Virginia Beach, EMT

[Keith4Life]

I'm not sure if this should be put in the "employment" one or not.. if so sorry.
A Friend has recently asked me if I wanted to move to VA Beach, so his wife wouldnt be alone while he's on the ship(he's in the navy" because theres been alot of break in's in his area lately.

Anyways, My question(s)
1). What do EMT-Basic's Average down there? Hourly or Weekly.
2). How hard are EMT-Basic job's to find down there? I would assume there fairly easy with it being a big area/tourist attraction. but Idk..

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you,
Keith

 

[emt seeking first job]

I believe the municipal EMS in Virginia Beach is all volunter for EMT-b and paid for paramedic.

http://www.vbgov.com/vgn.aspx?dept_list=118bfd67f3ad9010VgnVCM100000870b640aRCRD

This link has a list of every EMS agency in Virginia:

https://vdhems.vdh.virginia.gov/ded/emsagencylist.startup

I hope everything goes OK for you.

 

[46Young]

The closest place I can think of that employs a large number of EMT's is Richmond Ambulance Authority. That's at least a hour and a half away, maybe more. Maybe a 16 hour shift would be worth it if they have it. Otherwise, maybe check out the bordering counties of NC and see if their municipal EMS services are hiring. Otherwise, maybe try to get a job in a hospital. If not an ER tech, then maybe in some other capacity while you look for an EMT job or even do medic school. Maybe even knock out a quick CDL and drive trucks. Up by me in Fairfax County, the county pays school bus drivers 16.91/hr to start with paid training. Maybe look for something similar if you really need the money.

 

[FireResuce48]

I worked down in va beach for a year, i worked for a private ambo company 911 is pretty much all volunteer ems with the exception of a few paid medics.

RAA pays crap and only offered 12 hour shifts when i looked in to it. Ill send you a pm in a bit with some more info, got any questions just ask. Im still friends with quite a bit of people in that area.

 

[abckidsmom]

The closest place I can think of that employs a large number of EMT's is Richmond Ambulance Authority. That's at least a hour and a half away, maybe more. Maybe a 16 hour shift would be worth it if they have it. Otherwise, maybe check out the bordering counties of NC and see if their municipal EMS services are hiring. Otherwise, maybe try to get a job in a hospital. If not an ER tech, then maybe in some other capacity while you look for an EMT job or even do medic school. Maybe even knock out a quick CDL and drive trucks. Up by me in Fairfax County, the county pays school bus drivers 16.91/hr to start with paid training. Maybe look for something similar if you really need the money.

I worked down in va beach for a year, i worked for a private ambo company 911 is pretty much all volunteer ems with the exception of a few paid medics.

RAA pays crap and only offered 12 hour shifts when i looked in to it. Ill send you a pm in a bit with some more info, got any questions just ask. Im still friends with quite a bit of people in that area.

RAA is really out of range of VA beach. It's 2.5 hours on a good day, and that stretch of 64 is well known for unpredictable traffic.

A private transport company is going to be the best bet in that area, and even then the pay is likely to not be much. Maybe a hospital ER tech job? There are tons of hospitals in the Norfolk/VA beach area.

 

[Keith4Life]

Thanks for the reply's

I was looking at a few places on the net earlier.. Seems to be Alot of Private transport. I found phone number's for about 15 different companies.. Hopefully all of which are still in business. That I'll probably call and ask around.

I hadn't really thought about the ER Tech, I'll have to look up some hospitals in the area.

Thank you!

 

[alphatrauma]

I believe the municipal EMS in Virginia Beach is all volunter for EMT-b and paid for paramedic.

There are actually only 28 paid city ALS employees, with roughly 700 volunteers... BLS and ALS.

RAA is really out of range of VA beach. It's 2.5 hours on a good day, and that stretch of 64 is well known for unpredictable traffic.

A private transport company is going to be the best bet in that area, and even then the pay is likely to not be much. Maybe a hospital ER tech job? There are tons of hospitals in the Norfolk/VA beach area.

The commute to Richmond, from the oceanfront is only 1 hour and 45 minutes... with heavy traffic pushing it up to 2.5 hrs. I have been making the commute for the past 5 months now. RAA offers wide variety of shift options for part-timers. You can cherry pick from 6-8-10-12-16 hr shifts, and are only obligated to do 24 hrs per month being part time. Might be of interest to get your 911 fix and stay sharp.

And as stated above, private IFT is going to be your only viable option in this area, as 911 is handled by Fire, unless you volunteer at the Beach. I'm guessing you want to earn a living, so I am going to recommend Medical Transport (MTI), which has the 7 cities on lock down (Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Suffolk, Newport News, Hampton, Portsmouth). The pay is around $12/hr for Basics, and from what co-workers/colleagues tell me, there is ample overtime and extra shifts to be had. MTI is owned by Sentara Healthcare (SHC), which operates roughly 75% of the major hospitals in the area. Sentara offers excellent education benefits, and going from ER tech to IFT would essentially be an in-house lateral transfer. SHC is the only system here where you will be able to work as an ED Tech at the Basic level.

Eagle Medical Transports may be another option. The site lists an annual salary of $32,760 for Basics. They are based in Newport News, about 25 minutes from Virginia Beach, so you would be commuting through the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel (HRBT - I64). Word of caution: if the wind blows the wrong way, traffic will back up for miles.

First Med Inc. is another private ground service you may want to look into. I don't know much about them, other than a former classmate that works there and she seems to be pretty pleased.

The cost of living in this area (Tidewater/Hampton Roads) is not bad at all. A single person, with no children and a modest lifestyle, can live quite comfortably in the 25k-30k range. If you want to own a 300k home and drive a 40k car... you may want to reconsider coming here (as a Basic) to work. Virginia recognizes NR, and reciprocity is just a matter of paperwork. You will need to be sponsored/affiliated with a Virginia agency before applying.

If you are serious about making the move, I can give you some inside contacts to help navigate past some of the red tape of HR/Recruiting. Just send me a PM.


Medical Transport LLC
Richmond Ambulance Authority
Sentara Healthcare
Eagle Medical Transport
First Med Inc.
Virginia Dept of Health Office of EMS

 

[Keith4Life]

Thank you for all of the information Alpha. I'll be deciding sometime this week if
I'm going for sure. so i'll PM you soon.

 

[alphatrauma]

Thank you for all of the information Alpha. I'll be deciding sometime this week if
I'm going for sure. so i'll PM you soon.

No problem. I enjoy helping those that want to help and better themselves