Aprz, can I ask why your going from Pro-trans to Rural? I thought they weren't offering much, but maybe my information was wrong.
I love working at ProTransport-1, and I am definitely grateful to have a job there. I applied to Rural/Metro because:
-I wanted a new/fresh start (really the biggest reason why I applied).
-I want to be the A team, not only a new start for me, but to set the standards at Rural/Metro of Northern California for people who start working there after me.
-They are the second largest ambulance company in the nation (I kept trying to get hired with American Medical Response, they are the first largest).
-They have 911 contracts in many counties in the nation (not just the state). Possible lateral movement if not Santa Clara County one day?
-They offer 12 hour shifts for BLS (at ProTransport-1, 12 hour shifts are exclusive).
-I like the name Rural/Metro better than ProTransport-1. I feel like ProTransport-1 name is the equivalent to Cabulance cause of the "Pro" and "Transport", and I'm still wondering when they are gonna come out with ProTransport-2.
-I think most of our ambulances look like clown cars (our dedicated Stanford rigs) or wheelchair vans with lights on it (our normal rigs). The only rigs I like by looks is the rig I work on which is a dodge sprinter with our generic paint job on it (looks much better on a sprinter than an e350), dedicated LifeFlight rig, and dedicated Lucile Packard Children's Hospital NICU/PICU rig.
-I think it's very possible they'll one day merge Rural/Metro (the exclusive operating agency (EOA) of Santa Clara County that responds to 911 calls) and Rural/Metro of Northern California.
-If they never merge like I hope, I think my chances of getting hired with the EOA is much higher with "Rural/Metro" listed as my previous work experience than "ProTransport-1" or any other ambulance company.
During and after I applied, I liked some of these things:
-The ambulance paint job for both the type II e350 and type III e450. Either they did a great job cleaning the ambulances, or they are new too.
-The uniforms. They have your name sown into them, and they are new.
-A lot of my friends who have been looking for jobs as EMTs got hired.
-I get paid a little bit more. Rural/Metro of Northern California is offering me $11.96/hour without union. I currently get paid $11.75/hour with union at ProTransport-1, union dues are 1.45% of whatever you earn.
Here are some negative things about ProTransport-1. I don't intend on "trash" talking them. Like I said, I am very grateful to work there, if I ever quit/laid off/fired, I'll still send the owners a thank-you letter by e-mail letting them know that it was great while it lasted and thank them for the opportunity. I also think that some of these problems occur at other ambulance companies too (it's not exclusive to ProTransport-1). There are some things I'd like to see change:
-This one isn't ProTransport-1's fault in my opinion, but it's engraved in my head. At Chabot College and San Jose City College, they talked a lot of crap about ProTransport-1 making it sound like a bad place to work for and only EMTs who can't get a job work there. This is one of the reasons I didn't apply until my certification almost expired.
-Not only did I think poorly of it because of school, but when I got hired, they didn't let me do my orientation until almost two months later, and that was with me nagging them. I did my classroom training before orientation, and the instructor kept saying "you should've learned this in orientation" which made it kind of a sucky class. They kept trimming the class down from a week of training to 2 days of training to 1 day of training. Needless to say, I didn't get very much training and had to rely a lot on my FTO. I felt like the company was a scam cause of "CARE points".
-I only got 3 days to ride with an FTO, which was pass/fail. My friend I got hired on with failed.
-The orientation was total crap in my opinion and they just kept talking about how great ProTransport-1 is and ITS is. They talked very negatively about other ambulance companies and Rock Medicine (I volunteer there) at the orientation (they mentioned Rock Medicine cause of the shootings at Candlestick Park for the 49er games).
-Even after the orientation, we have station meetings, and they still talk crap about other ambulance companies.
-I hate that we only have 4, 5, 6, 8, and 10 hour shifts. 12 and 24 hour shifts are rare and very exclusive. In my county, you can only get a 12 hour shift working the dedicated NICU/PICU rig, which is difficult to get on, or by working ALS, which they aren't putting EMTs on union on at all cause the contract requires them to pay around $17/hour to the EMT. ALS is either dual medic, or non union EMTs like supervisors.
-Getting anything done that isn't within your ability to do e.g. getting a second uniform because it says in the policies before the union and now it's in the contract in union is probably harder than pulling your own teeth out intentionally. Another example is broken ambulances/trying to get them repaired/getting minor maintenance done like oil change and tire pressures (a problem with almost all the ambulances at ProTransport-1).
-Supplies aren't managed well e.g. several ambulances didn't have pedimates for several days (required by county) so anytime we went out of the station/on a call, we have to borrow it from another rig.
-You're not off probation until after 1040 hours of being clocked in/working, and they do a review with you three times, but it's like pulling teeth to get a review, and I feel it's pointless cause there is little supervision. The only purpose I can think of having you on probation for so long is so they can let you go easier "fail your probation".
-They failed a friend on his probation even though he didn't do anything wrong.
-As much as I talk nicely about ProTransport-1, and I definitely encourage people to apply there, apply everywhere, and I really do like my job and working there, I have an extremely bad reputation there and feel very hated. I think if you talked to most people at the company who I've worked with, they'll describe me as clueless, stupid, wanna-be-doctor, lost, etc. For a long time, I had the reputation of "Andrew hates EMTs and Paramedics", "Andrew thinks Paramedics don't deserve overtime", which was a huge thing. Right now it's "Andrew is going to abandon ship, quit, and work for Rural/Metro," heard that last one today from two of my co-workers at a First Responder Operational Hazmat class.
-Since we got unionized, the new contract is seniority is determined by the time you've been working there rather than by the number of calls you ran (well, technically by CARE points, but you get 2 per call). Since I worked in Alameda County way more than Santa Clara County at first, I blew people away with CARE points and was able to get a full time shift my first try. I've only been hired there since August, there are only a few people newer than me, I don't think I'll be able to get a good shift again for awhile. A lot of the older guys are going to Paramedic school, and they'll be returning soon.
A lot of these are very opinionated thoughts, speculations, and me being nit picky. Rural/Metro might have the same problems, but it's a chance I'm willing to take. If I can get what I want, why not?
What I'd like to do most, and I am working this out right now, is find out if I can work both. Contrary to what a lot of people say, I tend to believe people pull things out of their behind rather than find out the truth, and so far that's been true (maybe that's why they dislike me at work?). People keep telling me there is a conflict of interest, but I asked the county, and they said they have no problem with me working for both companies. I have friends who work for multiple ambulance companies. The only conflict of interest I have to check for is with the companies themselves. I have to check if ProTransport-1 is okay with me having another ambulance job in the same county, and Rural/Metro is okay if I have another ambulance job in the same county.
If I have to pick, I'll take a chance and go with Rural/Metro for the reasons I said above. I think it's worth the risk.
So did this end up being all IFT even for ALS?
Yes. It's interfacility transport (IFT) only.
aprz, when you went to monterey to do the drug screen and lift test did you bring a copy of your immunizations with you? im going there thursday. just want to make sure i dont forget anything
No, I didn't. They didn't ask for it either while I was there. They didn't do a PPD test on me either.
I went to Rural/Metro of Northern California, or "Rural/Metro IFT" per my System ID Badge (that's when I asked the county about conflict of interest - when I got my System ID Badge today) today to ask them some questions. They said to rebring all my certifications to the orientation. I personally will be bringing my immunizations and PPD to the orientation.