Looking to move south

[maverick56]

My family is going to be moving to either the North Atlanta area or Charlotte, NC area in the spring and my grandmother lives in Greenville, SC. I will be graduating from paramedic school in March and am looking to move as well. I am currently working as an EMT-B in northern Michigan. The job prospects are not great here, or anywhere in Michigan for that matter, and the pay is dismal. And after so many years away from my family, I would also like to stay relatively close (within a few hours drive). I am pretty new to EMS and unsure of the best ways to go about job hunting in this industry. Where might I look, beyond broad google searches?

Also, for anyone living in the GA/TN/NC/SC areas, how are the current job prospects for paramedics in your area? What is the pay scale like vs the cost of living? I will have National Registry by the time I'm ready to move, will that work for reciprocity? What do services in your area look for? How many are fire based vs strictly EMS? (I have no preference, but I do not currently have any fire training)

I'm a die hard snowboarder and struggle with the idea of abandoning access to mountains and snow. Where are some areas to look at with reasonable access to winter? Might sound silly, but my parents are the ones sick of snow, not me. I'm a very active outdoors person, I love to hike and camp in the summer. I would be thrilled with working SAR or backcountry EMS. Otherwise, job wise, I guess I'm looking for the happy medium? Not a transfer medic, but not a 2-5 min taxi all the time either. Suburban maybe? I don't know, lol.

Basically, whatever advice some of you may have concerning job searching, geographic areas, climates, specific services, licensing, whatever... I'm all ears! I'm just trying to plan ahead a little, because I know I'm not staying here. Thanks! Oh, feel free to ask whatever if it helps you help me

Edited November 21, 2010 by maverick56

[fdstreetdoc]

Hi, Just got off shift so I promised myself a few "adult beverages" but your post caught my eye.

In North Carolina, EMS is strictly County Based with a pension in the LGRS and will match you in a 401K and or a 453b. Mecklenburg County EMS is the "elephant in the room" in the Carolinas as far as overhead, opportunity, pay, and we are the busiest system in both Carolinas. With National Registry I don't forsee a problem as my wife and I both came down from NJ over 2 years ago. The cost of living is quite less than up North. If you are interested, check out our website at medic911.com. All training is in house with state of the art medical services and training. We offer a bike team, SWAT medic, DMAT and there are plenty of opportunities for overtime. Hope this helped!

Rich Uhlich NREMT-P, CCEMT-P Crew Chief.

[maverick56]

Thanks, Rich! That's great info, I'll look into it.

[fakingpatience]

Hi, Just got off shift so I promised myself a few "adult beverages" but your post caught my eye.

In North Carolina, EMS is strictly County Based with a pension in the LGRS and will match you in a 401K and or a 453b. Mecklenburg County EMS is the "elephant in the room" in the Carolinas as far as overhead, opportunity, pay, and we are the busiest system in both Carolinas. With National Registry I don't forsee a problem as my wife and I both came down from NJ over 2 years ago. The cost of living is quite less than up North. If you are interested, check out our website at medic911.com. All training is in house with state of the art medical services and training. We offer a bike team, SWAT medic, DMAT and there are plenty of opportunities for overtime. Hope this helped!

Rich Uhlich NREMT-P, CCEMT-P Crew Chief.

haha, you have me wanting to move there now, even though I just got settled at my new agency... Sounds like a great place to work!