what are my chances? Bay Area, CA

[dancelife8712]

I'm about 2 weeks away from completing my EMT-B courses. I have maintained high A's in all three classes in the program, and feel confident that I will pass the national registry after putting in lots of hours studying. I have a B.S. in Clinical Nutrition from UC Davis as well. I'm just wondering what my chances will be of getting hired in the Bay Area (CA) as either an ER tech or for an ALS company, or anywhere really. My plan longterm is to try for PA school. Any advice anyone has would be much appreciated!!

 

[NomadicMedic]

If you have a pulse and all of the required paperwork, and if there is an opening, you'll be hired. Shower before the interview. It increases your chance of getting hired.

I'm kidding... But I'm really not.

 

[pinto89]

Well I'm in Sacramento so I would assume the chances are similar. Little to none on the ER tech with no experience. It's really hard to get those jobs since everybody wants them. Even paramedics. Also it's pretty much all about who you know. As far as a private company? Honestly you're over qualified lol. You should have no issue whatsoever getting hired as long as there is an opening. Good luck and welcome to EMS!

 

[Aprz]

Often when people say ALS, they mean 911. Just to be clear (in case you didn't know, I don't know if you know), ALS does not mean 911. It's literally a lottery to get hired onto the 911. Doesn't really matter if you are new or have several years of experience. They are rarely hiring, and if they are, you will be competing against hundreds of applicants for a handful of positions at best.

There are several companies that have ALS (ie at least one paramedic on board), many that are IFT-only (not 911), but usually those shifts are reserved for EMTs with more seniority at the company. ProTransport-1 (Palo Alto, San Francisco), Bayshore Ambulance (San Jose, San Francisco), Silicon Valley Ambulance, Westmed (San Jose), King American Ambulance, American Medical Response, Verihealth (owned by Falck now), Paramedics Plus, Rural/Metro (San Jose), Riggs Ambulance Service, and Medic Ambulance have ALS shifts. Rural/Metro (Hayward) has Critical Care Transport Paramedics (CCT-P). Rural/Metro (Milpitas) used to have ALS, but that was discontinued recently. Only those locations I listed have ALS shifts eg ProTransport-1 has ALS shifts only at Palo Alto and San Francisco, not Richmond, Oakland, Hayward, etc. I believe Royal Ambulance, ProTransport-1, Rural/Metro of Northern California (Milpitas, their IFT division), and Verihealth are currently hiring.

Note: You might notice that Rural/Metro does both IFT and 911. Getting hired at Rural/Metro's IFT division is not a foot in the door to 911. They are treated like two separate companies, it's not easy to "transfer" to their 911 division. I say "transfer" loosely because you are not allowed to apply to other Rural/Metro divisions for at least one year, and when you are allowed to, you have to put in an application and interview again, you will be competing against other people who do not work for Rural/Metro and given no preference (based on what I was told, about the same amount of people from each company were hired the last time they hired, some people with little to no experience). You do not have to work for Rural/Metro IFT first to get hired onto the 911; You can be hired straight into the 911 without working IFT. If anything bad happens to you at Rural/Metro's IFT division, it will count against you when attempting to transfer. HOWEVER! It's such a lottery to get hired at 911 anyhow! that if you got hired at their IFT division, you chances of getting hired at their 911 division would decrease from 3% to 0% (this is based on the last hiring that had 10 open positions and 300 applicants that I was told had phone interviews). Although frustrating to not have even a little chance, the chance is already pretty low that I don't think it's that big of a deal to wait a year.

Hospitals usually prefer an EMT with at least 6 months experience for ER tech positions. I do know of people that have gotten ER tech positions without experience. Seems like a lot of paramedics apply for those positions and are the ones that get the job. I believe Kaiser Richmond, Kaiser Oakland, and El Camino - Mt. View are currently looking for ER techs.

Starting pay for EMTs for most IFT-only divisions/companies is minimum wage to $11.50/hour. Verihealth/Falck is the only IFT-only company I hear that pays well, they pay around $16/hour. A friend recently got hired there. 911 companies in the bay area pay >$15/hour. I listed Riggs Ambulance Service, they are 911, but technically not Bay Area in my opinion. They pay low, EMTs near minimum wage and paramedics $13/hour (less than some EMTs in the bay area!).

Although I told ya which companies I see hiring, do not limit yourself to only companies that are hiring, companies that have ALS, or companies that are 911. It's very hard to get an EMT/ER Tech job in the bay area. I highly recommend applying everywhere.

ProTransport-1 (San Francisco, Oakland, Hayward, Richmond, Palo Alto, Pleasant Hill)
Royal Ambulance (San Leandro, San Jose)
Rural/Metro (San Jose (911), Pacheco (IFT), Hayward (IFT), Milpitas (IFT))
Bayshore Ambulance !!!WARNING!!! Annoying website (Foster City, San Francisco, San Jose)
Silicon Valley Ambulance (San Jose, Morgan Hill)
Westmed Ambulance (San Jose, Hayward/Union City)
Falck Ambulance (San Carlos, Concord, San Mateo)
American Medical Response (AMR) (San Francisco, Concord, Santa Rosa, Napa)
King American Ambulance (San Francisco)
Golden State Ambulance (San Jose)
Norcal Ambulance (Fremont, Oakland)
Paramedics Plus (San Leando, Newark)
California Ambulance (Martinez)
Falcon Ambulance (Solano County?)
VeriHealth (I think San Mateo County? Sonoma County? Recently purchased by Falck)
Riggs Ambulance Service (RAS) (Merced County)
Medic Ambulance (Solano and Sacramento County)

CA EMSA Employment List

 

[dancelife8712]

thank you for all of the helpful info! I definitely did not know all of that. I was thinking I would get to see more stuff on an ALS rig which would be good experience for PA school, but I'll pretty much take whatever I can get.
Aprz- thank you especially for all the tips- I'll pass it along to my comrades in class

 

[Emptythought]

Thank you. Helped me a lot too.