UK Paramedic heading to CA

[Monkey]

I know medics here that claim to make 100k, and I believe it, as they work 7 days a week, and have no life.

Shockable, if not already mentioned ( I scanned through this pretty rapidly ) Check into Mercy Ambulance as well. They do ALS in Northern San Diego County rural areas, around the I-15 corridor near the temecula border to escondido and east. They are really the only other option to AMR or Rural Metro in SD county for ALS outside of Fire.

 

[ltjohnson1979]

There is a company called Schaffer/Gold Cross, they do hire EMT-P's along with EMT-B's. They run 911 and IFT's. If you want 90% 911 then you need to apply with Gold Cross in Imperial County. They do alot of 911 calls and they are the only ambulance company in Imperial County. your shift will be 48 on 72 off then 72 on and 48 off. This shift will allow you to be a volunteer ff in Orange County or North County Fire Protection District in North San Diego County. You can also check out Firemedic.com that wbsite covers all of San Diego County. But I would suggest contacting Gold cross in Imperial County. Good Luck.

 

[ShockableAsystole]

Thank you all for the many replies!

Looks like my options keep expanding. My goal is to be doing emergency work in the same way I am now, while earning what I feel I deserve... So however I achieve that I am happy. Whether that be waiting for a place with a FD or furthering my education.

Few points, as stated degrees are focused entirely on your major in the UK, prereq's come in the form of something called A-Levels which are subject exams prior to Uni. I'll have to contact the programs themselves to see if I am eligible. This was a good site for anyone else looking into this.

I
Shockable, if not already mentioned ( I scanned through this pretty rapidly ) Check into Mercy Ambulance as well. They do ALS in Northern San Diego County rural areas, around the I-15 corridor near the temecula border to escondido and east. They are really the only other option to AMR or Rural Metro in SD county for ALS outside of Fire.

Can't find much info on Mercy Ambulance. Do they do 911 work also?

If medics are making 100k Private, anyone care to PM who they are working with

There is a company called Schaffer/Gold Cross, they do hire EMT-P's along with EMT-B's. They run 911 and IFT's. If you want 90% 911 then you need to apply with Gold Cross in Imperial County. They do alot of 911 calls and they are the only ambulance company in Imperial County. your shift will be 48 on 72 off then 72 on and 48 off. This shift will allow you to be a volunteer ff in Orange County or North County Fire Protection District in North San Diego County. You can also check out Firemedic.com that wbsite covers all of San Diego County. But I would suggest contacting Gold cross in Imperial County. Good Luck.

Imperial county is a good distance from where I want to be, but the hours at and away from work make Gold Cross an option. 48 and 72 on... this leads me back to one of my original questions... what does a shift consist of like that. Looking at the area I imagine it's an entirely different way of working with presumably some down time. I like the idea of working more rural.

The future of EMS in California... people have painted a pretty grim picture. Are things developing? Are there changes being made?

There are many different ways to deliver fire and medical services, and with a large number of fire departments in San Diego, depending on which community you live in you may see a vast array of service deliveries. It’s very hard therefore, to accurately describe what happens when you call 911, because it depends on where in the County you are when you call for help.

http://sandiego.firefightermedic.com/general/911-calls-explained/

It can't really be the most cost effective way to deliver EMS, can it? I don't want to rave about our NHS system as it does have its flaws..but here, you get an Ambulance to a medical call, you get a fire to a fire, and both agencies call on each other when cross service support is needed or will be responded when likely to be needed. We have specialist teams if a medic is needed in a hazardous area and the Paramedic is in charge of the patient. Perhaps it's what works best as both countries have their own challenges. ...That said, I imagine working as a firefighter and medic is pretty rewarding so if possible, this will be my first choice.

 

[rescue1]

It can't really be the most cost effective way to deliver EMS, can it? I don't want to rave about our NHS system as it does have its flaws..but here, you get an Ambulance to a medical call, you get a fire to a fire, and both agencies call on each other when cross service support is needed or will be responded when likely to be needed. We have specialist teams if a medic is needed in a hazardous area and the Paramedic is in charge of the patient. Perhaps it's what works best as both countries have their own challenges. ...That said, I imagine working as a firefighter and medic is pretty rewarding so if possible, this will be my first choice.

It's a holdover from when EMS, specifically ALS, was first delivered through the fire department. Los Angeles County Fire started their ALS program through fire department paramedics who assisted the basic life support ambulance companies. While in many areas this paradigm has changed, CA is still big on fire medics responding to calls to assist the ambulance.

Its also a way to justify fire staffing and budget. It's unfortunate that effective fire protection has to be justified through EMS runs, but thats how it is these days.
There are also different levels of fire department response -- some companies roll an engine on every medical call, some run only on priority calls, and some only run for lift assists and arrests.

All of this from a East-Coaster, so this might not be 100% accurate, but this is generally how fire department first response happens.

 

[ShockableAsystole]

I see. It seems to work but it's probably also the reason a private medic gets paid a quarter of a FD medic. I would think with the wildfires CA has to deal with they wouldn't need to justify anything!

Could someone suggest a study guide(s) that will help with the Nremt-P exam? An often asked question I know but as a Para already, trained to a different hymnsheet I need a guide that will identify what I need to pass the US standard. Thanks!

 

[catskills]

Check out UK 999Medic which visited SF in USA

Google search UK Paramedic 999Medic Mark Glencorse who was involved in Chronicles of EMS . Lots of YouTube vides made my Mark for Chronicles of EMS showing differences between UK paramedics and San Fransisco paramedics. I bet if you email Mark Glencorse he will respond and give you more information then you would ever need.

Check it out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuLYC16MFFU

 

[DPM]

Google search UK Paramedic 999Medic Mark Glencorse who was involved in Chronicles of EMS . Lots of YouTube vides made my Mark for Chronicles of EMS showing differences between UK paramedics and San Fransisco paramedics. I bet if you email Mark Glencorse he will respond and give you more information then you would ever need.

Check it out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuLYC16MFFU

Thanks for that! I know what I'm going to be doing 'at work' tomorrow

 

[BeachMedic]

$100k?? Best paying private service I know of is AMR-Ventura and it's nowhere near that. I would be quite happy to be wrong about this though!

I think in general Northern CA medics near and around the San Francisco Bay Area have it much better than our So Cal counterparts in terms of both pay and autonomy. I have worked with many LA and San Diego transplants that had no idea about it until they moved here either. We do not do any of the la county style bls units with a for medic jumping in the back. Transport medic is highest medical authority and responsible for patient care after turnover.

AMR was the biggest player up here until Paramedics Plus took over Alameda county and Rural Metro snagged Santa Clara county.

AMR still has county 911 contracts for San Mateo, Napa, Contra Costa, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, San Benito, Santa Cruz, Monterey(separate union contract Iaff) and some other small counties I am not as familiar with.

Pplus medics still have the same union contract as the bay area amr core.

When I left Alameda County starting hourly for a daytime medic was $23/emt $18 per hour topping out at around $32. A night shift (strike shift) medic started at around $30 per hour/emt $26 and topped out around $42. heavy seniority people gravitated towards nights. 24 units started around $20 and topped out around $30 but did very well with the built in overtime. We did not do IFTs in Alco unless it was a 911 stemi, trauma, or LnD transfer. (that was a rare once every few months type of deal. We did have a bls system that did ifts unless they were needed for a 5150 or the rare mci.

With over time, a lot of medics and even emts cleared 100k. A couple cleared 200k but they never went home.

so the salary is still the same in alco but the system is very different since pplus took over.

Here in Santa Cruz it's a good deal. dual medic system(sorry no 911 emts) run almost entirely out of 24 hour stations. Great working relationship with fire and decent protocols. starting medic rates are maybe a dollar or 2 less than alco hour starting but we actually top out higher.we're short staffed currently so there has been a lot of over time and mando shifts.

San Mateo probably has some of the best compensated private medics in the country. They have a different contract than us that allows them built in over time after 8 hours. They work 12 s so they get 4 hours time and a half each shift. They also have 15 steps of annual increases as opposed to the 10 in most other counties around here. I wouldn't be surprised if a topped out medic in San Mateo county with amr cleared 100 k without extra shifts.

oh and you guys don't want to know what the 911 medics/emts for SF fire are making. Makes my wages look like peanuts.

With all that said.It is just as competitive to get on here as it is in so cal.

Sorry for the poor form I typed all this on a cell phone.

To the original poster, we had a few transplants working for amr in alco. Two irish men. a dutch lady, and a gent from england. Some of the fire guys had accents as well.

 

[thegreypilgrim]

I think in general Northern CA medics near and around the San Francisco Bay Area have it much better than our So Cal counterparts in terms of both pay and autonomy....

This is no doubt true, and I've always known things to be generally better in NorCal vs. SoCal.

It's not all that surprising though given cost of living in the Bay. Median income for San Jose is the highest in the nation at ~$70k. Median home price is ~$500k for Santa Clara County. Both of those values are significantly higher than anywhere in SoCal. There's just no way anyone could live in the Bay Area without wages like those you're quoting.