Any Denver Medics Here?

[medic028]

hi all. I'm new to these forums and hope someone can help me out. I'm looking for some information (pay,working conditions) from any medics currently working for Denver Health or nearby services. I am currently working a s a medic in a Pennsylvania city and would likie to relocate to CO. I am also looking at some flight programs should anyone have any info for that too. thanks in advance!

dave

[Just Plain Ruff]

If you are interested in the colorado springs area 50 minutes from Denver then drop me a PM.

[Eydawn]

Hey there.. being a Denver gal (away at school in MI) let me tell you what I can.

There are many services you could work for in the Denver area. The list that I can think of immediately is:

Denver Health: they're running some BLS cars now, so if you're a basic there's still something for you other than wheelchair van driver. I've heard pay is ok, don't have numbers to give you, however. Municipal; separate from Denver FD but stations with them (from what I've seen in downtown, really never done much with them.)

Rural Metro: works mainly in the Aurora area, has been known to cross over into Denver proper occasionally. Aurora is in the Denver metro area, not the city proper. Know a couple people working for them that seem to like it well enough; the only problem seems to be that Aurora Fire has medical control and it depends on who you end up on scene with as to how your patient care ends up working. AFD is moving to all FF/paramedics (too many chiefs, notta lotta Indians...) Generally works as posting, not quarters; their general transfer cars go 911 when the system overloads. Private company. I can get you pay scale and benefits info from my buddy if you want.

AMR: Does mostly interfacility transfers as far as I can tell. I'm not real sure where or if they run 911 cars in the Metro area. Private company.

Pridemark: Know an intermediate that works for them, he seems to like it and I haven't heard a lot of complaints. They're a private company. Don't know about posting vs. quarters. Could ask my friend about benefits, pay etc. if you like.

West Metro: You must get your FF and or your medic to work with them from what I remember (as of 2 years ago); they're a private company. Heard they have good pay comparitively. Unknown on posting vs quarters.

Parker: Combo FD and medic department, in Parker CO (not really far from Denver, maybe about a 25 minute drive depending on how fubar Parker Road gets during rush hour). Don't know if all their guys are FF and medic, but they have nice equipment. Unknown on posting vs. quarters.

Action Care: Also does more of the Aurora/Parker area stuff, trends down towards Englewood some; I know a basic working for them and he likes them. As far as I know they run 911 and general transfer. Can get more info from my buddy if you want, regarding quarters, pay, etc. (I know, I have a lot of friends, lol)

Englewood Fire: Don't know if they hire just medics; their boxes are new from what I've seen (I don't remember seeing them the past few years, all I remember in that area was Action Care but now Englewood's got some shiny new boxes). Unknown on quarters vs. posting.

Northglenn Ambulance: This is the one I'm personally familiar with; private company, generally does quarters unelss the system is way loaded up and then they go to posting; runs medic/medic and medic/basic teams for their 911; all their cars do interfacility transfer runs. They work in Northglenn proper and Commerce City (where they station with South Adams Co. FD). I don't know about pay, personally (I was a 3rd rider shadowing one of my crew advisors) but I could get that info if you'd like. Know a lot of great people who work for them. Can get you more info if you would like.

EDIT: Wups, forgot about the flight stuff! The 2 services that run flight are Flight for Life and Life Flight. Flight for Life is based at St. Anthony's and Swedish; I can't remember where Life Flight is based. I can get you a lot more info on the Flight for Life program from (you guessed it, another friend) who works in the St. Anthony's system if you want. If you're interested in this stuff, drop me a PM.

Best of luck to you!

Wendy

CO EMT-B

MI EMT-B

[medic028]

wow....didn't realize there were so many services in the Denver area. Denver Health is one I've been looking into as the pay is comparable to what I'm making now. I would prefer to stay with a 911 service if possible. Any further information on the two mentioned air medical services would be great, I can accept a pay hit for a lighter work load. anyway, thanks for all the info so far and please, keep it coming!

dave

[Eydawn]

Flight for Life (St. Anthony's) URL: http://www.stanthonyhosp.org/index.php?s=flight_for_life_co

AIRLIFE (HealthOne network) URL: http://www.airlifedenver.com/

I'll try to get ahold of my St. A's friend and see if I can pull some contact info for you; may be a while though.

As for the other services, I know Northglenn runs primarily 911, Action Care runs 911, Denver Health runs 911 and Rural Metro runs some 911 cars, some general transfer cars. Again, it'll probably be a few days before I can get in touch with my buddies (being in MI for skool and all) but I'll see what I can scare up for you.

Here's some links to their websites, as far as I could find:

Northglenn Ambulance: http://www.northglennambulance.com/

Action Care: http://www.actioncare.com/index.html

Rural Metro: http://www.ruralmetrocolorado.com/

Pridemark: http://www.pridemark.net/

That should be enough to get you started and find some contact info (in case school ambushes me and I get too swamped to play email tag with the folks back home).

Good luck!! I think you'll like Denver. Ever been there before?

Wendy

CO EMT-B

MI EMT-B

[nolkyan]

I'm with Parker Fire. We run a good volume of calls.

One major agency is South Metro fire protection district, covering Littleton/Highlands Ranch/etc. There's also Elizabeth Fire which is career and runs ALS. DG medics are compensated very well for both BLS and ALS. Pay information is actulaly available on the DG website.

If you're interested in working on a fire-based medic unit, there is a high demand for paramedics right now. You have to have a probationary period, and attend 3 months of fire academy, but you will be of huge use. The way we run it is you spend 2 years on a medic unit and 1 on an engine, and it rotates like that to help prevent burn-out.

Just know that Parker Fire had 660 applicants ofr its last hiring period, and we took 10 for academy and 10 for apprenticeship. 5 academy members have already dropped out.