Your first EMT-B job was...

[PeacefulIce]

Was it in a private service?

Emergency service?

One you have your certification where is the best place to start?

 

[titmouse]

Private, mostly ift. When you get your cards more than likely you will get a job with a private company doing ift. Its not a bad thing, its a good starting point.

 

[Angel]

ift...

the best place to start is the place that hires you. Honestly 911 is better as far as critical thinking and maybe getting to use SOME skills (though EMTs mostly drive). Anywhere you can get your foot in the door and get comfortable around pts and doing assessments is good, however, it is extremely competitive and you could waste a lot of time waiting for an offer.

 

[NomadicMedic]

My first EMS job was a private service that ran IFT and 911. A great place to learn. It was back in my hometown in CT and EVERYONE who was an EMT worked there at one point or another. That was almost 30 years ago, and I still have friends there.

The best job is the one you get hired at.

 

[Ewok Jerky]

Private service that ran 911 for a large swath of area and surrounding swaths of areas, with some IFT sprinkled in. Working on a P/B unit in 911 was a great way to learn. I would have burnt out quick working B/B IFT. Once I got my feet wet, ran out of adrenaline, and learned how the bills get paid, working IFT wasn't so bad.

 

[TransportJockey]

Since I got hired as an attendent only, I was doing mostly IFT for a large private company in NM. I did a few low acuity 911 calls and some standbys too for variety.

 

[ViolynEMT]

Still waiting for my first paying job.

 

[LACoGurneyjockey]

Private company in South LA running almost exclusively dialysis transports, with a critical SNF patient sent BLS every few weeks... I don't regret it, but if I had the opportunity to get on a 911 or ALS unit immediately I'd rather have done that. It was a good way to ease into the field though.

 

[DieselBolus]

IFT with mostly CCT. CCT can be a blast to run, and most of the RNs I've worked with are always happy to drill you with plenty of opportunities for critical thinking.

 

[LenaLena26]

Was it in a private service? Emergency service? One you have your certification where is the best place to start?

Private ambulance. Now I work as an ER Tech...Next is medic school and 911.

 

[Jim37F]

Private IFT only company in LA Co, first 6 months on a BLS unit that did mostly hospital transfers and discharges to SNF's, last 3 months at the company got put on a CCT shift, once again mostly non emergent hospital transfers, and ventilator transports, had a grand total of 1 emergent call in my entire time at the company for a STEMI transfer. It was a good company overall, with none of the horror stories I've heard about other LA area companies, but the monotony of stable patients where I did little more than monitor vitals (even on CCT) led me to apply elsewhere

My second job was at a company that did a mix of IFT and 911 transport for the city of Torrance in LA Co. I went from $10/hour to $8.50/hour with nearly twice as long commute, but I thought the calls would be worth it...nope. Code 2 to every 911 call regardless of what it was (once in a blue moon fire would upgrade us to Code 3, but even calls they would transport ALS, which policy required Code 3 transport, but 9 times out of 10 they were content to let us stay Code 2 coming into the scene). Combined with old equipment, company wide shortages of some equipment nearly every day it seemed, 12 hours of street corner posting all day with more than 3 calls being a busy day, low pay, clear favoritism on the part of dispatch and management, and being treated as little more than gurney pushers by fire...well lets just say I was less than happy there. That being said, echoing above, they were still better than a lot of the dialysis derby "shady" horror story little companies in the county. I stayed 6 months there, and only because I was in backgrounds at my current job. (This company has since closed its doors and ceased operations)

Where I currently have just under a year at my fire department EMT ambulance operator job that is heads and shoulders above both of those^ companies...heck, I think it's about the best single role EMT job in the county...exclusively 911 only response to all ALS and BLS calls, only 3 calls is a slow day, upwards of 6 calls in a 12 hour shift, 10-12 in a 24hr shift, no street corner posting, half the rigs in the city are brand new (less than a year old), with pay that's half again as much as the privates, plus it's a city job so we get CALPers retirement contributions and other benefits, plus being in house with the department part of the culture and all that gives us a vital edge to win the lottery and get the coveted fire fighter job.

 

[dalmain]

Private service, but we had a contract with the local fire department, so we transported a lot of their BLS calls. I saw lots of trauma as an EMT, it was a very good experience.

 

[COmedic17]

A private IFT service. Fire In that town/state didn't respond to nursing facilities so we did all calls coming out of those too. Saw a lot of cardiac ( was in medic school at the time).

 

[Leatherpuke]

Just started my first AEMT job, never worked as a paid EMT, just volly fire.

Extremely rural County service with low call volume. I only work weekends right now and when I worked the other night we hadn't had a call in 4 days.

Working rural can be fun though, you really have to know your stuff. We might have a patient in the rig for upwards of an hour depending on where we are going. So you had better know your drugs, patient assessment, how to read an ECG, etc...because alot can happen between the time you pick them up to the time you finally get to a hospital. We do ALOT of air transport as well, setting up an LZ in a cow pasture can be..........interesting.

There are no paramedics out here, AEMT's run the ALS units and have awesome scope of practice. By the way, getting a job as an AEMT/Paramedic in Kansas is ridiculously easy. Everybody out here is hiring, not just rural either. You don't make much here but the cost of living is so low it doesn't matter. You can live like a king here on EMS pay.

 

[TransportJockey]

But... it's Kansas.

 

[shaggyc]

But... it's Kansas.

That was my thought as well. Though my impressions are only based on the boring I-70 drive to Colorado.

 

[Tigger]

My first job was as a student-athletic trainer for a Division 1 hockey program. It was nearly entirely a sports medicine position, but we required to take the college's EMT class.

After my first year doing that I got hired by a smaller private in Boston to work during school breaks. When I started we had 5 BLS and 1 ALS and it was pretty fun. We picked up the scraps that the city EMS did not want to take and ran a fair amount of nursing home type 911. When I came back in the winter the company had grown to close to 40 ambulances and had the VA contract. That was miserable, all extremely BLS transfers all day.

I went to college in Colorado Springs and got hired part time at the place I am now fulltime at while I was winding down school. Once I graduated I got picked up by a private service contracted to a fire district. The company sucked but it was a fun place to work until one day the boss called me and transferred my position to Denver, I then quit.

Desperate for fulltime employment I worked a wheelchair/psych/detox transport van for a while until I got on fulltime where I am. We are a suburban to frontier service that covers about 600 square miles with two to three ambulances. I love where I am. To supplement my income I work for another rural service nearby as well the local AMR operation.

I got hired fulltime where I am now in January 2014. I finished the EMT class in May 2010, so while it's been a short career so far I have had some pretty good variety.

 

[DesertMedic66]

Event medical company that I couldn't work many events because I was under 21. I only worked 1 event in 3 months.

About a week after I was hired at the event company I was hired at a private 911/IFT company (mostly 911) and have been there for around 4 years. It will be my first medic job also.

 

[Zimmermann4588]

Im still in HS so I'm just old enough to be an EMT. Right now I'm volunteering with my local volunteer squad. I've been with them for half a year now and have enjoyed it quite a bit. Right now I am only state certified (NJ) but am working on getting nationally certified so I can continue being an EMT when I go off to college.

 

[Leatherpuke]

That was my thought as well. Though my impressions are only based on the boring I-70 drive to Colorado.

Yeah.......there's that. But like most states, people have a misconception about Kansas, I know I did before the Army stationed me here. Low taxes, extremely low cost of living, lots and lots of EMS jobs, good people, low crime, awesome gun laws ( it's important to me) and more hunting and fishing than you can handle. ( see my avatar)

Kansas is pretty awesome if you can handle some extreme weather and not much in the way of scenery.

I had my fist shift yesterday as a paid AEMT. Only one call in a 24 hour shift and it was an easy one. The pay ain't much but the benefits are great, fully paid medical for my entire family. After reading this forum for a while, I feel pretty dang lucky to be working a 911, county run service with benefits right out of school.

I'm just saying, if you're looking for a good EMS job, Kansas should be on your list.