Southern California - Riverside, San Bernardino, LA or OC county?

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ForamenMagnum

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I just took my NREMT and am looking to get hired STAT. I live in Claremont, which is a small town in LA county just north of Pomona, so I sort of have these 4 counties within a 20-30 minute drive's reach from my house. But, I'm not exactly sure which county would be best for me to gain some solid experience on the field. Also, I've read around here that LA county ambulance companies tend to be shadier than the rest? So, if anyone who has worked in one or more of these counties could give me some advice or point me in the right direction that would be great!

ALSO (side question):
My end goal is to hopefully end up in an emergency room as an ED Tech somewhere (I am Pre-med, so that would be a job more aligned with my schooling) so I could gain some awesome clinical experience before applying to med school. Is IFT or 911 experience better than the other if I'm trying to get into an ED somewhere?

Thanks!
 
Wait sorry I meant to post this in EMS Employment not EMS Job Openings. Could someone move this thread for me? :rolleyes:
 
ForamenMagnum said:
I just took my NREMT and am looking to get hired STAT. I live in Claremont, which is a small town in LA county just north of Pomona, so I sort of have these 4 counties within a 20-30 minute drive's reach from my house. But, I'm not exactly sure which county would be best for me to gain some solid experience on the field. Also, I've read around here that LA county ambulance companies tend to be shadier than the rest? So, if anyone who has worked in one or more of these counties could give me some advice or point me in the right direction that would be great!

ALSO (side question):
My end goal is to hopefully end up in an emergency room as an ED Tech somewhere (I am Pre-med, so that would be a job more aligned with my schooling) so I could gain some awesome clinical experience before applying to med school. Is IFT or 911 experience better than the other if I'm trying to get into an ED somewhere?

Thanks!
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I grew up in Claremont. I left and never looked back. LOL! Try your luck with AMR Rancho, Riverside County, San Bernardino County. Schaefer is a great choice right there in Pomona.
The communication center is off of Garey/Monterey. There is a station on foothill/Montevista behind the Arco. They do like to hire Claremont people for Claremont. Any questions pm me.
 
gonefishing said:
I grew up in Claremont. I left and never looked back. LOL! Try your luck with AMR Rancho, Riverside County, San Bernardino County. Schaefer is a great choice right there in Pomona.
The communication center is off of Garey/Monterey. There is a station on foothill/Montevista behind the Arco. They do like to hire Claremont people for Claremont. Any questions pm me.
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Sorry, I don't think I have enough posts to send direct messages yet. Actually, I was looking into Schaefer, but after reading some of the posts here, I had my doubts. I've read a few posts here saying management sucks and that the hours are bad. In fact, I read a post you made about them not being too great. haha
 
ForamenMagnum said:
Sorry, I don't think I have enough posts to send direct messages yet. Actually, I was looking into Schaefer, but after reading some of the posts here, I had my doubts. I've read a few posts here saying management sucks and that the hours are bad. In fact, I read a post you made about them not being too great. haha
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LOL every where has ups and downs. It's what you make of it. My top picks:
AMR
BOWERS (now amr)
CARE
MCCORMICK
SCHAEFER
you will learn and get good experience at all 5. Your mom and pop places with funny names are usually not all that great.
 
In LA and OC the number of private ambulance companies approaches the triple digit mark. Only 5 of those have primary 911 response zones. Schaefer, AMR, Care, and McCormick. See this map for their service areas: http://file.lacounty.gov/dhs/cms1_206858.pdf
Care also has most all of Orange County, except for the northern bit (Yorba Linda, Brea, and Placentia) which is served by Emergency Ambulance Service. Note with all of those you will be on the BLS ambulance responding with the local FD who provides the paramedics and has complete medical control of the scene and call all the shots. Depending on which specific Dept (or even down to individual stations and crews) you may be doing all the BLS stuff, or you may just be expected to do little more than push a gurney and drive and get some vitals...

For San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, you have AMR for private 911. There you'll be the EMT on a 1&1 (1 EMT and 1 Paramedic) ambulance, so it offers a great opportunity to pick the lead transporting medics brain on calls, why certain things were or weren't done certain ways....however you will also be their chauffeur pretty much (one of y'all desert guys can correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the AMR medic have to attend all 911 calls even if it's a BLS patient? The EMT only attends BLS IFTs? Or is that wrong?)

Most members here will say SBCo or Riv Co will be better place to work, but as was said above:
gonefishing said:
LOL every where has ups and downs. It's what you make of it.
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Jim37F said:
however you will also be their chauffeur pretty much (one of y'all desert guys can correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the AMR medic have to attend all 911 calls even if it's a BLS patient? The EMT only attends BLS IFTs? Or is that wrong?)
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No you're right. ALS rigs sometimes get 5150 calls and most medics won't attend because 5150's in REMS are BLS calls. But if the call is dispatched via 911 (FD and we respond) the medic attends regardless if its a finger lac.

REMS (Riverside Co. EMS) is one of the better choices between OC and LACo. ICEMA (San Bernardino) is also pretty good. Both REMS and ICEMA have AMR Ops. ICEMA has Rancho and Redlands while REMS has Riverside, Hemet, and Palm Springs. In addition to AMR ICEMA has Morongo Basin Ambulance (MBA) and San Bernardino County Fire AO. Between the 4 counties you have listed I would dump LACo and OC and go to REMS or ICEMA.
 
The only time your medic doesn't attend is if the call gets dispatched as a BLS 5150/BLS IFT. Doesn't happen too often.
 
I would completely advise against joining any LA County Private Ambulance Company. The FF/PMs have complete authority over patient care and you won't get any of the solid background you are looking for.

My suggestion: Join the Pasadena Fire Dept's EMS Reserves [Non Fire/Rescue]. They get to operate as a third-person on ALS Rescue Ambulances (Taking vital signs, assessing and treating medical and trauma patients, performing airway management, CPR and ventilations, immobilizing trauma patients, setting up for, and assisting with ALS procedures.) In addition they do event stand-bys and MCI/Disaster Response.
Link: http://www.emsr.org/index.cfm
 
Paya Hatam said:
I would completely advise against joining any LA County Private Ambulance Company. The FF/PMs have complete authority over patient care and you won't get any of the solid background you are looking for.

My suggestion: Join the Pasadena Fire Dept's EMS Reserves [Non Fire/Rescue]. They get to operate as a third-person on ALS Rescue Ambulances (Taking vital signs, assessing and treating medical and trauma patients, performing airway management, CPR and ventilations, immobilizing trauma patients, setting up for, and assisting with ALS procedures.) In addition they do event stand-bys and MCI/Disaster Response.
Link: http://www.emsr.org/index.cfm
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Except the Pasadena FF/PMs still have complete authority over patient care and the EMSR's are doing the exact same thing EMTs with McCormick and Care and AMR and Schaefer are doing under the direction County.........

If you're gonna do that, look into departments with their own Ambulance Operators like Glendale Fire....instead of contracting out to a private company, the department hires their own EMTs, where you'll staff the ambulance, respond to emergency calls, do all the BLS on scene (vitals, bandaging and splinting, immobilization, patching up 4 and 12 leads, setting up other ALS procedures etc). Do your research on the department though because some dept's have FF/PM staffed RA's that respond to the ALS calls alongside the AO staffed BLS which would then only go to the lower level calls. Others either staff all their ambulances dual AO BLS with the FF/PMs either on the engine or a squad so you go to all calls (Glendale and Huntington Beach spring to mind) and others (Rialto) staff 1&1 EMT AO and a paramedic on the ambulance. For a while Long Beach staffed their ALS rescues with 1 AO and 1 FF/PM, though I heard they recently went back to dual medic RAs supplemented by dual AO BLS
 
Thanks for the replies guys!


I actually was looking into Rialto, they had an opening for FT EMT, but one of the requirements was job experience, which I don't have as an EMT. Also, working with FD would be more geared towards prospective Fire Fighters I would presume. I'm planning on going to medical school sometime in the future, and realistically would rather find a way I can get into an ED somewhere. I applied to AMR and am looking into Aegis in Pasadena at the moment. Schaeffer website says one of the minimum requirements is ambulance driving experience. So, I decided not to apply. Care's website says they are only looking for FT's. o_O

Any other places I should look into?
 
At Aegis you will only be doing non emergency transports, discharges from hospitals to nursing homes, nursing homes to dialysis and back, the only EMT skill you will use is taking blood pressures...
And where on Schaefer's website do you see ambulance driving experience is a requirement? They say you need driving experience in general (like just having a driver's license). You need the ambulance driver certificate (which is literally a test you take at the DMV, you can google and get all the answers for the test online), but they even say only upon appointment, i.e. they'd hire you and then you'd go and get it, but you might as well get it now, since you'll need it for just about literally every ambulance job in the state.
 
Jim37F said:
And where on Schaefer's website do you see ambulance driving experience is a requirement? They say you need driving experience in general (like just having a driver's license). You need the ambulance driver certificate (which is literally a test you take at the DMV, you can google and get all the answers for the test online), but they even say only upon appointment, i.e. they'd hire you and then you'd go and get it, but you might as well get it now, since you'll need it for just about literally every ambulance job in the state.
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Hey sorry I re-read the website and you're right! I misread Class C driver's license as something else. :eek:
 
ForamenMagnum said:
Thanks for the replies guys!


I actually was looking into Rialto, they had an opening for FT EMT, but one of the requirements was job experience, which I don't have as an EMT. Also, working with FD would be more geared towards prospective Fire Fighters I would presume. I'm planning on going to medical school sometime in the future, and realistically would rather find a way I can get into an ED somewhere. I applied to AMR and am looking into Aegis in Pasadena at the moment. Schaeffer website says one of the minimum requirements is ambulance driving experience. So, I decided not to apply. Care's website says they are only looking for FT's. o_O

Any other places I should look into?
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Stay away from AEGIS they are a dialysis taxi.
 
I don't normally recommend schaefer, but since they're right there, you need experience to get a tech job, and they do 911 Thats where I would apply.

Since career EMS isn't your thing and working anywhere else will get you stuck doing some serious IFT time, albeit it wouldn't be too bad since you'd get to see how the hospital system really works, schaefer will get you the experience you need and you'll have interesting stories for when you're in med school.

They'll also hire part time, but you can still pick up 911 shifts.

I live near you. If I didn't have so much seniority where I am now, I'd go to Schaefer.

For other places to apply Id go with AMR riverside, Bowers, or Emergency in Brea.
 
I live in Pomona and work in Riverside. A quick 25min drive :D
 
ForamenMagnum said:
Sorry, I don't think I have enough posts to send direct messages yet. Actually, I was looking into Schaefer, but after reading some of the posts here, I had my doubts. I've read a few posts here saying management sucks and that the hours are bad. In fact, I read a post you made about them not being too great. haha
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Keep in mind that most posts are outdated.
 
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