(southern) californian ems, a question

[azerkail]

so word is that ems in california (also based on another emt forum i frequent), specifically southern california, is pretty sucky in terms of the job market/wages. hypothetically, what would you do if you _had_ (read: trapped and stuck)to work in california (bound because of school or other job or military or something like that).

also i know pasadena has a volunteer emt program but anyone know of anything closer to say cerritos (l.a. county near the 91 and 605)?

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[pseudoknot]

Your choices in Southern CA are basically between private ambulance companies, which don't pay well and may or may not do 911 response, and fire departments, which do pay well but are extremely competitive to work for. If you want to do EMS in that area you probably need to suck it up and accept low pay. McCormick and Gerber do a lot of 911 response but they all do IFTs too. Not sure how AMR is doing in that market lately.

Sierra Madre Fire used to be volunteer and is transitioning toward paid, not sure what the current status is but you can check with them.

The Pasadena EMSR is a great organization but they really do want people who are going to actually pull their weight and not just skip out in six months after putting it on their resume. However it is a good way to get on an ambulance in a busy system with flexible hours.

 

[deleted6669]

ventura county has a great ems system with amr the primary 911 responder in the county. ventura fire also has some 1st in areas but does not transport.

 

[azerkail]

thanks. i'll be going back to retake emt-b because i did it in high school but never tested, shouldn't be hard. taking it next semester.