R
RTC19
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Please, take a seat and grab a protein shake. I will be with you momentarily.
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First, where do you live at?
There is always jobs for transfer services, but trust me you don't want to end up having that as your job knowing you trained to take care of the sick and injured. If you want to end up working for a 911 service, the best thing to do is to start volunteering with them first. You will become a familiar face and whenever they have a hiring season, you basically have a job if you apply for a position.
Transfer companies do pay more, but we are college students, we don't need that top dolla right now. Nevertheless, there is a better option and it pays more, try working for a hospital as a CNA (EMT cert is accepted) and volunteer on the weekends at a 911 service.
There is always jobs for transfer services, but trust me you don't want to end up having that as your job knowing you trained to take care of the sick and injured. If you want to end up working for a 911 service, the best thing to do is to start volunteering with them first. You will become a familiar face and whenever they have a hiring season, you basically have a job if you apply for a position.
Transfer companies do pay more, but we are college students, we don't need that top dolla right now. Nevertheless, there is a better option and it pays more, try working for a hospital as a CNA (EMT cert is accepted) and volunteer on the weekends at a 911 service.
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I live in a pretty big state, it’s coastal just to give some overview. I don’t have an EMT-B license but a friend does, and she is premed as well. Locally no hospitals would take her, only private businesses. One of them actually was ready to hire her, but she had too many speeding tickets so they saw her as a liability and decided not to offer her a job because of this (so be prepared to answer to these types of questions if pertinent!). Another place asked her flat out the dosages of some drugs for normal types of conditions, which I found odd, and decided not to offer her a job. She briefly worked and got a job with a local private business that is the only one that does Baker Acts but no really big emergencies. Her shifts were insane, 3 days a week from 7:30 PM to 7:30 AM with classes immediately after (meh just like rotations).
She ended up getting fired for making bumping another car in the parking lot. So the liability was real I guess. She is looking for volunteering, and has had offers. This seems to be the place where most of her friends ended up. Some even in hospitals.
The locally best hospital, which is ranked really high nationally, asks on first page if you have EMT-B, nursing or other medically-relevant experiences. It’s getting a little difficult to volunteer there so having these certifications gets your foot through the door.
From my personal research paramedic is what they want. It’s like LPN Nurses, you have to be at least working towards RN or paramedic in this case for them to take you despite the notion that its temporary work on your part.
Best of luck
She ended up getting fired for making bumping another car in the parking lot. So the liability was real I guess. She is looking for volunteering, and has had offers. This seems to be the place where most of her friends ended up. Some even in hospitals.
The locally best hospital, which is ranked really high nationally, asks on first page if you have EMT-B, nursing or other medically-relevant experiences. It’s getting a little difficult to volunteer there so having these certifications gets your foot through the door.
From my personal research paramedic is what they want. It’s like LPN Nurses, you have to be at least working towards RN or paramedic in this case for them to take you despite the notion that its temporary work on your part.
Best of luck
R
RTC19
The only experience I really have is about a year of volunteering at a hospice in their inpatient care unit doing CNA-like duties. I also take ER calls for a rape crisis center.
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Cool! If you ever think I can put my input on something, tag me, brah. I'm gonna do the PCT/Vol too, I'm currently a volunteer and the agency is hiring ($12hr), but their schedule won't fit with mines (24hrs on and 3 days off and it rotates). Ain't nothing better when it's late night and you just took off your boots and a call comes in lmao.
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R
RTC19
That's rough. I hope you find something that works well for you soon.
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Yeah....me too. lol
Don't worry, though. You might be sleepy as ****, but when you see what the call is about your adrenaline goes through the roof (better than coffee).
I was going to take a position in NYC with a fairly large private transport company. I made the mistake of showing up late for interview day and got stuck with the shifts that no one wanted-- 8hrs+ of overnight, 30hrs a week Fri-Sun. The pay was $10.50 an hour, and I pretty much reached out to every private company that was reputable. In the end I didn't take the position because my interview season was ramping up, and missing shifts would be a hassle to make up at a later time.
If you can't get a paid position, you can certainly get a volunteer position. Most companies (paid or volunteer) are willing to take inexperienced EMTs (at least where I live), and give some sort of training. IMO $10.50 for back breaking work, and the risk that comes with an EMT isn't worth it, given that you're a premed. I'd say volunteer first, see how you like it, and have the bonus of selecting hours that work with your school schedule.
If you can't get a paid position, you can certainly get a volunteer position. Most companies (paid or volunteer) are willing to take inexperienced EMTs (at least where I live), and give some sort of training. IMO $10.50 for back breaking work, and the risk that comes with an EMT isn't worth it, given that you're a premed. I'd say volunteer first, see how you like it, and have the bonus of selecting hours that work with your school schedule.
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Make sure you're taking 911 calls and that you're doing it for fun - not as a job. Money is a bonus. Also try to find a primarily BLS service. Otherwise you'll just end up driving us paramedics around all day and rarely have your own patients.
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It's only backbreaking work if you don't lift. 😛 The risk is real sometimes, though. There was this one call where the guy was crazy as hell and the cop left me alone with him (that's a no no). And yeah, even for me that I weight lift picking up patients (off the floor and loading and unloading patients) can give you a little challenge sometimes.
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Hell no! LOL I would not want to **** bricks waiting for ALS to arrive.
Edit: The ICP I roll with lets me do a lot of stuff (within my training), but I have rode with medics that made me feel like fly on the wall.
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****ting bricks was the best part when I was an EMT. You actually got to make decisions and use your skills.
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The good old days, huh?
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EMT is a highly variable field, in some states, they can do a lot. Mostly, however, our scope of practice is "gas and gas", give them oxygen and drive, or to work transport. Because of that, the field has an incredible burnout rate. I made more money working at Walmart, but I learned A LOT. I feel bad for most people who pay for the training though, I couldn't imagine making that cost effective.
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Indeed. Simple and fun. Needles, ET tubes, and drugs are pretty fun though, especially when you're in the back doing 80 MPH. Gonna miss it.
I do lift, most likely not as much as you do. Fact is, obesity is a big problem and NYC is filled with buildings that are 4 story walk-ups with narrow stairwells, in other words-- the stair-chair is gonna be your best friend.
At one of my orientation days the company spent about 4hrs showing us all the ways we could die. "If your partner is using his cellphone while driving this will happen (cues video of accident)." If your partner didn't get enough sleep last night this can happen..." If both of you are doing everything right and some sh*thead drunk driver decides to run a red light at 90mph, this is what you'll look like when we pull you from the wreckage..." What a drag that day was, lol. The crazy patients are a whole other type of danger.
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I didn't know the King tube was a BLS skill. At a full arrest call I was expected to do it, I was like whaaaa. They never thought it in my class, they teach it on the airway part of paramedic school.
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Hmmm, seems odd that they showed you those videos. Our orientation was like 8 hours, but we mainly talk about the company and got familiar with the LUCAS 2.
That one crazy guy I told you about he goes, "Hey, I'm gonna go to my car and get some cigarettes," I was like I'm not about to follow this guy lol.
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I would still rather work as an EMT than work for Walmart, but that's my opinion. Most of the medics at my service after a couple of years end up becoming nurses or enter some other healthcare job. The burnout is real!
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Job market for EMT-B seems to depend completely on location. Some place it's awesome and you'll make $14/hour to start doing mainly 911, others you'll get minimum wage to do nothing but dialysis runs. Look on the EMTLife form to figure out what the situation is like where you live. If you lived in California, for instance, I'd probably recommend going the CNA or scribe route or something.
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I'm guessing by the fact you are making this thread you haven't worked as a basic anywhere.
Most hospitals probably won't hire a basic with no experience, they would likely take a CNA over an EMT in almost every capacity. Even the ERs in the hospitals I worked at require you to get your CNA if you want to work there. Even the paramedics have to go through CNA school to get hired... But that is just the area I worked (4 hospitals).
As far as IFTs (inter facility transports) go, they can very likely find a job with no experience there. The pay is usually the worst out of everything you can do in ems (fire>city(all 911)>hospital>911and IFT>IFT only. EMS pay really depends on what part of the US you're at. I worked as a paramedic in Louisiana and made $26/hr, then worked in Washington where I made $12/hr. It varies so much.
You can almost surely volunteer if there is a volunteer fire dept, or even some cities accept volunteers to their paid staffed units and you are a 3rd rider.
But yeah, to answer your question, it is realistic to work for an IFT service with no experience then volunteer somewhere. That will get your foot in the door to move up to a paid 911 service.
IFT sucks ass, there is no way around it. I hated it. I did my time and moved "up" to a 911 only service, so don't give up after your first month or two. Occasionally the IFTs will be legit calls too. You get a lot of high acuity transfers from small hospitals to larger ones.
Most hospitals probably won't hire a basic with no experience, they would likely take a CNA over an EMT in almost every capacity. Even the ERs in the hospitals I worked at require you to get your CNA if you want to work there. Even the paramedics have to go through CNA school to get hired... But that is just the area I worked (4 hospitals).
As far as IFTs (inter facility transports) go, they can very likely find a job with no experience there. The pay is usually the worst out of everything you can do in ems (fire>city(all 911)>hospital>911and IFT>IFT only. EMS pay really depends on what part of the US you're at. I worked as a paramedic in Louisiana and made $26/hr, then worked in Washington where I made $12/hr. It varies so much.
You can almost surely volunteer if there is a volunteer fire dept, or even some cities accept volunteers to their paid staffed units and you are a 3rd rider.
But yeah, to answer your question, it is realistic to work for an IFT service with no experience then volunteer somewhere. That will get your foot in the door to move up to a paid 911 service.
IFT sucks ass, there is no way around it. I hated it. I did my time and moved "up" to a 911 only service, so don't give up after your first month or two. Occasionally the IFTs will be legit calls too. You get a lot of high acuity transfers from small hospitals to larger ones.
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This. OP, I also live in IL (but more urban, less rural). After getting my freshly minted EMT-B license, the only offers I got were from private BLS transport services. Personally, I couldn't swing the hours that these companies wanted as I was still in school at the time. The ERs around here will only hire ER techs who have quite a bit of EMT-B experience already. I found I couldn't easily get a job as a PCT without being a CNA. It might be different in more rural parts of the state. Ultimately, I got my CNA cert and got a job working as a PCT at a hospital (ironically, one of the few hospitals that may have hired me with just the EMT haha... but even they seem to prefer CNAs). It seems funny, since you learn quite a bit more in an EMT course than a CNA course. In Illinois, CNAs aren't even allowed to touch oxygen lol. But that's the way the cookie crumbles. Ultimately, I had the time/money to get both certifications and I don't regret it - they taught me different skills and lessons. But, OP, if you really want to get a job at a hospital just for hands on patient care experience, and only had time to take one or the other, I might recommend just the CNA course. If you're really interested in pre-hospital care or EMS in general, then by all means do the EMT... you will love it, even if you can only get a job doing BLS transport. For what it's worth, I have had no trouble volunteering with local fire depts with my basic license!
Oh, and the pay at the private transport places around here is slightly less than what I made as a PCT. The transport places were paying less than $10/hour when I was applying in 2012. I made between $11-12 as a PCT - big money 😉
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Dang, that's sucks! So you learn more than what a person taking a CNA course learns and you have to take a class to learn how to take vitals and how to make a bed, thug life.
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Ya, the "how to wipe a butt" lesson is truly a gamechanger. 🙄 The policy seems pretty silly, especially since all the tasks a CNA does could be demonstrated in a hospital orientation and are basically common sense/self-evident. Some rules, man. But I can make a REALLY GOOD hospital bed now, whew!!!
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You couldn't pay me enough to be a CNA... Or a nurse for that matter.
I was fortunate to find a job at a hospital with no patient contact and no CNA requirements. I work in the cardiac monitoring center and watch the telemetry all day and chart on it every 4 hours. Pays more than working at my other job as a street paramedic AND I don't have to talk to or touch any patients.
I think this might mean I'm destined to be a radiologist ...
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Hmmm, must be a cop thing. Lmao!
I want to end up being a PCT for a surgery department.
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Makes you think about life. Man, I have been doing it wrong my whole life.
Game-changer right here ^^^
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Makes you think about life. Man, I have been doing it wrong my whole life.
Game-changer right here ^^^
I've learned so much... about different kinds of poop.
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Oh, god! I hope I don't have to wipe peoples' butt. I heard if you work on the ED or surgery you won't really have to do that, but IDK we have had patients (EMS) who need a diaper change and we tell them the hospital can take care of that.
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It will probably be least frequent in the ED, since you'll have plenty of ambulatory patients. But I'm sure diaper changing isn't completely unavoidable. As far as a PCT in surgery, do you mean like a pre op/post op surgical floor? I knew some people who worked in that setting and as far as I understand, you're right. My experience is in a med/surg unit with several beds reserved for Hospice - lots of diaper changes and repositioning - would definitely avoid if you are hoping to avoid wiping butts lol. Still, you can learn so much as a PCT on any unit. Hopefully you'll land a sweet ER tech type gig.
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It has different surgery specialties listed (transplant, CT, Ortho), so maybe both (pre op/post op) for one of those specialties.
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I worked on a post-op floor for colorectal. It was butt-whiping and ostomies for days.
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Note to self.
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I guess I have to make it a fetish now, so I can love my job. 😉 lmao! jk
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Or work in pediatrics, kid poop isn't as bad.
I guess I can count myself among the lucky ones, I have a job in a hospital working as a paramedic, we have in-hospital protocols, and work throughout the entire facility. At least in this area, the job market for EMT-B's is pretty good, with services like acadian etc. But the pay leaves something to be desired. To the OP, honestly, working IFT is not a bad way to gain some experience and get comfortable with patients and assessments. Just because they are a transfer doesn't mean you can't work on your clinical assessment skills. With experience comes many more opportunities like working as a tech.
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I work full time as an EMT in both interfacility transport and 911. There's a saying "if you've seen one EMS system...you've seen one EMS system". The job market, scope of practice, and pay varies greatly from county to county in my state. Take the information you get in this thread with a grain of salt as it might not apply to your area. For example in my state only fire department run 911 calls, however if you drive two hours to the neighboring state the private ambulances provide 911 as well (which are way easier to get hired at then FD). What you need to do is find an EMT in your area and pick their brains. This is how you will see what your options are. An EMT is preferred as paramedics are on a higher pay scale/marketability so they might not be up to date with EMT job prospects.
I like EMS but it isn't for everyone. It is backbreaking labor, especially interfacility transport where almost none of your patients can ambulate on their own. Constantly doing bed transfers to your stretcher is terrible on your body, there is no way to use your legs for that. I heard an story on NPR the other day how nurses and techs in hospitals have 3X the back injuries of construction workers, I believe it.
Also it is dirty and depressing. You see a part of society that few do, we are similar to cops in that way. Yes the hospital gets all of these patients but it's different being in the field. Being in the 80 year old horder's house, or crack den (after the boys in blue clear it) and you can still smell the gunsmoke in the air, or nursing home where the smell of human waste is in the entire facility.
I'm not trying to discourage you, just being honest. I also work in a depressed inner city enviroment, my experience will be different from yours if you work in the suburbs. I will work in EMS until I can get into medical school, I'll probably volunteer at the fire department for the rest of my life, but there were times when I was sure I made a mistake. I always looked at this as a stepping stone to medical school, not a long term career, and I still regretted it for a few months. Especially being that most pre-meds are very smart people from families that value education and EMS is very blue collar, it was quite a culture shock for me. I'm a black liberal from a physician family and EMS is primarily white working class conservatives. I get along with all of my partners and love them but I had to get a thick skin quickly and not be offended at the constant stream of Rush Limbaugh-esque comments.
With that said Ive had experiences that few pre-meds have. Just the other week I assessed a patient that a more senior provider swore was stable, turns out that guy was in septic shock and was directly admitted to the ICU. Catching things like that is very rewarding and is why I put up with the BS.
I like EMS but it isn't for everyone. It is backbreaking labor, especially interfacility transport where almost none of your patients can ambulate on their own. Constantly doing bed transfers to your stretcher is terrible on your body, there is no way to use your legs for that. I heard an story on NPR the other day how nurses and techs in hospitals have 3X the back injuries of construction workers, I believe it.
Also it is dirty and depressing. You see a part of society that few do, we are similar to cops in that way. Yes the hospital gets all of these patients but it's different being in the field. Being in the 80 year old horder's house, or crack den (after the boys in blue clear it) and you can still smell the gunsmoke in the air, or nursing home where the smell of human waste is in the entire facility.
I'm not trying to discourage you, just being honest. I also work in a depressed inner city enviroment, my experience will be different from yours if you work in the suburbs. I will work in EMS until I can get into medical school, I'll probably volunteer at the fire department for the rest of my life, but there were times when I was sure I made a mistake. I always looked at this as a stepping stone to medical school, not a long term career, and I still regretted it for a few months. Especially being that most pre-meds are very smart people from families that value education and EMS is very blue collar, it was quite a culture shock for me. I'm a black liberal from a physician family and EMS is primarily white working class conservatives. I get along with all of my partners and love them but I had to get a thick skin quickly and not be offended at the constant stream of Rush Limbaugh-esque comments.
With that said Ive had experiences that few pre-meds have. Just the other week I assessed a patient that a more senior provider swore was stable, turns out that guy was in septic shock and was directly admitted to the ICU. Catching things like that is very rewarding and is why I put up with the BS.
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+1
I got to do a bilateral chest decompression the other day. I'm definitely going to miss this job when I start med school in July.
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Pericardiocentesis and chest tubes are where its at 😛. I will definitely miss my autonomy for a while.
