in a pickle

[Bmad25]

Hi, i have been through two boughts of EMS education and got through the seccond time. i took my test on the 7th and my state license came later. however im in a pickle. if not all of my county volunteer organization went paid and now are bound to the main county department. i had just missed the hiring windows for the municipalities around me. im now have a certification, with nothing to use it with.

patient transport is an option but i check the last time, work was far away. it seems I have no work to put m creditals to use and probably have to wait until next year for the hiring windows to open. this is forcing me to get my PHTLS certs this year instead of next year to bide my time. this issue is coumpounded  by the fact that the county i reside in is desprate for bodies in ambulances but the hiring windows are closed for the time being.

What do i do?

[Just Plain Ruff]

There are a couple of options you might have.  

1.  take a job at a local ER as a tech or a paramedic

2.  work a transfer truck 

3.  Move to another state - if you can.   Minnesota gives their licenses out just for applying.  But that's a big move.   

4.  Find a volunteer service you can help out at. 

This might be the only response you get from this site.  

If you move to missouri let me know, I can point you in the right direction of the services to look at on the west side of missouri

[Medic One]

Massachusetts just passed a law that EMT’s A’s and Medics can no longer work in a hospital (except a hospital based EMS service) or in a walk in clinic/doctors office.  You can not do private hire events like football games or set medics unless you are on payroll and assigned by your service that is a MA Licensed EMS service or Fire department. So look at the state laws before trying to work in an ER clinical setting.

[Jim Squire]

As others have mentioned, every state has its own regulations, as does every hospital.  I can give you some insight into work for an EMT as an ED Tech vs. EMS: my son is an EMT(B) and found a great job as an ED tech in a busy hospital.  There they trained him how to do IVs and was just selected to be trained on ultrasound-guided IV insertion for the hard sticks.  He does splinting, EKGs, straight blood sticks, and occasionally urinary caths, so his scope of practice as a B is in *some* ways wider than when he was riding the bus.  His salary is roughly the same as when working EMS; his benefit package is a bit better.  Hours are better; three 12 hour shifts weekly vs. 24 hours every three days.  The pacing and physicality of the work is surprisingly similar - instead of hauling Strykers with bariatrics through fields he sprints over with a Lucas to help with compressions when a code is called on a medsurg floor. He says it is nice having MD-level care right there, all the time, when things go deep south, and an hierarchy that appreciates his work, although he misses some of MacGyvering of field work.  He definitely has enjoyed a better dating life surrounded by 75% female nurses in the ED than by 85% male coworkers in EMS, but misses some of the guy-bonding in EMS.

Opportunities as a hospital ED tech vary by both state and by hospital policy, but at least in rural Virginia ED techs are in short supply and are a welcome addition to the ED team.