What ambulance company is the best?

[justh0ang]

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Hi I just got my emt-B certification and I want to start working soon. I'm plannning to work for an ambulance company but before that, I wanted to find out which companies are good. I am a student at UCLA so I would want to work part time. In addition, I want an ambulance company that does mainly 9/11 emergency calls to gain the most experience. So if anyone has personal experience with their ambulance company, such as Gerber, Shaeffer, AMR, etc.. that they would like to share and recommend, please let me know. Again I am looking for flexibility, responds to 9/11 calls, and close proximity to Los Angeles. I don't care about the money. Thanks.

 

[BuckerPark]

You may be dissapointed to discover that even the major ambulance companies make big bucks on the good ole rehab to nursing home transports. Especially as a basic (unless you are a paired with a paramedic) this is likely to be the case. Don't worry though, chances are wherever you go, you'll get your share of chances to run 'red' on emergency calls. Just don't expect it to be ALL you do.

 

[justh0ang]

Hey,
yea I realize that that's where most companies make their money so I'm willing to do the transports, as long as its not the only thing I will see day in and day out. I'm hoping to find a company that does more of the emergency calls. Thanks for the reply.

 

[west nile]

I usually see AMR rigs bring in level 1 or 2 traumas, this is at Highland Hospital in Oakland though, not sure about the LA area but should be the same.
Did you take an accelerated EMT course or night classes? I have heard there is an accelerated course (1 week?) which costs like $1000.

 

[surfbro]

You will not be able to find a part time EMT job where your rig is in a 911 contracted area, the reason is simple: no ambulance company or patient wants a rusty EMT saving patients lives once a week, and besides even if you do get hired on with a 911 contracted company, if you are part time then you will always be doing the IFTs. but IFTs can be good experience as well.
IF you want to do 911 you MUST work FULL TIME!, I did it during school and it wasnt that bad, I did 2-24s, Fri 6pm-Sat 6pm and then Sun 5am-Mon 5am, and then I went to school. Its doable, but if you really want the experience, that is what you need to do. Good companies for 911 are AMR in contracted areas, McCormick. Gerber says they do 911, but they cant even show up on scene w/o fire dept present, so thats a joke.
good luck

 

[justh0ang]

You will not be able to find a part time EMT job where your rig is in a 911 contracted area, the reason is simple: no ambulance company or patient wants a rusty EMT saving patients lives once a week, and besides even if you do get hired on with a 911 contracted company, if you are part time then you will always be doing the IFTs. but IFTs can be good experience as well.
IF you want to do 911 you MUST work FULL TIME!, I did it during school and it wasnt that bad, I did 2-24s, Fri 6pm-Sat 6pm and then Sun 5am-Mon 5am, and then I went to school. Its doable, but if you really want the experience, that is what you need to do. Good companies for 911 are AMR in contracted areas, McCormick. Gerber says they do 911, but they cant even show up on scene w/o fire dept present, so thats a joke.
good luck

It makes sense, but I've heard of people working part time for these companies. If that's the case, I may consider the 2-24 thing. If worse comes to worse, I can put off research this quarter and focus on the emt thing. I will call them and ask them about part time positions. Thanks for the input.

 

[justh0ang]

I usually see AMR rigs bring in level 1 or 2 traumas, this is at Highland Hospital in Oakland though, not sure about the LA area but should be the same.
Did you take an accelerated EMT course or night classes? I have heard there is an accelerated course (1 week?) which costs like $1000.

I took night classes during the quarter. It was 4 hours a day 4 days a week and costed about $700.

 

[sendwich]

anyone know how i can look up where ems programs are offered? I live in northern orange county in ca and am having a hard time finding places offering these programs.

thanks

 

[45408]

You will not be able to find a part time EMT job where your rig is in a 911 contracted area

this may be true in LA, but it's not the case everywhere. My employer in Milwaukee hires people left and right for part-time work, and it's about 75% 911 calls, 25% grandma shuttle.

 

[lafd818]

Well I've worked for Westmed/McCormick for the last 9 months or so, and have nothing but great things to say about the company. 95% of the employees are all trying to go the FD route so you get to work with a lot of motivated individuals who all are working towards the same goal. Out of all the private companies with 911 contracts, Westmed has the best cities hands down. I worked in Malibu for about 7 months and I loved it there. They cover Inglewood, Hawthorne, West Hollywood, Malibu, Carson, Lynwood, Calabasas, you literally get alittle bit of everything. I now work for Schaefer and they have some ok cities but working for Schaefer definetly let me appreciate Westmed a lot more. But one downfall, part-time is VERY hard to come by with the two companies, if thats what you want then Gerber is the way to go, but then again, Gerber isn't as big as the other 911 providers in LA County so its a lot harder to get hired. But I would say out of all of them, Westmed is the way to go for the cities covered and the way the company is run.

 

[etf]

hahaha, i thought this was going to be a thread where we talked about investing in ambulance companies

 

[trichomoniasis]

AMR = All *****s Responding


Gerber does 911 only in santa monica and you can do parttime, but like someone else said, its small and hard to get hired in the first place.

You can do part time for McCormick if you want to work in Inglewood/Hawthorne and/or Malibu

UCLA EMS is probably the easiest way to waste a lot of your time while making you believe you're doing something worthwhile.

 

[Snipe99x]

this may be true in LA, but it's not the case everywhere. My employer in Milwaukee hires people left and right for part-time work, and it's about 75% 911 calls, 25% grandma shuttle.

curious- who is your employer?

 

[vahe99]

I would say Schaefer is your best bet. As far as I know, AMR lost all of their big 911 contracts. Back when I was in the EMS business, AMR was at the scene before LAFD was. But now, either CARE or Schaefer handle the majority of the emergency calls. You have to be 21 to work for Schaefer, so I dunno if you meet that requirement.