon as your paperwork is signed by an affiliating ems agency, it takes 6 to 8 weeks to get your card.
 
Falck will be hiring medics soon if the rumor mill is true. Currently hiring more Basics. They will have two bases of operations one for King Snohomish county and one for Pierce. Obviously you wont be a king county medic unless you apply to King County Medic One. And all the other places mentioned are good ones too.
 
If you get your medic you can work in Pierce County (forty minutes south of downtown). Rural Metro has the north PC contracts and are the primary ALS for several depts out there. If you go basic and work in King Co you will still get very sick patients. There just aren't enough medics in this county to handle all ALS criteria pts so a good portion of them end up turfed BLS. You won't be able to do much for them, but you will get good exposure.
 
I was contacted by Seattle AMR to test with them for a BLS slot. My packet goes in tomorrow to the DOH with the affiliation page blank. I'm putting off testing at the P level for another month till I can get situated in Seattle. Moving sucks!
 
Pnut said:
I was contacted by Seattle AMR to test with them for a BLS slot. My packet goes in tomorrow to the DOH with the affiliation page blank. I'm putting off testing at the P level for another month till I can get situated in Seattle. Moving sucks!
Click to expand...

If you are living in Seattle AMR is probably your best bet. King County doesn't allow Private Paramedics but you can be hired to work BLS in Seattle and then transfer to Pierce County as a Paramedic.

Even as a basic for AMR you will see plenty of ALS stuff.

Olympic is a good company to work for to. Had a buddy that worked for them and I worked very closely with them in my cop days.

Cascade Ambulance in Bellingham has Paramedics. Rural Metro in Everett does as well but I don't think they do 911.

If your looking for continuing education work BLS while going to school. I can only speak for AMR since that is where I work but we are very flexible with employees going to school.

Ultimately, your career goals will govern where you work. If you want to be a medic then you need to get on with a fire department.
 
Olympic in Bremerton hires Medics for CCT/IFT. Its great part time money.
 
n7lxi said:
Olympic in Bremerton hires Medics for CCT/IFT. Its great part time money.
Click to expand...

Only problem with working in Bremerton is having to rely on the ferry. Which as of today is $26.30 for a round trip ticket. Add that to the high cost of living in Seattle and its probably not worth it. Ferries are always delayed. Only other option is the Narrows bridge which makes for a long commute and its a toll bridge now. 24hour shifts might be worth it though.

Talked to some of the Olympic guys the other day at HMC. They seemed to like it.
 
Yep. I usually drove around. And it pays about 25/hour and the shifts are 24s. More than worth it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top