Oregon Paramedic Jobs

[fiznat]

Why not look into a job at a hospital? I don't know about Oregon but the hospitals around here hire paramedics to work as kinda "advanced techs" in the ED. Pay is decent too, around $20-$23/hr with benefits and access to con-ed. Sounds like just what you need.

[FistyKid]

Thanks Paraloco and Fiznat,

Paraloco,

You've got it right. It seems to have little to do with proving a level of care, and more to do with... not outsiders taking jobs, but MONEY! Every license in this state costs money to obtain. I worked a temp job as an unarmed security gaurd when I first got out here. The state run cert class was a joke, 4 hours when it was supposed to be 8, and over a hundred bucks. My wife worked as a bartender over the summer, needed one license to work around the food, and another bartender license... both around 80 bucks each.

The only good thing about this state, money-wise, is that theres no state retail tax. What ever the price tag says, that's what you pay. But the state income tax, is higher that what I'm used to from Illinois. By the time you figure there are no toll roads, no state retail tax, and healthcare seems to get paid better out here, I'm guessing I'll still be coming out ahead compared to Illinois.

Now the trick is landing that dream job!

Fiznat,

Good call. I've been dropping apps at hospitals non-stop. But they want 'really' specific certs. Phlebotomy certs, med assistant certs, CNA... There are a few spots where they'll go with EMT's and medics, but because the industry is flooded with us, there just isn't a lot of turn-over.

This kind of thing makes me with that EMS schools looked at what they were doing to the local job market before cranking out class after class. I totally understand that I'm being a huge dick by saying this, because I didn't care if what I was doing to the job market when I got my licenses... But the classes that crank out medics just so they can keep private rigs staffed with under-educated medics who don't know enough to complain about working conditions *cough-AMR-cough*... are more than a little depressing.

Oh well, that's my two cents.