IGX

In my pursuit to find a career, paramedic is the new idea of the month. What can you tell me about this field? I only know of one personally who says it is a very rewarding yet high stress career field. There is a school not too far who offers a paramedic program. What advice do you have for someone thinking of making a career out of this. I am in Ohio if it matters.

The man in black wrote:There is a school not too far who offers a paramedic program. What advice do you have

Don't pursue a B.A. in English.

MIB, be sure to get Dunn's take on this. He's a paramedick.

From this fire fighter/EMT's perspective, consider hiring on to a Fire Dept. that has paramedics - they would pay you to go to P. school. And you would have the option of going "on the line," should you burn out on the Paramedic gig.

YMMV, JMO, etc.

The unemployment rate looks quite low for paramedics, but the median income is only a little above the median for the US.

Johno's advice to get a job that will pay for you to get the appropriate schooling is very good, but you might also find a long line for those jobs. In any case, force yourself to look realistically at any costs you would pay for schooling relative to the returns you would expect from the job. (That sounds obvious, but a lot of people don't do it.)

I'm not EMS certified or anything, while the idea of someone else paying for my schooling sounds awesome, I don't really know why someone would hire me and send me to school so I can work for them once I graduate and get certified/licensed.

The man in black wrote:I'm not EMS certified or anything, while the idea of someone else paying for my schooling sounds awesome, I don't really know why someone would hire me and send me to school so I can work for them once I graduate and get certified/licensed.

What?

The man in black wrote:while the idea of someone else paying for my schooling sounds awesome, I don't really know why someone would hire me and send me to school so I can work for them once I graduate and get certified/licensed.

I can't comment on how frequently fire departments do this, but it's not uncommon for large employers (including governments) to pay at least some of the costs of additional schooling for their workers.

Start with an EMT Basic. You can probably do that for around $500 and 3 months of class time at your local ambulance company. Then see if you can deal with the (actually) unwashed, complaining of bullshit problem frequent flyer masses, shit pay, and suck hours to go to school for two years to get your ALS.

One of my buddies was a firefighter in the Air Force, came back and signed on to a major urban FD and then became a paramedic (paid for by the city).

He's five years in and makes ~$50k base, no real overtime now but he can pick up shifts any time for extra cash. He prefers his shifts as a firefighter to his shifts in the ambulance - for every doing some good call, it sounds like there are ten bullshit calls.

Some fat ass is too lazy to drive to the hospital for their morphine fix? They lay down in the bathtub and call 911.

I'm in OH as well. Your options of working 911 are very slim unless you work for a FD. Most private ambulance services around the state are transport only, meaning you take people from nursing homes and hospitals to doctors appointments or to other hospitals. This is affectionately referred to as Tater Toting. I advise against this line of work. I never went that route but have never heard anything good about it from guys i work with who used to. You will do zero to near zero critical patient care.

Where in Ohio are you? There are some county wide EMS services that run 911. Delaware Co. EMS just north of Columbus is one.

If you have a busy ER in your area working as a medic there might be a good option too.

PM me if you want and I'll do what I can to give you advise or try to point you in the right direction.

I love the fire/ems job. The good calls are what make this job. Unfortunately they are few and far between. Shaf pretty much hit the nail on the head. Also note that getting hired by a fire department is huge task since they get so many applicants for very few openings.

Now that it is mandatory to get your Associates degree to become a licensed paramedic, 2 years or so, I would probably advise getting your and Associates of Nursing (ADN) instead. You will make twice the money for the same amount of time and tuition. You also will have far more job openings since RN's can work in many different fields of medicine as opposed to us medics that are limited to ambulance or ERs. Most medics, myself included, work at least 2 jobs sometimes averaging over 100 hrs a week and we still make less than an RN does working one job.

Feel free to ask any questions you like.

You should try to find more about the specifics of the job in whatever community you will likely be working in. Purchase a police scanner and follow your local paramedics around for a few weeks, going wherever they go and helping them out a bit before you decide if it's good for you.

Consider getting on with a local VFD if there is one in your town.

Dunn wrote:Most medics, myself included, work at least 2 jobs sometimes averaging over 100 hrs a week and we still make less than an RN does working one job.

How's that even possible? What makes the RN so fucking special?

SubClaw wrote:

Dunn wrote:Most medics, myself included, work at least 2 jobs sometimes averaging over 100 hrs a week and we still make less than an RN does working one job.

How's that even possible? What makes the RN so fucking special?

I've tried to crack that mystery. I have no clue since we have, due to the nature of emergency care, more standing protocols and autonomy than an RN. The primary difference thus far was the degree requirements.

The pay difference may even out some in the next 10 years given that they now require a degree. But who knows.

The man in black wrote:paramedic is the new idea of the month.

I skimmed over this part earlier. For any potential career, I recommend a "job shadow," where you spend as much time as possible observing people doing the job you think you want.

In my field, that's easy: many Depts let folks do a "Ride Along." You can actually watch fire fighters maintain the engine, train, workout, watch porn, cook dinner, and bitch about the Chief. Maybe go on a few calls, too.

*****

PS - There's a broad range of compensation in the Fire Service. Generally, bigger cities & the West Coast do well.

Because paramedics will punch a dipshit doctor in the face, but an RN will grovel?

I wonder if the salary diff has something to do with pure economics. Ie ability to bill for and collect for services. I'd guess that except for air transport companies and private medical transport companies, hospitals are better able to charge and collect than ems.

SAR wrote:I wonder if the salary diff has something to do with pure economics. Ie ability to bill for and collect for services. I'd guess that except for air transport companies and private medical transport companies, hospitals are better able to charge and collect than ems.

Definitely a possibility. I never gave that angle any thought.

I think it's more of a social thing. Nursing is a career and more white collar. EMS is a "calling" i.e. you are doing it more for the love of the job than the money and it's looked at as more blue collar/adrenalin junkie.

Some more thoughts on the issue; dunno if the original poster is even reading at this point but here goes.

I am going to use some examples from my area, Southeast, so keep in mind that we are often the lowest paying area for any job but the trend tends to carry across the board. I will break them down into categories of employment:

Paramedic for private ambulance service, these jobs are far more available than municipal, you would begin making $13-16/hr. These positions often contract out to nursing homes and sometimes hospitals and counties. You will run far more calls due to the population that you serve, elderly nursing home folks, along with your garden variety 911 calls depending on if they have a 911 contract...something that is not guaranteed. Scheduling varies but often falls into the same 24hrs on duty/48 hrs off duty, with 8, 12, or 16 hr day truck positions available as needs dictate. Be prepared to see a lot of bullshit falls, GI bleeds, and abnormal labs from nursing facilities with sub-par and apathetic CNA and LPN staffs. You will get burned out doing this shit.

Paramedic for county, you will start off at approx $10-12/hr (less funding than city or privates). You will see some pretty groovy shit on these calls and your transport times will be longer, meaning that you really have to be on your game for the serious calls. Also, rural counties have less staffing so you may be by yourself back there with a bad patient. Shitty pay but great experience. Call volume is normally less in counties. Scheduling varies but often falls into the same 24hrs on duty/48 hrs off duty.

Paramedic for city, normally starts off at $12-14/hr. You will get far more calls, mostly bullshit, from the ghetto and trashy sections of town, they use the ER as your or I would a primary care physician because they get billed instead of having an immediate co-pay in most areas. More overdoses and violent traumas as well. Way more call volume than the county. On par call volume with private service only you are going to bullshit citizen calls as opposed to nursing home calls. Lesser transport times mean you will do far less things in the field. Some cities still offer decent retirement benefits, but this is fading fast as budgets get tighter. Scheduling varies but often falls into the same 24hrs on duty/48 hrs off duty OR in busy cities they go with 12 hrs shifts.

Firemedic, pays about $12-14/hr. We get rotation on the fire engines so we do get a break from all the bullshit transports...though you still respond to them on the engine, just not transport to the hospital. The problem here is that from a lot of folks that have transferred in to our department I have heard that firemedics are mismanaged in a merged department. That is what happens with ours. We tend to spend way more time on the ambulance than the engine or ladder trucks so we do not get to practice our fire suppression tactics nearly as often, then we are treated as if it is our faults. This is partially due to funding for paramedics being lacking. City budgets are tight affairs and they have to pay medics more than normal firefighter/emts. As long as the city has the minimum amount of medics to staff their ALS ambulances then they try to get by on that, regardless of running the medics ragged. Same calls as city only you get small breaks from the ambulance, WHICH ARE TOTALLY WORTH IT. Retirements are the same for city medics, but again are fast fading. Scheduling varies but often falls into the same 24hrs on duty/48 hrs off duty OR in busy cities they go with 12 hrs shifts. Spots are few and far between and it is very competitve. You can try transferring to a new department if you need to move, family or spouse stuff, but it is very likely that there will not be a spot for you.

ER Medic, pays around $16-18/hr, near as I can figure because of better funding. You see this more and more often. In some places we are basically glorified techs that start IV's, if that. In some trauma hospitals I have seen medics allowed a full scope of practice, complete with allowance to intubate and needle chest decompressions. Normally in the ER you docs, NP's, and PA's are only allowed this stuff. Near as I can figure it is a helluva lot cheaper to pay one or two of us to be there and free up the doc's hands in times of ER saturation. You tend to work RN hours of 12 hr shifts.

Flight medic, pays more but I have no clue how much. Way fewer calls to take in but the calls you normally get are critical. You are normally partnered with a flight nurse. You sometimes take patients from lesser hospitals to hospitals with higher standards of care. You have to have a critical care license and at 2-3 years of experience to apply. Scheduling varies but often falls into the same 24hrs on duty/48 hrs off duty OR 12 hrs shifts.

That is about it. With the new education requirements of an Associates or higher, some medics say that the pay will begin to change. Some, myself included, think that this will be a long time change that will not happen til they see that folks are not going into the profession due to lack of pay.

I have heard some medics tell me that I chose the wrong line of work if I want money. I think this is bullshit reasoning that they tell themselves. I got into this job because I enjoy it and like helping people, but make no mistakes.... I have bills to pay and want to raise a family. I want to be there for that family, not live at one job or the other with only one 24hr shift at home to try and catch up on home and family. For that reasoning I am trying to get into a paramedic to RN bridge program.

Whatever you choose, know that it is a rewarding path but there are a lot of downsides. The biggest is the pay and lack of upward mobility. In the city/fire, you have to make rank and the pay increases that separate them are sometimes very small. On the private sector you have to be a company man and stay with them to get raises. Private sector to make decent you really need to go into operations/management but even then you are locked into that company. If you have to leave for any reason you are back down to the base pay of any other medic.

Go West, Young Man.