ambodriver

If you are going to be making 15 dollars an hour do not do it. Stay away from those jobs. Seek to move or find paramedic jobs that pay more. I work for Chicago Fire as a single role medic and I made aprox 125k last year. You have to find the job and make the opportunity. Do not work for the private ambulance companies where you fraud medicare and make some asshole rich. Just stay away. I cannot stress enough to not do this job for 15 dollars an hour. If people stood up and refused those stupid low wages maybe these private companies would be forced to up the pay, but too many people fall in line and joyfully take the high school wage and do not seek to promote themselves. If you cannot find or get the paramedic jobs that pay a decent wage then I suggest moving on to something else with more opportunity and pay. Just my 2 cents.

The above poster brings up some excellent points. For me EMS is a career. I'm with a full time very large municipal fire department as a single role medic. I am compensated very well and will hopefully collect my pension. I know around the country EMS is paid garbage. There should be a large work action against such bullshit. Unionize and try to negotiate better. Or better yet, people should boycott working these jobs for chump change. The complaining will do nothing. Action will change things. So for the above poster who says don't spend more than 5 years I would ask where else am I going to make 6 figures and have a 24/72 schedule. Everyone's situation is different. If you are being paid 10 bucks an hour it's not worth 1 day. Good luck

who cares

the reason wages are so low, is because retards in this profession don't know a damn thing about unity, sticking together or forming a union. People actually work for 10 dollars an hour as a medic, even in private contracts in the Chicago area, a union heavy town. Until you stop letting this private owners screw you like this, you get what you deserve. They whine about it all day, but do nothing to organize or make it better. If medics banded together they could demand more, instead I see the do nothings slaving away for near minimum wage bitch about fast food workers asking for 15 bucks an hour. Pathetic.

this is a retarded topic. a paramedic is an emt with more knowledge and class room/clinical time. Why you'd want to beat your chest for having a 1 semester basic first aid class is beyond me. They should eliminate EMT-B and just make it paramedic, add in some more school time.

I am not for this community medicine stuff. I signed up to be a paramedic to respond to 911 calls and treat people in such situations. I am not the hospitals lackey to prevent their readmission. The problem that affects their funding, they should deal with it. Since they are so concerned with it ($$$) they should hire a team of nurses or other health care professionals to do in home check ins similar to home health care nurses. That being said, if the Chicago Fire Dept wants to pay me a butt load more money to ask some jamokes in the ghetto if they took their medicine then I'm all for it

chicago fire dept single roll paramedics top out around 95k without promotions, 1 day on 3 days off, pension and other good bennies

Exactly my approach to this. I am shocked to learn people *ARE* fiddle fucking on scene when it is not warranted

First, the term homeboy ambulance is awesome. Often used in these parts and hilarious each time I hear it! I think I understand your question, but not sure. Homeboy ambulances are faster, they are already on the scene. They don't waste time trying to do anything, just get them to the trauma center (sometimes, a lot of times they go to regular ERs). Apparently some people in EMS are fiddle fucking around on scene when they should be driving the patient. Hence why I do all my work en route in a trauma run. Right?

I'm not sure where you deduced that from my comment. I still think the variables involved in traumatic injuries is too complex. A GSW to the chest could have many different outcomes based on what exactly the bullet hit. I'm not sure how other people manage their trauma scenes but here for the most part its throw them on the stretcher and go. Get what you can en route but don't sweat it if you don't have enough time, we know they need surgery. "home boy" ambulances might be fast, but at what cost? Causing anoiher accident? Hitting grandma crossing the street?

So we take a set of patients involved in some major trauma and study their outcomes. Someone has determined we are doing more harm than good? Does anyone else think that people with serious trauma have poor outcomes due to their injuries and not neccesarily because of EMS? These people are ALREADY sick/seriously injured their likelyhood of poor outcome is most likely due to their traumatic injuries. There seems to be too many factors to be able to make a reliable study. Every injury is not the same and neither are the patients reaction to those injuries. Do people stay and play with trauma patients? I load them up and do everything en route.....

interesting, can you post a picture of that

Not sure what I would do without a bench seat, soooo many patients sit and belong there!

I don't have a good answer to that. I think the format of the site is fine.

meh this site has always been hit or miss for me, I look at it and come back a few months later. I find many of the conversations low brow or irrelevant. There is a gem to read once in awhile. There is so much to "EMS" i just really can't relate too, interfacility, low paying bullshit jobs, volunteers on here talking about badges and other such nonsense. Guess I am just spolied.

Chicago Fire Dept badges are only used on Class A's (thats dress uniform). Couldn't comprehend why someone would carry it around off duty or even on duty

flown by chopper, gets 4 stitches and a 14k bill. ems failure. (part time medic!)

I'm not working those with rigor etc. However, working in a ghetto ass area I have loaded the body into the ambo with some hollywood CPR (that stops when out of sight)to escape a potentially violent situation. The hospital understands we have to transport to their morgue because of safety concerns.

that sounds like a lot of fun, holy shit. paragraphs are good though mmmmkay

Can you give me real life experience that the IAFF has hurt EMS? Let me guess they are dumbing down the standards etc etc.....guess what, there will always be loads on this job, union or not. Hell they have 6 month fly by month medic schools. It's a joke... I am represented by the IAFF as a single role medic and get paid an admirable wage with the benefits we all deserve. In this area, non unionized EMS makes minimum wage. How's not organizing working out for all those guys? I guess the IAFF is evil for helping negotiate respectable wages. In regards to the RN comments---My wife is an BSN in an ER at a very prestigious hospital and I make more then she does. If more people embraced the union/organization of EMS (whatever union IAFF or whatever) maybe people would have a fighting chance at earning a respectable wage... 10 bucks an hour to run 911? That's a joke.

I did read the article. It doesn't matter what hes running. Anything can happen in the ambulance. We all know this.

this. and the union bashing on this site if incredible. I guess people like min. wage. Fire based, single role paramedicine is the way to go. You have the resources (union) and the respect to get it done. Or any public servant position---be it county etc.

No. This is stupid. Can we not be PC and not overlook the glaring issues? Would you want to run 911 with this guy...who can't hear your orders....can't hear horns honking? Who can't hear the bum charging while yer picking up his buddy in the alley? Come on....FD's around here have medical clearance and hearing/vision tests are included. I got nothing against deaf people but this is just DUMB (pun intended)

Try to feign like i actually care about him. Then look for an opening to turn the tides on my attacker. Subdue him until police can arrest him. That or do/say anything that will calm him down/let me go.