When does Los Angeles county bids renew???
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Mufasa556
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I think they're up in May, but I havent heard anything about it on the playground.
Care is a safe bet. They won't really lose anything. AMR will probably keep some of theirs. The two interesting ones is McCormick and Schaefer's area. I've heard that Care and AMR are looking to move in on McCormick. If Schaefer keeps East county, It'll blow my mind.
It's all pure speculation though. Until the county releases the bid stuff and everyone can see who's doing what, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Just worry about getting hired.
When Care swept all of OC a large portion of the Doctors employees working those areas were hired on by Care and just continued doing their thing.
Care is a safe bet. They won't really lose anything. AMR will probably keep some of theirs. The two interesting ones is McCormick and Schaefer's area. I've heard that Care and AMR are looking to move in on McCormick. If Schaefer keeps East county, It'll blow my mind.
It's all pure speculation though. Until the county releases the bid stuff and everyone can see who's doing what, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Just worry about getting hired.
When Care swept all of OC a large portion of the Doctors employees working those areas were hired on by Care and just continued doing their thing.
gonefishing
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Word on the street is they want more providers and the zones are increasing to 13? But smaller coverage areas which means the need for more providers.
Mufasa556
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Ooh, I didn't know that. That's a juicy twist!
Jim37F
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First I've heard about splitting up the EOAs....(hardly evidence thats not going to be the case though lol, just outa curiosity where did you hear that tidbit?)
Everyone I've talked to expects Schaefer to lose their current EOA in the northern San Gabriel Valley, either to AMR (who's Irwindale station is in their old zone Schaefer now runs) or to Care who opened a new Irwindale station of their own. The only thing I've heard so far from McCormick has been rock solid confidence they'll keep all their current zones in the South Bay and Malibu, and they have approximately zero interest in bidding on AMR's zones in the northern part of the county (Lancaster/Palmdale), though I wouldn't be half surprised if they bid on the other areas (hopefully they win one, it'll be a shorter commute for me! lol)
There's always the possibility a current IFT only company may win one (I'm sure more than a few will submit bids). I'm sure AmeriCare would love to run more than Santa Monica, Ambuserve bid on the Torrance contract a few years back, PRN and Bowers are both large, known companies that could contend if they wanted to
Everyone I've talked to expects Schaefer to lose their current EOA in the northern San Gabriel Valley, either to AMR (who's Irwindale station is in their old zone Schaefer now runs) or to Care who opened a new Irwindale station of their own. The only thing I've heard so far from McCormick has been rock solid confidence they'll keep all their current zones in the South Bay and Malibu, and they have approximately zero interest in bidding on AMR's zones in the northern part of the county (Lancaster/Palmdale), though I wouldn't be half surprised if they bid on the other areas (hopefully they win one, it'll be a shorter commute for me! lol)
There's always the possibility a current IFT only company may win one (I'm sure more than a few will submit bids). I'm sure AmeriCare would love to run more than Santa Monica, Ambuserve bid on the Torrance contract a few years back, PRN and Bowers are both large, known companies that could contend if they wanted to
gonefishing
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I have my sources. Here is what ive heard.
Schaefer leaving Pomona and AMR coming in.
Mc Cormick giving up some areas due to them not having the man power.
CARE out of LA county and replaced by amr. Remember Bowers is now AMR essentially PRN is its own big being but for just how long? The current management or "advisor" Paul Scarborough has done some crazy things with companies in the past.
Jim37F
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Fair 'nough.
Consistent with the rumors I've heard
Highly doubtful, they have the best response times, currently ~96% compliance of the 8 min response times, the others are hovering just above 92% (the minimum requirement). Torrance is the only contract they've mentioned worry over losing (but Torrance is also a 6 district city that wants 12+ ambulances available in the city because of mandated code 2 responses to everything....then again, since TFD is buying RA's, how long before those switch over from squads to their own medics transporting?)
I'd be a little surprised if CARE completely lost LA Co considering they just last year swept 4 out the 5 EOAs in OC, and are currently eyeing being the ones to replace Schaefer in EOA 3.
True. There's lots of wild cards to be accounted for, politics, personal relations etc. I've heard that County also wants to mandate Type III mods over "vanbulances", I don't think anyone currently has 100% mods (though Care and McCormick come to mind as being in the best position to meet that requirement), but once again, wild card.
As for the OP, I wouldn't worry too much about getting hired on now...even if they announced the new EOAs tonight it'd take at least 6-12 months for a new company to actually start running calls in the new area more than likely..
gonefishing
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Actually Mccormick has been calling other services for back up lately. It's the wall time that is killing everyone. Nobody wants to do this job anymore especially at the pay of a burger flipper.
Mufasa556
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I heard he was instrumental in getting Care their fire contracts back in the day.
I was making this argument to a buddy of mine the other day. Trying to get one or more EOA in hopes of pulling more/better hospital contracts is right in his wheel house.
As for new players in the 911 game, I say PRN or Bowers would have a pretty good shot at getting something.
I look forward to a list of those that are bidding.
It really should be a gladiator/hunger games style event. Companies will choose their strongest employees and the company with the most, or last employee standing, wins that EOA. It would be awesome!
Patrick Holland
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Care has been hiring like crazy. I've heard they're putting two orientation classes through per month.They are hiring for something. Also Leader ambulance builders also has been producing a lot type III mod's for them. I would be surprised if Care lost anything. Falck is like AMR on steroids and they want EOA's badly. It will be a Care vs. AMR faceoff for Schaefers EOA and AMR will lose, they are the reason County had to split everything into separate EOA's in the first place. McCormick will be fine, I hear County is pretty content with them. Torrance is a whole different animal. TFD stated in their RFP that they wanted to start transporting by the end of this year/early next year. I think they have either 3-4 RA's that are in service. So it is possible that McCormick will lose that contract by the end of the year, but it would be good for them. The TFD contact is a complete burden for anyone that had/has it. I have no idea why McCormick bid on the contract in the first place.
Jim37F
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Yeah Torrance is its own animal. Right now they only have two ambulance Rescues, the other three are still squads. I believe I've heard that the city's intent is that once they complete the fleet switchover they do intend to start transporting in their own RA's, as well as possibly set up their own BLS AO program to supplement those RA's. Which while that could start happening within a year or two (at least their own ALS transports), that'd mean once the contract is over, McCormick would now have all those extra Type III mod Day Cars (and crews) available for their County areas...maybe enough in reserve to possibly chase an extra zone? I know I only just got hired there, but there was a new hire class in mid-December while I was interviewing, and apparently another one getting ready to start now that my class has started field training so we're not exactly stagnant on hiring either lol. It'll definitely be very interesting to see how the bids play out.
fatkid
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Shortage of EMT's????? I am receiving calls from companies I applied with over a year and a half ago.
gonefishing
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Economy is better, minimum wage is higher, nobodys taking emt classes or willing to do the job anymore. Welcome to the new age.
The fact that many EMTs got a raise when minimum wage went up on January 1st is telling. In my humble opinion a lot of people have started to figure out the true nature of private EMS and the insidious nature of Fire Department hiring. Anyone from SoCal will attest that somewhere around 80-90% of all people working for a private company are trying to get hired on with a Fire Department. Fire Departments are the only way to make a living wage with good benefits, most people have also seen/heard/ otherwise figured out that getting hired by a fire department is akin to hitting the lottery. Some guys are 20 y/o and get hired by LAFD with no experience yet others have sat on the list for almost 2 years and never gotten a test. For the smaller departments academy and Paramedic are almost defacto requirements. The big dogs are such pressure to fill quotas when hiring that if you don't check certain boxes you are already at a disadvantage. I tell anyone who asks for advice to finish school first, plus it helps you out when getting hired as it shows dedication and the ability to complete something as well as giving you a skill set to fall back on. The only thing new age going on is a better economy where people have options instead of working for minimum wage for years as an EMT testing everywhere hoping to get that lucky break.
gonefishing
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Who got raises? LOL I know plenty of companies that when the wage went up, everyone including the people with 8 years experience were pulling the same pay as the new guy. It's primarily Los Angeles. I know PLENTY of other places near by that are private and take care of the people. A great example is Harvey Hall.
Most EMTs I talk to that work private EMS were making under $10/hour on 24 hr shifts, hence when minimum wage went up they got a raise. Most places don't have pay parity so if the lower scale goes up the top step earners pay should go up comparatively. I would like to know where all these wonderful places are. You mention Hall, one company out of probably 100 that treats people right. Since we are talking about DHS bids for EOAs and SoCal EMS in general let me know where these awesome private companies are so I can point people that way. I would highly recommend SBCoFD and Rialto Fire's AO program over any private outfit.
gonefishing
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Most union shops if you know how to use your union are making around $13 fresh out of school. I know that at Bowers now a amr company its $20.44 an hour for new paramedics, $22 at prn and liberty. AMR hires new emts at $12.48 an hour. Non experience emts at prn, liberty $14 an hour to start. Experienced, $17 an hour. Most your mom and pops are paying $12 starting for emts and around $18 for medics. Thats in So Cal. Up north where its mostly bls fire or fire doesn't do any ems I know medics making $30 an hour. Emts making $20 an hour. In San Diego thanks to the unions effort they will be making liveable wages. The only reason why fire pays what fire pays is because of the crooks at the IAFF. Guys at AMR make more than the guys in the san bernardino AO program.
IMO its all about the benefits. I'll keep the pension and security
TreySpooner65
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$20.44/hr out of medic school (is that 8 or 12?) Is not bad. Neither is $22 at liberty.
$17 for an EMT?? That's pretty darn good if it's 12 hour pay.
But what are the hidden intangible costs?
1) I have to work in LA County, under LA protocols.
2) I can't run 911 as a medic, unless I'm a firefighter, which I'm not, and don't want to be.
3) if I'm an emt, I'm either making good money doing IFT, or driving a taxi for LACoFD.
4) Some of these well paying outfits are owned by less desirables.
I'll take my slightly lower pay, and take my free health care and good employer.