Wake county vs Mecklenburg ems

[Rescue37]

Hey everyone .!

First time ever in a forum like this and I have learned a lot so far about North Carolina and different agencies. I am from south FL and wanna relocate to NC specifically Mecklenburg or Wake County .

These are 2 agencies I always see coming up in these forum discussions . And I would like to know the pros and cons between Mecklenburg and Wake County ??? Call volume ? Stations ? Anything and everything you have on the agencies ?

They both look like great places to work for and I’m having trouble making my mind up .

Thanks for any advice

 

[PassionMedic]

Meck is awesome. I'm here, I can go into more detail later, but we are 1/10 size of fdny but just as busy. Lvl 1 trauma center here. Great compensation. More to come soon.

 

[Rescue37]

Yea I’ve read a lot about Mecklenburg EMS and it seems awesome . I just haven’t heard to much about Wake and want to know as much as I can. I want to be a super busy department and a nice distance from the mountains and the beach

I spoke to a Medic recruiter and he was awesome but I didn’t ask about pension, health insurance for fam or if you guys run dual medic, etc.

I’ve heard some negative about Meck too, that employers treat employees like numbers and you’re never at a station, over worked and all that kinda jazz just hoping someone could confirm

 

[DrParasite]

I happen to like the Raleigh area. It's like a large town, without the big city feeling of the north east part of the US (the exception being downtown Raleigh, which has the same urban parking issues, highrises, and overprices drinks, but it's not that big of an area compared to the rest of the city)

I think Wake EMS (and the franchise services in Wake, Eastern Wake, Cary and Apex EMS) are great places for medics.

And if you don't like it in Wake, there are 5 other county agencies within an hour drive of Raleigh.

and in order to save myself a lot of retyping, check out some previous threads on this topic.

https://emtlife.com/threads/north-carolina.44838/#post-630027
https://emtlife.com/threads/what-happened-to-durham-county-ems-north-carolina.45880/
https://emtlife.com/threads/raleigh-nc-charleston-sc-savannah-ga.45645/
https://emtlife.com/threads/north-carolina.44838/
https://emtlife.com/threads/wake-ems.44429/
https://emtlife.com/threads/where-is-the-best-ems-system.44926
https://emtlife.com/threads/moving-to-nc.46197

These are 2 agencies I always see coming up in these forum discussions . And I would like to know the pros and cons between Mecklenburg and Wake County ??? Call volume ? Stations ? Anything and everything you have on the agencies ?

Most EMS units are stationed in EMS stations. Very few are posted on street corners ( I think out of 40 units, maybe 2 peak load trucks are stationed in a parking lot).

Call volumes vary.... downtown Raleigh is definitely busier; however, the neighboring towns and unincorporated units in Wake County are slower, but you can be assigned a call when you leave a downtown hospital, and get pulled into the vortex that is downtown Raleigh. You also have longer transport times, so you can actually see your interventions have a positive effect on the patient.

Most night crews do find time to catch a few hours of sleep..... in a bed.... in a station.... when they aren't on calls. But there are nights (and days) when you will tour the entire county, and not see the station after you leave for the first call until you end of shift.

Wake has a very active PIO, and their website is pretty informative. http://www.wakegov.com/ems/Pages/default.aspx

Meck is awesome. I'm here, I can go into more detail later, but we are 1/10 size of fdny but just as busy.

FDNY isn't nearly as busy as people claim it is, especially when you look at # of calls per unit per shift.

 

[Rescue37]

So Wake County EMS and Medic both use system status management ?

And in your personal opinion what would be the bigger agency? Medic or wake ? What is better ? (in your opinion)

I’d like to take a trip up the and talk to some employees but I figured I’d start here in a thread .

 

[PassionMedic]

Ok, so now that I'm awake and have coffee:

CLT is a great area with a lot to do and is located nicely between the beach and the mountains, like you said. We have a decent pension (I believe it's a 2/3 but don't quote me) same insurance offerings as most city employees (I believe the high deductible is the only option for new employees, but there is seed $$, free continuous rx's (like your htn, and diabetes and asthma meds), and a lot of participating providers)

Our trucks can be dual medic. We use a crew chief/non crew chief structure. The crew chief is a medic who has been here at least 6 months and gone through some additional operational training. The NCC can be an EMT or a medic. I came in with years of experience and still started as a NCC to learn the operational side.

I have never felt like a number, but I also make an effort to engage in conversations too. All the supervisors I've dealt with make an effort to know you, and most the 'carpet walkers' do as well, if you let them. Our UHU has been pretty high, (I average 4 transports in a 12, with 2-3 refusals/cancelled) but not excessive. The majority of our posts are CFD stations. A lot of crews prefer to sit in the trucks but we are allowed in the stations (keys and everything). I think we have one post that isn't a station or medic post; and that's only used for concerts and such.

We have a separate division that runs our NET (non emergency transports) but occasionally they trickle over into the 911 trucks as well. I avg 2-4 a month.

We use a modified SSM system. All of our trucks turn out of a main station and you don't return to the same post so it's not a 'return to your bed/meal/homework as you left it' kind of system.

We ran a little over 100,000 last FY (146k responses and 112k transports) and have just over 1 mil in the county.

Feel free to ask any more questions you have. I relocated from NY about a year ago and am very happy with my decision.

 

[Rescue37]

Sorry if some of these are dumb questions that are easily found on the net . I just haven’t had anyone to talk to that lives there and my wife isn’t exactly an expert on NC jobs lol

 

[PassionMedic]

I have a buddy from NY who is over at wake. I don't think he is on the forums but can put you in touch if you'd like.

 

[DrParasite]

So Wake County EMS and Medic both use system status management ?

We use a modified SSM system. All of our trucks turn out of a main station and you don't return to the same post so it's not a 'return to your bed/meal/homework as you left it' kind of system.

That sounds like total SSM to me. no home base, going to call to to call, occasionally stopping at someone else's station to use the bathroom, etc.

At Wake, you have a home EMS station. There might be a couple shared stations in the county fire stations, but there are more stand alone EMS stations than shared ones. Your car is parked at said station, and every attempt is made to get you back to your primary area. You have a bed, lockers, place to leave your personal gear, etc. You can cook dinner or lunch instead of having to eat fast food.. Those were all huge draws for me.

However, every truck has AVL, so if you are closest to the call, you get picked. Re-locations do happen (but much less frequently at night), but it's not like you are bouncing all over the county on a regular basis. There are guys who are assigned a northern wake county truck that have never gone on a call in the south end of the county.

And in your personal opinion what would be the bigger agency? Medic or wake ? What is better ? (in your opinion).

When I worked in NJ, I saw guys get run into the ground in a SSM system. So one of my requirements when I looked at an EMS system was EMS stations were mandatory. I had no desire to be stuck in an ambulance for 12 hours when I wasn't on a call. I also didn't want to always feel like a guest in someone else's house. That knocked MEDIC out of the running.

I know several guys who are very happy at Wake, and their new deputy director of operations is a former NY medic. There are some dual medic units, but most are EMT/Medic or AEMT/Medic. It all depends on scheduling.

I don't want to mislead you: it's not an EMS utopia, and there are issues and chronically unhappy people at Wake EMS. And yes, some people don't complete the academy, and some that don't complete the Field training evaluation process, for various reasons. I can't speak for Charlotte, but the biggest selling point for me to live in Raleigh was there are 5 other county agencies within an hour drive of Raleigh. So if you arrive in Wake and find yourself absolutely miserable, there are several other options that you can pursue (and they all need paramedics).

Wake and MEDIC are probably the two biggest EMS systems in the state, as both meck and wake are 1 & 2 in terms of population in the state. They are great places to get started, but if you work at Wake and decide to leave after 5 years to work for another county agency, your benefit time (vacation and sick) and pension time all come with you. IDK how if medic is the same way.

Disclaimer: I don't work for Wake EMS, I work in the private sector currently and am a part time Wake County Firefighter.

 

[Rescue37]

Damn there’s some really good points. I definitely am having trouble choosing between the two because they both seem really good but I didn’t know that stuff about wake county and you do prove some good points. I work for AMR now In Palm Beach and all we do is interfacility transport or dialysis and it is miserable, we have a SSM here and it sucks .

I’m just worried if I work at wake I won’t be busy. I happen to be a white cloud

 

[PassionMedic]

So our SSM is modified Bc we don't reassign every unit based on dispatch. Just Bc a call goes out, we don't ALL move based on system status recommendations. It's a bit hard to explain, but you can also visit the area and schedule a ride along and have an opportunity to see inside our dispatch center for a better understanding. For the most part the crews at the fire stations welcome us and don't make you feel awkward being there.

 

[DrParasite]

That makes sense. I never liked that concept when I was in update NY (downtown unit gets a call, and everyone shifts positions). But I do understand that coverage needs to be maintained in someway, while maximizing the available units (often at the expense of employee down time).

I work for AMR now In Palm Beach and all we do is interfacility transport or dialysis and it is miserable, we have a SSM here and it sucks.

SSM sucks everywhere. Wake doesn't do SSM per se, they do station based deployment. So while you might be relocated to cover a hole, you are going to another station, not to sit on a street corner. And wake does kinda do inter-facility runs but it's when a facility (dr's office, clinic, etc) calls 911 they are dispatched as transfers, but they are going to the hospital, you won't be doing discharges or dialysis runs.

I’m just worried if I work at wake I won’t be busy. I happen to be a white cloud

Busy is a relative term. I came from an agency where our BLS units could do anywhere form 12 to 20 calls during a typical 12 hour shift; ALS could do between 8 and 15 in 12 hours. in NC, no one is that busy; but there are days when you come in at 7am, get a call and you don't see your station until 7pm.

I agree with @PassionMedic, schedule a ride along and speak to people. Come to the area, drive around, look at apartment complexes. The testing process for wake is 2 days long; so try to do a ridealong the day before, see how that goes, then do the practical exam, then the written and interview. Tour the area, enjoy the food, maybe go to an event at DPAC or PNC area or redhat amphitheater, and see if you like the area. I'd even speak to people in Durham and Orange County while you are in the area, just to get additional opinions (and if they are playing, you def need to go to a durham bulls baseball game).

don't forget to bring the wife so she knows what's around here too.

 

[Carlos Danger]

Don’t forget about lifestyle issues. The two areas are sufficiently different that outside of work, you might like living in one area much more than the other. CLT is more densely situated and more urban than the RDU area. Cost of housing has gone up a lot recently in CLT, but is still very reasonable by most urban standards. Lots to do in both areas, just a different feel. RDU is closer to the beach than the mountains; CLT is the opposite.

 

[Rescue37]

Well me and the wife are big in nature . An I live in Florida so if I want to be super close to the beach I'll stay here. Lol . I wanna be somewhere in the middle between the mts and the beach . But I want a lot woods and parks and stuff. A rural area with land that I can commute to the big city to work..

But like the doc said I gotta visit. So I've already looked into ride times. I gotta wait til monday to here back but from what I've gathered which ever place I choose they both seem to have good benefits and ALOT of pros.

 

[Rescue37]

Well me and the wife are big in nature . An I live in Florida so if I want to be super close to the beach I'll stay here. Lol . I wanna be somewhere in the middle between the mts and the beach . But I want a lot woods and parks and stuff. A rural area with land that I can commute to the big city to work..

But like the doc said I gotta visit. So I've already looked into ride times. I gotta wait til monday to here back but from what I've gathered which ever place I choose they both seem to have good benefits and ALOT of pros.

And both places are always hiring lol

 

[Tigger]

Our UHU has been pretty high, (I average 4 transports in a 12, with 2-3 refusals/cancelled) but not excessive.

I think most busy EMS systems would consider that UHU to be pretty gravy. That's awesome. Seriously, our UHU here in El Paso County CO is usually close to twice that and it is not often fun.

 

[PassionMedic]

I think most busy EMS systems would consider that UHU to be pretty gravy. That's awesome. Seriously, our UHU here in El Paso County CO is usually close to twice that and it is not often fun.

Oh I know. I came from busier so this is cake for me, but some of my coworkers are less than pleased with the consistent increase in call volume of 3-4% every year

 

[RocketMedic]

0.6 uhu here in Houston

 

[Scott33]

FDNY isn't nearly as busy as people claim it is, especially when you look at # of calls per unit per shift.

I used to pick up the occasional Queens East tour when I worked per diem for one of the hospital-based FDNY affiliates. One or two shifts per 12 hour tour was the norm.

 

[PassionMedic]

FDNY also depends on what bus you are on.