San Francisco area EMS

[bassplayerpsg1]

I am new to the forum, and had a question to anyone who works in the San Francisco area. I am an EMT in Connecticut now, but will be in medic school in the next year. I was curious to hear from anyone who works in the Bay Area, and I'm specifically looking to see what a reasonable pay rate for a new medic is in a non fire service. I have no interest in doing the fire medic thing.

I was also wondering what the EMS only sector is like there as far as IFT vs. 911 calls for services which run both.

Thank you for any info you may have!

 

[gonefishing]

I am new to the forum, and had a question to anyone who works in the San Francisco area. I am an EMT in Connecticut now, but will be in medic school in the next year. I was curious to hear from anyone who works in the Bay Area, and I'm specifically looking to see what a reasonable pay rate for a new medic is in a non fire service. I have no interest in doing the fire medic thing.

I was also wondering what the EMS only sector is like there as far as IFT vs. 911 calls for services which run both.

Thank you for any info you may have!

Welcome!
San Francisco is a very interesting system. If you get road rage its not the place for you. Very crowded and over priced living. If your talking the bay area, the gig to have to be comfortable is AMR. Union representation with a very strong shop. I do know the local very well as I do know their leadership on a personal level. Your other option would be Medics Plus. Their are a few other companys around but I don't think you want to be street posting in some unfriendly neighborhoods such as the tenderloin where 1 in 3 people get mugged on a daily bases (atleast that was the statistic when I lived there in 2011) Do not live in places like Antioch, Pittsburgh etc mostly the east bay. Its cheap living but has gone way down hill over time and has earned the name little o town aka little oakland. Good luck to you!

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[NomadicMedic]

I thought San Francisco fire hired single role medics?

 

[EpiEMS]

I have no interest in doing the fire medic thing.

As @NomadicMedic said, I am fairly sure that SF Fire (i.e. SF EMS) hires single role medics (appears that they call them "H-3 Level II" staff).

 

[bassplayerpsg1]

Thanks all for replying. Interesting about the SFFD and having single role medics. I will definitely check into that. The current goal is to pay down some debt and get through the process of the Paramedic program here in CT. Thanks again for your replies!

 

[gonefishing]

As @NomadicMedic said, I am fairly sure that SF Fire (i.e. SF EMS) hires single role medics (appears that they call them "H-3 Level II" staff).

Yes they do. A friend of mine that worked AMR for many years up there hired on last year as a single role and loves it.

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[VentMonkey]

Thanks all for replying. Interesting about the SFFD and having single role medics. I will definitely check into that. The current goal is to pay down some debt and get through the process of the Paramedic program here in CT. Thanks again for your replies!

Unless you're dead set on coming to California, or obligated, you'd have better luck as a paramedic in an abundance of other states.

The wait list for SFFD's single roles sounds unnecessarily long. People do seem to think it's a "dream job", so there's that, and I believe the pay is equal to cost of living (see: through the roof).

https://emtlife.com/threads/san-francisco-fire-dept-ems.42330/#post-589940

If you're anywhere near any services in Connecticut that do paramedic intercepts color me jealous.

Waiver: I am a life-long Californian who's been a paramedic here for 10 years (not in, around, or completely familiar with the bay, or NorCal though). Either way, good luck to you. My favorite town in that part of the bay is/ was Sausalito.

 

[RocketMedic]

If your goal is to pay down debt, living in one of the most expensive places in the USA isn't going to help.

If your goal is to practice paramedicine towards the cutting edge, California urban EMS might not be the sharp edge of the knife.

 

[EpiEMS]

For what it's worth, you could probably save a tooooon of money working at AMR in Bridgeport, Campion in the middle of nowhere CT, or, heck, Norwalk or Stamford EMS.


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[TransportJockey]

Or come to Texas. Good government systems, good pay, good benefits, good protocols

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[EpiEMS]

Or come to Texas. Good government systems, good pay, good benefits, good protocols

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Plus, you get a cool patch if you have a degree.

Oh, and no snow, am I right?


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[TransportJockey]

Lol true on both accounts. Well mostly for the second. There are still parts of the state that get snow

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[EpiEMS]

Lol true on both accounts. Well mostly for the second. There are still parts of the state that get snow

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Good enough for me! As long as I don't have to use tire chains, it's an upgrade.


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[TransportJockey]

I know for a fact Galveston county is hiring... Lol

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[EpiEMS]

Floods though...not sure if I can handle that, @TransportJockey


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[NomadicMedic]

The L+M medics in New London, Middlesex Medics... hell, even American in Norwich is probably miles better than just about any CA paramedic job.

 

[VentMonkey]

Lol, I love how when out of state people ask about EMS jobs in California without fail, even California providers (me) offer greener pastures.

OP again, if your heart's set on working non-fire, aka, single-role EMS jobs as a paramedic in California just know you'll have your work cut out for you.

That said, it isn't impossible, and I've articulated that point a bit better in another recent thread. There are decent services, but you have to do some homework, and decide what you want.

Nearly none of the single-role jobs are pensioned, third service, or exclusively 911 (actually not a terrible thing); they're pretty much all private.

I don't know your situation, but the reasons I'd consider moving out of California have nothing to do with the state itself---at least not for me---and everything to do with my career choice. With that, I have a pretty good set up as it stands now, and don't see us moving out of state anytime soon, so yeah, you do have options.

 

[Specialized]

So for IFT in SF, AMR has it's Sutter Division strictly devoted to Sutter Health and 100% IFT calls. There are some CCT shifts but 95% of the workforce down there is BLS. A great stepping stone job but maybe not what you're looking for if you're going into medic school. Like @RocketMedic said, it's pretty freaking expensive.

 

[Hold My Beer]

REMSA in Reno, NV which is just a few hours east of SF has a decent system. They are very busy and you are the lead medic on all medical 911s per county contract. Starting pay is around $18. Good benefits including medical, dental, vision, matching 401K. They are also pretty much always hiring due to their medics constantly being sniped by fire. Another perk of Reno is the cheaper cost of living and 45 minutes from Tahoe!