how hard to get EMT job?

[moviefreak]

i plan on taking the EMT course next year and work parttime. i'll be graduating this december and i have no job prospects besides this plan w/c is still up in the air. is this feasible? or is it hard to get hired in SoCal and i'd be just wasting money?

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[X]

It's easy to get hired because the turnover rate is so high. But Beware, the pay sucks and the hours are looooonnng.....just got home, it's 3:25 am right now, started this afternoon at 1:45.


X

 

[moviefreak]

that's good news for me. i don't mind the pay and the hours but i want the experience=)

 

[mp119]

I recommend calling a few companies and find out if they have a fire contract, that is, if they also run 911 calls. Interfacility transports are kick-back and easy but can get boring. The real excitement is in 911's. I don't think any private ambulance companies in LA run w/ fire..try Orange County (thats where i work) or San Diego or Riverside has lots of crazy calls. Lots of places are always hiring. hope this helps.

 

[streetdoc]

what part of the country do you live in, moviefreak?
that'll tell alot about what types of jobs are available.
cheers,
streetdoc

 

[PluckyDuk8]

You should probably do a little research on how EMS works in your area and see how availability occurs by you. Where I'm at the privates advertise in the classifieds nearly all the time, but certain companies have hiring downtimes at other times. Also try talking to your instructors about it or find an EMT in your area that you can trust to give you accurate and good advice. Most of all do research on your options (if you have more than one) before you get hired so you join a company/public that is best for you. In Chicago the privates all have different flavors to them. For instance, mine is smaller so everyone knows everyone and and at times we act like a very disfunctional family .Hope this helps

 

[deleted6669]

IF YOU ARE IN LA CITY CHECK OUT SHAFFERS AMBULANCE SERVICE. IN THE PAST(1992) THEY PROVIDED TRANSPORT FOR LA CITY WITH BLS UNITS. ALSO IF YOU ARE WILLING TO DRIVE A BIT NORTH, VENTURA COUNTY HAS EMT/EMT-d(DEFIB) UNITS THAT ANSWER 911 CALLS. THEY ALSO HAVE EMT/EMT-P UNITS AS WELL AS DUAL MEDIC, DEPENDING ON THE AREA SO YOU CAN WORK YOUR WAY UP THE FOOD CHAIN AND BE A 911 PROVIDER AT EVERY STEP. I LAST WORKED THERE IN 1993, SO IT MAY BE DIFFERENT NOW-E

 

[moviefreak]

thanks you guys for the helpful responses. i haven't done much looking for EMT info since it has always been just an idea to me (i really want to stay in my research job but my graduation is so untimely, i'm unlikely to get hired in any lab). plus i'm in the app process which makes getting a regular job all the more hard. if i can't do research, i'd rather do hands on clinical rather than clerical stuff. and i'd rather work with EMTs rather than oldies

 

[pocwana]

what county are you in? if it's LA county, AMR runs with fire (except in LA city). they pay the worse, but you get the most experience. right now, i'm working weekends so that my weekdays are free to fly out for interviews. it's worked swimmingly so far! if you go with AMR, let me know. put my name on your app and we can split the bonus after you've worked ~6 months

oh, and i must warn you. there are many oldies in this field!

 

[X]

mp119, pocwana is right - AMR has the contract for 911. Orange County does to but it sucks, you can't do code 3 and most of the time it just BS transfers, with fire gone by the time you get there.

Pocwana where do you work dude? I am working for AMR out of cerritos, what about you?

X

 

[mp119]

when i enquired w/ amr they said they only ran interfacilities in la but i guess that was just for the areas they were hiring at. in oc my company (schaefer) has a contract w/ costa mesa fire and all the medics there come on the fire trucks so we transport all the patients they see and i have done a few code 3's but youre right, they are kinda rare. gotta go to some place in the boonies where everything is a long transport for that. and by the way schaefer in la no longer does fire calls.

 

[Harbindoc]

Hey Mp119,

I work for Schaefer in San Diego, and we run code all the time. Small world I guess. I have met a lot of people from OC that work for Schaefer esp when I went through EVOC, maybe we have met before.

 

[mp119]

harbindoc,

i went to EVOC just last june..like the first week i started working...that was so much fun..especially the skid pan! anyone else been to evoc or just us schaefer people?