Salary

[FutureMed]

Does it discourage anyone that you get paid as much as someone working in mcdonalds and what not? 10 dollars an hour doesn't seem so great.

 

[STXmedic]

Not at all. But I also get paid fairly well and nothing like MickeyDs... $10 is insulting.

 

[NomadicMedic]

Yeah, I wouldn't do this job for 10 bucks an hour.

Now 11 and free cheeseburgers, maybe I'd reconsider.

 

[mct601]

It discourages a lot of people in the field. Pay is a major gripe. Its all according to where you are and what shifts you work. Some people make $20+/hr and don't get in many hours. Some people get $10-13/hr but get in a great amount of OT. At the end of the day, we still have benefits and a higher salary then someone at a fast food joint. Best advice I have is look at the overall pay vs per hour wages.

This is a medic stand point. Basic wages are dirt in most places. Minimum wage isn't uncommon, especially for 24hr shifts.

 

[FutureMed]

I'm going to go for paramedic after I do 1 year of EMT-B though and I've been hearing they pay around 10 dollars an hour in the states. I'm from NYC and not really sure on the paramedics salary.

 

[VFlutter]

Does it discourage anyone that you get paid as much as someone working in mcdonalds and what not? 10 dollars an hour doesn't seem so great.

I always hear people make that comparison and I don't get why it offends them. McDonald's is a job just like anything else. The company pays a wage that they believe is fair for the worker's particular job and qualifications. The pay is low because of the low qualifications (GED) and excessive supply of applicants. As an EMT you most likely do not have much, if any, more education then that McDonalds employee. Just like McDonalds EMS companies pay wages that they believe are fair because of the low qualifications (GED + EMT) and supply of applicants.

What do you expect to get paid with a GED and a few months of vocational training?

 

[STXmedic]

Best advice I have is look at the overall pay vs per hour wages.

If you're talking about looking for benefits in addition to wages, then I agree. If you're talking about overtime opportunity, then I highly disagree. If the only way I can make a living is by constantly working overtime, then that is not a service I will be at long. Overtime should be a nice little bonus that you can do without, not a necessity that is required to live remotely comfortably.

 

[eprex]

After a month I'll be making $12.50 as an EMT-B. After taxes I'll be making less than what I made at my last job which was off the books, but I'll have benefits+overtime. On top of that I can actually use my BLS experience to move up in the medical field, where as working a coffee counter would have gotten me nowhere.

 

[Trashtruck]

I'm sure I'll get bashed for this, but it's my opinion, and with that said(holding my breath!)...

I think working as an EMT is easier than working at McDonalds. People who have worked in the food service industry should know what I mean. It blows.

If I were an EMT, I'd work somewhere for $10/hr. without too much of a complaint. EMT is a cushy job. McDonalds is not.
You'd have to pay me at least $15/hr to work at McDonalds. At least...

But yeah, GED+120hrs. What kind of wage do you expect?

 

[wanderingmedic]

public transit bus drivers in my area make $11.50hr starting, it goes up from there.

 

[teedubbyaw]

While I'm in medic school, I work events occasionally for $10/hr. Sometimes I would do it for free. Events are a ton of fun.

 

[rmabrey]

If mcdonalds paid the same as being an EMT I would still do this. Enjoying what you do goes a long way.

Not to mention the resources I have doing this job.

For instance nurses apparently love having kids, and with one on the way we have hardly anything we need to buy thanks to those nurses. Hand me downs rock!

 

[DrParasite]

I make about 19 an hour, and get a $2/hr night diff. that i work in a busy system.

at my side job, I think I make somewhere between 14 and 16 an hour. It's a cushy job in the suburbs.

I hate to say it, but how much are you worth, in the eyes of your employer? how much are you worth in the eyes of the governing body that pays your wages? and lastly, how much are you willing to accept as a minimum, and if you won't accept the low wage, is there a line of people out the door willing to accept that low wage?

I will gladly say I get paid pretty well, at least compared to others. Maybe those people who get paid more are just more valuable to those who sign their paychecks than those who will accept $10 an hour?

 

[teedubbyaw]

I make about 19 an hour, and get a $2/hr night diff. that i work in a busy system.

at my side job, I think I make somewhere between 14 and 16 an hour. It's a cushy job in the suburbs.

I hate to say it, but how much are you worth, in the eyes of your employer? how much are you worth in the eyes of the governing body that pays your wages? and lastly, how much are you willing to accept as a minimum, and if you won't accept the low wage, is there a line of people out the door willing to accept that low wage?

I will gladly say I get paid pretty well, at least compared to others. Maybe those people who get paid more are just more valuable to those who sign their paychecks than those who will accept $10 an hour?

Are you Emt-A?

 

[DrParasite]

Started as an EMT-B, became an EMT-D, then they abolished Ds and made everyone Bs, and now all BLS EMT-Bs are considered EMTs

 

[teedubbyaw]

Nice pay grade. I'd take that

 

[Clipper1]

Does it discourage anyone that you get paid as much as someone working in mcdonalds and what not? 10 dollars an hour doesn't seem so great.

How weird that you would use McDonald's as a comparison in pay to being an EMT or Paramedic.

I would work 3 jobs before I allow one of my kids to work at a McDonald's or a convenience store while in they are in college.

These workers have a very high probability of having a gun pointed directly at them intentionally. They are also highly likely to be shot or pistol whipped for whatever they happen to have in their cash register. Doesn't anyone on this discussion read anything other than the posts on this website?

McDonald's employees do handle a lot of money each day and are held accountable for everything in their register at the end of a shift.

McDonald's employees also will see more customers in one hour than the number of patients an EMT sees in one shift or even in a week of shifts.

McDonald's employees will also be cussed at and spit on almost every shift but still must remain professional enough to continue providing customer service. You probably wouldn't be surprised to know that some of those customers screaming and cursing at McDonald's employees are EMTs and Paramedics who feel they are entitled to free fries. Posts like the ones here show a lack of respect for people in other jobs who are working there for a variety of reasons.

public transit bus drivers in my area make $11.50hr starting, it goes up from there.

No way! If you think that is too much for a Public Transit Bus Driver you obviously have never used public transit systems.

How much do you think 110 hours training is worth?

What about school teachers who might have a Masters degree and don't make much more than some EMTs? Look at the risks some of them take in a classroom.

Didn't you do any research into the profession? If you wanted health care, transport or even flight you could have gone for a BSN in nursing which would have provided all of the neat stuff plus a lot more in the ICUs or trauma units.

 

[Milla3P]

McDonald's employees will also be cussed at and spit on almost every shift but still must remain professional enough to continue providing customer service. You probably wouldn't be surprised to know that some of those customers screaming and cursing at McDonald's employees are EMTs and Paramedics who feel they are entitled to free fries. Posts like the ones here show a lack of respect for people in other jobs who are working there for a variety of reasons.

I'm cussed at every day, it's probably once a month that I'm spit at, excluding beach season, then it's daily. But I get $20+ with Benny's. I've worked for it. I started with my GED and 110hrs of training and I got a job right out of school doing BS IFT for $12.50/hr. it was a $1+/hr paycut from what I was doing at the time as a group home manager for a decade.

There's not just your compensation= hourly+OT+Benny's.

It's your stress level+responsibility+culpability level that matters, too.

I would rather try to ACLS the dead back to life than keep track of 15 wards of the States finances and Social Security funds knowing that my predecessor just got pinched for SSI embezzlement to the tune on $60k.

 

[Achilles]

McDonald's employees do handle a lot of money each day
Didn't you do any research into the profession? If you wanted health care, transport or even flight you could have gone for a BSN in nursing which would have provided all of the neat stuff plus a lot more in the ICUs or trauma units.

Not everyone is going to stay an emt basic their entire life, just like not everyone is going to work at Mickey D's their entire life (some will, most won't.)

 

[Milla3P]

However, of this is an argument leaning towards the thought of "pay the EMT more and. He will he more professional". Just think; most nursing home nurses make more than an ED RN. Does that make them better? Or just better paid?