You might work for a private if.....
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crazycajun
Forum Captain
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You flag down an ALS county 911 unit, open the back doors and tell them here, YOU TAKE HIM!!!
You get sent on a call 10 posts away...then get asked for an ETA.
You spend more time driving to post moves then actual calls
Your rig isn't back from the day crew but dispatch keeps paging you to ask why you aren't 10-8.
You don't have a machine to do compressions for you.
You volunteer to come in and get put in the worst truck in the fleet...just to see all the brand new ones parked in the lot.
You have been towed in more then once in a shift...and you know every tow guys name...and they tell you which trucks to avoid.
The 6 month shift bid happens every 8-9 months
The company buys new rigs but puts old boxes on them.
Your child seats are from the 80's
Your uniform makes you look more like a security guard than an EMT
Way more to list but I'm running late for my shift
You spend more time driving to post moves then actual calls
Your rig isn't back from the day crew but dispatch keeps paging you to ask why you aren't 10-8.
You don't have a machine to do compressions for you.
You volunteer to come in and get put in the worst truck in the fleet...just to see all the brand new ones parked in the lot.
You have been towed in more then once in a shift...and you know every tow guys name...and they tell you which trucks to avoid.
The 6 month shift bid happens every 8-9 months
The company buys new rigs but puts old boxes on them.
Your child seats are from the 80's
Your uniform makes you look more like a security guard than an EMT
Way more to list but I'm running late for my shift
TransportJockey
Forum Chief
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Remounting is actually pretty common and saves a bunch of money for services. Even third service agencies use remounts
Every box at my last FD job was a remount.
TransportJockey
Forum Chief
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I thought some FDs used at least some remounts, but wasn't sure. I used third services because most I know use remounts to some extent
Fraizer boxes dang near last forever. You couldn't tell they were remounts in any way, shape or form.
It is 2 hours before the start of your shift; and you are being threatened with firing because you won't mark enroute on the emergency run they have toned you out to 3 times.
you mark in service from the run, out of service enroute back to area (from 2 states away) by phone. and Dispatch tells you they have an emergency run holding for you. AND writes you up when you tell them that it will be 6 hour ETA.
When you get the the Hospital 3 hours from base for transport back to your city, and find out that the patient is going to a hospital with the same name as the one in your city, but 2 states away. Done that more than I care to remember, but always is nice OT.
you mark in service from the run, out of service enroute back to area (from 2 states away) by phone. and Dispatch tells you they have an emergency run holding for you. AND writes you up when you tell them that it will be 6 hour ETA.
When you get the the Hospital 3 hours from base for transport back to your city, and find out that the patient is going to a hospital with the same name as the one in your city, but 2 states away. Done that more than I care to remember, but always is nice OT.
There are new employees to meet every two weeks.
You don't know your supervisor's name.
You're aware of several lawsuits pending against the company for labor issues.
You have a bariatric stretcher, but no bari truck.
You have "find the expired items" scavenger hunts at the start of every shift.
Your coworkers have visible tattoos/facial piercings.
You get off at 2300 & dispatch doesn't understand why you don't want to pick up at 0500.
When the only in-service your company has ever offered is on how to do paperwork in a way that Medicare will be guaranteed to pay for the run.
Your QA consists of explaining how to re-write a narrative so Medicare will pay for the run.
When anytime you hear the phrase "it is X minutes/hours away," you assume the person is maliciously lying, including outside of work.
You don't know your supervisor's name.
You're aware of several lawsuits pending against the company for labor issues.
You have a bariatric stretcher, but no bari truck.
You have "find the expired items" scavenger hunts at the start of every shift.
Your coworkers have visible tattoos/facial piercings.
You get off at 2300 & dispatch doesn't understand why you don't want to pick up at 0500.
When the only in-service your company has ever offered is on how to do paperwork in a way that Medicare will be guaranteed to pay for the run.
Your QA consists of explaining how to re-write a narrative so Medicare will pay for the run.
When anytime you hear the phrase "it is X minutes/hours away," you assume the person is maliciously lying, including outside of work.
TransportJockey
Forum Chief
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The first one is standard at my service
I've been there three months and I'm an 'old timer'...As for the second... What does that have to do about private service. I worked for a municipal 911 service in TX and had visible tattoos, and my private 911 service a good percentage of us have visible tattoos
gillysaurus
Forum Lieutenant
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Quoted for truth! I don't work for a private survice anymore (yeehaw), and more than half of the folks at my non-private service now have many visible tattoos/piercings. We're required to cover, but the cops aren't. They wear them loud and proud, and I'm pretty sure they're not privatized!
You're eligible for food stamps
You and your partner have one month's experience between the both of you
You have to constantly chase them to get your hours right, and then actually get them to pay you
You've ever been stiffed by the company after having paid out of pocket for tolls on a call (no EZ Pass)
Get 1-2 hour (or more) late jobs every day, but can't get any OT shifts because they want to save money by running down trucks
Your orientation and precepting timeframe is a total of three days or less
The hourly rate they quoted you verbally at the interview (get it in writing!) is higher than what they're actually paying you
They tell you that you're hired as a FT or PT employee, until you ask when your medical benefits kick in, or about sick days/vacation days, then they tell you that you're per diem
You have to call dispatch and request permission to go L/S to the hospital w/ a pt
Whenever they're not on a call, almost every employee takes off their uniform shirt so everyone can see their cool volunteer FD shirt that they have underneath
Yor partner is doing detective work every time to find out why you're going on that call instead of other units - for example, where the other units are, how many calls the other units ran today, if the crew is sleeping with one of the dispatchers and are getting a break, the 1800 hrs truck should be inservice, why aren't they getting it, etc. They're calling dispatch, asking other road units what they did so far today, so on and so forth.
Your partner's a medic and has never once boarded and collared a pt, and probably doesn't know how to
If you have a cascade system to replenish your O2
If the company reorganizes and/or changes names every couple of years for various legal reasons
If your partner has ever attempted to "get air" while driving the bus over a hump or hill
There's no deferred comp in place, six days or less of sick time or vacation time every year
If you get less than time and a half when you work on a holiday
If your FT schedule is three 12's a week w/ no additional shifts to get to 40 hours, to save on OT costs
If you've got one year on the job and you're already burned out
You and your partner have one month's experience between the both of you
You have to constantly chase them to get your hours right, and then actually get them to pay you
You've ever been stiffed by the company after having paid out of pocket for tolls on a call (no EZ Pass)
Get 1-2 hour (or more) late jobs every day, but can't get any OT shifts because they want to save money by running down trucks
Your orientation and precepting timeframe is a total of three days or less
The hourly rate they quoted you verbally at the interview (get it in writing!) is higher than what they're actually paying you
They tell you that you're hired as a FT or PT employee, until you ask when your medical benefits kick in, or about sick days/vacation days, then they tell you that you're per diem
You have to call dispatch and request permission to go L/S to the hospital w/ a pt
Whenever they're not on a call, almost every employee takes off their uniform shirt so everyone can see their cool volunteer FD shirt that they have underneath
Yor partner is doing detective work every time to find out why you're going on that call instead of other units - for example, where the other units are, how many calls the other units ran today, if the crew is sleeping with one of the dispatchers and are getting a break, the 1800 hrs truck should be inservice, why aren't they getting it, etc. They're calling dispatch, asking other road units what they did so far today, so on and so forth.
Your partner's a medic and has never once boarded and collared a pt, and probably doesn't know how to
If you have a cascade system to replenish your O2
If the company reorganizes and/or changes names every couple of years for various legal reasons
If your partner has ever attempted to "get air" while driving the bus over a hump or hill
There's no deferred comp in place, six days or less of sick time or vacation time every year
If you get less than time and a half when you work on a holiday
If your FT schedule is three 12's a week w/ no additional shifts to get to 40 hours, to save on OT costs
If you've got one year on the job and you're already burned out
You know the location of every dialysis clinic in your metropolitan area.
Your supervisor has advised you to "punch the console" in order to ensure the lights are functioning properly.
The individual that hired you is no longer working for the company when you start.
Your supervisor has advised you to "punch the console" in order to ensure the lights are functioning properly.
The individual that hired you is no longer working for the company when you start.
Bwahahaha. So true!
Meursault
Organic Mechanic
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- You end up performing minor repairs on your equipment at least once a week. I tell people I bought my Leatherman mostly to screw parts back onto the truck. Another crew came back and requested two equipment seals and an opinion on whether opening the tool kit and having a cop hit a malfunctioning part with a hammer was appropriate.
- You've ever been in a truck older than your partner.
- Most of the dispatchers used to work in the field, "until...", and no one will finish that sentence.
- Some of the supervisors and training personnel used to work in the field until...
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EMTswag
Forum Crew Member
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when dispatch sending you to post in the middle of the ghetto at 0200 isnt a big deal
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And you're the only overnight truck on for your company and could have been posted at literally anywhere else in the metro area.
You can't plan next week until friday when the new schedule comes out since you never, ever work the same shift twice.
If you're "scheduler" does not look at the previous weeks schedule meaning that you have six hours off between your shift on saturday and the overnight on starting at 000 on sunday.
Sometimes it's fun to complain, but my company does in fact treat us pretty well.
DesertMedic66
Forum Troll
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Reading all of these makes me think that my company isn't private. But I know it's a private company lol.
If you go through a set of batteries in your pager monthly.
If co-workers complain that they never get OT; but also say that they turn their pagers off when they are not on the clock.
When you don't call for OT shifts until they have been paged out for at least 6 hours so that others can get the chance; but still have more OT than you can work.
If co-workers complain that they never get OT; but also say that they turn their pagers off when they are not on the clock.
When you don't call for OT shifts until they have been paged out for at least 6 hours so that others can get the chance; but still have more OT than you can work.