Which is better: working for a private ambulance company or a fire department?

[DrankTheKoolaid]

There are also non suppression Paramedic jobs within the Fire Service such as San Francisco FD

 

[DrParasite]

Sometimes working EMS via FD also is insecure. Many areas are making EMS privatized or hospital based. If a private company can put in a zero bid, making profit only from billing, it is cheaper for the FD/Municalpity. They do not have to worry about the medical end and have fewer employees on the pay roll. Something that has been happening a lot near me.

happened to several places (that we both can probably name). FD EMS was paying their people good wages, benefits, and allowed them to have careers. private company came in, zero bid (or lower bid them), and they were given pink slips when the bean counters looked at the numbers. suffice it to say, most people didn't stay on with the private company, despite being offered positions to work the same jobs for half the pay.

If you want benefits and salary, go FD. But don't be surprised if you do 80% of the work for the dept and only get 20% of the budget. and don't be shocked when you are treated like a redheaded stepchild. but it's still better than working for a private for profit company.

personally, I prefer county or municipal based EMS systems, with hospital based being a close second.

 

[Wheel]

Outside of cities, paid fire doesn't always pay as well as people seem to think. Many fire districts that cover unincorporated areas can only rely on their mill levy, so wages may not be very high. I make the same money at my ambulance district (funded by mill levy and patient transports) as some of the neighboring FDs make simply because their levy isn't high and there isn't a high population.

This is how it is in my county. Fire fighters start in the high 20's/low 30's a year. EMT's at my county based service start at 36k, medics at 40k (42k when you clear your orientation, which lasts about three months.)

If you want to make better money and actually use what you have learned it is better to work on becoming a firefighter. Unless your state has FD and EMS separate. Private companies tend to not pay much and more than likely you will only do IFT calls and get paid enough not to quit.

Like has already been mentioned, this is not the case in many places. It is very area dependent.

 

[Handsome Robb]

I make 50k a year base salary as a medic. For a private agency that is the sole 911 provider for the county.