What kind of area do you work in?

[Cory]

So, what type of region is your department in? Are you an EMT in a big city, or the suburbs, or a dense forest?

You get the point(I hope)

So my reason for asking is: I want to understand what people in different areas of EMS encounter. So, when you answer, can you also include a reason why you do or don't like that area. Would you be happier working in a different type of region, or another city?

I have always wanted to work as a medic for the Cincinnati Fire Department(1st in the nation!) which is a big city in Ohio. But unfortunately, due to rough economic times, they aren't hiring possibly for years (kill me)

So, I know this topic might sound stupid, and it's not worded very well(it's late) but basically I just want to know what people working in EMS, on totaly different ends of the scale, think about their job in accordance with the area they work. Sorry if it's been done before, I couldn't find one.

thanks
-Cory-

 

[WuLabsWuTecH]

I work in a suburb bordering a large city. Our main service area is about 1-1.5 square miles large and we contract to provide the next township with EMS (they don't have an ambulance) so that adds another 7 square miles or so. We also mutual aid the large metro department as about 40-60% of our calls. Most of the other stations around us have a primary service area of about 5-10 square miles and get about 5k-8k calls per year. The exception is one of the 2 downtown stations that is known as the "busiest station in the nation" That was true as of a few years ago, i'm not sure about now.

 

[mace85]

I work in an all volunteer agency that is affiliated with the Sheriff’s Office. Our primary function is to cover the recreational areas around the lakes and rivers. We don't transport but a fair amount of our calls end up going by air. We work medical standbys for DUI task forces, protests, events. I am told that we do medical at SAR call outs too, but I haven't seen one of those yet. Our coverage area is mostly desert and the areas surrounding the counties lakes and recreational areas. A fair amount of our coverage when it isn't 120 degrees consists of off-road trails in the area. The plus side is it makes the job much more fun, the downside is that we can have significantly extended ETAs to our patients.

 

[spisco85]

My job covers five towns ranging from urban to suburban as primary coverage. We also do mutual aid to nearby areas. This company does 911 and IFT

My volunteer department covers 47.1 sq miles with a population of 7500. Call volume is minimal but its 911 only.

Between the two I like to think I get a good amount of experience. I like the mix of areas that are covered.

 

[PapaBear434]

My area is kind of weird. Big city in the city center, tourist beach front, lots of suburbs, a swampy country area and farm land in the outskirts, and lots of apartments and nursing homes spread without.

I figure it's a good way to get a feel for everything.

 

[TransportJockey]

My internship dept is the private service in a two-tier response system based in the largest metro area in NM. I'm not a fan. I like rural areas much better

 

[Small_Town_EMT]

I Volunteer in a very small community in the mountains in Idaho. There are a number of year round residents here, with many, many vacation homes in the area. On the weekends the back Forest Service roads and logging roads are packed with ATV's and campers. In the fall we have hunters and in the winter we have people on snow machines. So needless to say we have our fare share of trauma, which almost always involves alcohol. We also have a lot of medical calls - many of which are chest pain (haven't figured that one out yet). I love where I work, and think a small community is the way to go.

 

[wyoskibum]

I currently work on the East Coast. Our town is part of a metropolitan area. The population is 61,000 with an area of 67.2 square miles. Our service is a 3rd party, not-for profit corporation which is funded by the town and donations from the community. A majority of our calls are medical with patients > 60.

I came from a small town in Wyoming and worked for a town/county Fire/EMS department. We did 50/50 medical vs trauma, but had a much younger and healthier population. We had crazy response and transport time with an area of 4,222 square miles.

 

[NomadicMedic]

I work on the West Coast, in a suburb south of Seattle. It's an area of 17.85 square miles, with close to 60,000 residents.

I work for the company that provides BLS 911 with Fire first responders. We have a diverse range of calls. Resisdential calls from Section 8 housing to several million dollar homes. From heavy aerospace industry to the an NFL training camp.

We average 12 to 15 BLS transports in a 24 hour shift.

 

[Shishkabob]

The Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.

Dense urban population with Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Denton, and other cities.

 

[johnrsemt]

work on a military base that is 40X70 miles. plus we respond off base total area is 100x80 miles. transport to small hospital is 45 min from gate. level I trauma centers are about 1h25 min by ground. fly most of those.

very very slow: I am considered our unit crap magnet, and I have had 23 patients in 13 months.


Used to work private service and 911 in Indianapolis; very busy for both.


Love it here; but slow

 

[Mountain Res-Q]

http://www.emtlife.com/showthread.php?t=13545

County is: 2,274 sq mi
Population: ~60,000 (number will double to triple, if not more, on weekends and holidays because we are a tourist county)
density: ~25/sq mi (not really true as ~60% of the county is uninhabited forests, wilderness, and National Park)

Just to show you that most of the county is Wilderness, Yosemite, and Forest (a SAR dream), the peach area to the left is the only really inhabited portion of the county, and the red dots and the stars are the only population centers (thee biggest of which has a population of 5000 at night):

Ambulance Service covers it all (with the exception of the 1/4 covered by Yosemite National Park) with 4 24/7 Medic/EMT Ambulances and 1 12/7 Medic/EMT Ambulance. This includes all IFTs, a good portion of which are out of county, meaning a 2-6 hour transfer time. Additional ambos can be staffed if needed to a maximum of 12 units in county (hard to do), including 2 4WD riggs.

SAR (me) covers it all with (with the exception of the 1/4 covered by Yosemite National Park) 4 dedicated SAR units capable of seating 18 uncomfortably (our team is composed of anywhere from 25 to 55 people), a swiftwater trailer, a dive trailer, a snowmobile trailer (with 4 snomobiles), an ATV trailer (with 4 quads), and several horse trailers with horses (numbers depend on teh whose on the team). We also have access to other Sheriff's offce equipment (boats, more snowmobiles, more vehciles) and other resources from tothe agencies (helos, more horses, etc...)

Fire (some of whom also do EMS BLS First Response) is a seperate issue, as we are a wildland fire nighmare. We have 9 Fire Paid/Vollie Districts/Departments, the County Vollies (with 15 Stations), the USFS firefighters with their engines and utilities, and the state (CALFIRE) with their engines and utilities, not to mention the national park.

 

[daedalus]

So, what type of region is your department in? Are you an EMT in a big city, or the suburbs, or a dense forest?

You get the point(I hope)

So my reason for asking is: I want to understand what people in different areas of EMS encounter. So, when you answer, can you also include a reason why you do or don't like that area. Would you be happier working in a different type of region, or another city?

I have always wanted to work as a medic for the Cincinnati Fire Department(1st in the nation!) which is a big city in Ohio. But unfortunately, due to rough economic times, they aren't hiring possibly for years (kill me)

So, I know this topic might sound stupid, and it's not worded very well(it's late) but basically I just want to know what people working in EMS, on totaly different ends of the scale, think about their job in accordance with the area they work. Sorry if it's been done before, I couldn't find one.

thanks
-Cory-

I work in a sprawling urban hell known as Los Angeles.

 

[Hockey]

Inner city ghetto to the vast countryside


Best place

 

[EMTinNEPA]

My service is based in a decent-sized college town with a coverage area that extends to places beyond the proverbial destination known as "the sticks".

 

[rescue99]

Detroit Metro area. Basically, southeast Michigan. It has been a lot of fun and great experience working everything from Basic transports to IFT to CCT to 911 in a rural county one day and Detroit the next.

 

[timmy84]

I currently work in a suburban hospital, however I plan on finishing my EMT-B, and I will work for a local IFT service till I am able to enroll in the Paramedic program at the local community college next fall. I live on the border of suburbia and rural nothingness. The service I plan to work for is pretty much IFT only, however they do a lot of stand-by as well.

 

[fortsmithman]

My service is in a town approx 2500 people. Most of our service area is dense woodlands plenty of pine and spruce.

 

[whatevah]

My volly fire/EMS company serves 17 square miles of housing developments. Literally. Suburban area with a few trailer parks, schools and shopping centers/strip malls. My area is a highly populated section between the biggest city in my state and a college town with zero undeveloped land. Most of the states population lives in half of my county. (New Castle County, Delaware)

We provide mutual aid to the surrounding area in all directions, usually no further than 5 miles out for EMS. Around 1100 fire/rescue runs and 3000-3200 EMS runs per year. We have two BLS units, one staffed 24/7, the second staffed 8a-4p. ALS in Delaware is provided by the counties (fly cars staffed with 2 medics). A level 1 trauma center is right on the edge of our district, less than 10 minute transport time from the usual locations for MVCs.

 

[Double-E]

i *want* to work the city i live in:

800k in an area 7x7 miles. not counting the daily traffic from the business crowd. sweet.