Austin Travis County EMS hiring Paramedics and paying them as Basics

[46Young]

Before the medic1 hiring process, our starting medic pay with no experience was mid $17/hr putting that around 44k per year. Wilco's starting pay is closer to 50k per year right now, but their schedule is 24 on 48 off. Comaparitively speaking due to a lower cost of living, ATCEMS and Wico are two of the higher paid 3rd services in the country where you do not have to be a firefighter. However, as far as ATCEMS goes their may be some big changes to come since we are now civil service, including the possibility of merging AFD and EMS.

Sounds like the writing is on the wall. Hopefully the merger doesn't happen. The EMS side almost invariably loses it's identity and share of resources. Just ask any FDNY EMS employees who were OTJ before the 1996 FD merger. I have two cousins that left there a few years after that debacle.

Here's one disgruntled member's blog on FDNY EMS:

http://fdnyemswebsite.com/

 

[46Young]

Sounds like doom is at hand.

After all look at how well mergers went every place else.

Resistance is futile. Jean Luc Picard will not be there to save you.

 

[46Young]

Wilco's starting is around 55k

Do you like your schedule at Austin? I have some friends who do, and some who don't. The ones who don't were used to a 24/48 at other services and enjoyed there 2days off after every shift. The ones who do, came from busy urban EMS services that ran 12s.

I really do hope there is not a merge for you guys, one only has to look a couple hundred miles in each direction of your city to see why fire based EMS would be a step in the wrong direction for you.

Recently, Kansas City, Cleveland, and many other large cities have merged with epic failures.

What would ATCEMS gain by merging?

I couldn't do a 24/48 for $40k/yr (lucky to get that in EMS). Been there, done that. There's not much time left

I am not stating you are for a merge, most Medics in Austin are very against it.

From experience, I can tell you that a 24/48 is not a desireable schedule, unless you're sleeping throughout the night most of the time. You're spending the first day recovering, and the next day you have to prepare to go back to work. If you take a day off, you only have a five day break. If you like to do OT, you never have more than one day off between shifts. Same if you work a place that has mandatory holdover/mandatory recall. You have to use five days just to get two weeks off. At least our schedule is arranged a little differently, so four days leave gets us 15 consecutive days off, and one day off gets us six days in a row. It's still a 56 hour schedule, arranged as 24on/24off/24on/24off/24on/96off. I would much rather a 42 hour schedule like FDNY, DC, Alexandria Fire and EMS, though. This industry standard of a 56 hour regular workweek is bullcrap. With a 56, you're spending an extra two 8 hour workdays as part of your regular schedule. I would never do this schedule if it weren't for the fact that it pays so well.

I couldn't do a 24/48 for $40k/yr (lucky to get that in EMS). Been there, done that. There's not much time left to bump up that salary when you're hung over the next day from being up all night, unless you're okay with not having a life outside of work.

 

[Veneficus]

unless you're okay with not having a life outside of work.

What is this "life outside of work" you speak of?

:rofl:

 

[NYMedic828]

Apparently I got a yearly raise this month.

Soon il be above minimum wage!

 

[46Young]

The abundant OT you're talkng about (Marshmallow), 80 hours or so on a paycheck when OT is typically slow (Oct-Nov), suggests to me a few possibilities:

There is high turnover, which results in lots of vacancies

There is frequent sick leave abuse, which may be due to burnout, or inability to use vacation leave

ATC-EMS does not staff positions with full timers for the purposes of vacation/sick relief (referred to as pad personnel), but just has enough full timers to staff what they run on a daily basis

ATC-EMS would prefer to pay OT up to a point rather than hire additional employees (or hire less than they otherwise would), as this saves them money

For example, a new FF/EMT costs my employer as much in benefits as it does to pay their salary. Off the bat, there's the county'ss 33% contribution to the pension fund, their 75% of the medical insurance premium, vacation/sick days, paid county holidays, hiring, training, and uniforms. So long as the county doesn't pay $100k in OT to staff a FF position ($50k in salary + $50k in benefits), they make out. That's also one less pension to pay.

Which brings me to another point - this isn't directed at ATC-EMS, but just a general observation:

Employers may use a generous salary, particularly a generous starting salary to attract qualified employees, and also to divert attention away from undesireable features of the organization. Employers may like high turnover, since it greatly reduces their future pension burden. If the average employee stays only a few years, the employer's off the hook for the pension. The high pay keeps the application pool filled so that they don't miss a beat.

Take notice when an employer spends little to no resources on your orientation. For example, CCEMS gave us a one day orientation, then it was just me and my FTO on the bus (I was minimal staffing, no riding third)starting day #2. NS-LIJ CEMS in NYC had a two week in-class orientation, and then a few weeks riding as a third. My current hospital based IFT second job had a few days of orientation, and then as many ride-alongs (3rd person) as the trainee needs to be comfortable. My FD has a 24 week fire academy, and a four month ALS internship, Two months of which is riding as a third, and four hour class sessions weekly for the entire four months.

If a place throws you out on the street as minimum staffing as quick as possible, then they obviously choose not to invest money in orientation, since they expect the employee to not last too long. It's cheaper to hire someone else and put them through a one day orientation than try hard to keep the employee, and have to pay them a pension, and also their salary increases over the years.

 

[46Young]

What is this "life outside of work" you speak of?

:rofl:

Someting I vaguely remember from my childhood.

 

[46Young]

Apparently I got a yearly raise this month.

Soon il be above minimum wage!

I love NY! $60k/yr in pay and OT wasn't enough to support my wife and child as an EMT, so that was a huge factor in choosing medic school over nursing school back in the day.

Congrats on the raise! Did you catch up with the FDNY FF's entry salary yet? (I can break your chops because you're escaping FDNY EMS in less than two months)

 

[Veneficus]

There is frequent sick leave abuse, which may be due to burnout, or inability to use vacation leave

I must respectfully disagree with "sick leave abuse"

Sick leave is calculated into your salary.

Not using sick leave means you are working extra days you should have off.

It is an outdated concept which is why many reputable employers have "no fault" sick policies or calculate a single PTO bank.

 

[Fish]

From experience, I can tell you that a 24/48 is not a desireable schedule, unless you're sleeping throughout the night most of the time. You're spending the first day recovering, and the next day you have to prepare to go back to work. If you take a day off, you only have a five day break. If you like to do OT, you never have more than one day off between shifts. Same if you work a place that has mandatory holdover/mandatory recall. You have to use five days just to get two weeks off. At least our schedule is arranged a little differently, so four days leave gets us 15 consecutive days off, and one day off gets us six days in a row. It's still a 56 hour schedule, arranged as 24on/24off/24on/24off/24on/96off. I would much rather a 42 hour schedule like FDNY, DC, Alexandria Fire and EMS, though. This industry standard of a 56 hour regular workweek is bullcrap. With a 56, you're spending an extra two 8 hour workdays as part of your regular schedule. I would never do this schedule if it weren't for the fact that it pays so well.

I couldn't do a 24/48 for $40k/yr (lucky to get that in EMS). Been there, done that. There's not much time left to bump up that salary when you're hung over the next day from being up all night, unless you're okay with not having a life outside of work.

Usually we sleep most of the night

 

[NYMedic828]

I love NY! $60k/yr in pay and OT wasn't enough to support my wife and child as an EMT, so that was a huge factor in choosing medic school over nursing school back in the day.

Congrats on the raise! Did you catch up with the FDNY FF's entry salary yet? (I can break your chops because you're escaping FDNY EMS in less than two months)

Lol I'm year 2 medic that puts me at $48,127 base pay. About $25/h I believe...

Firefighter starting is $39,000 in the academy and 41,000 at a year. The firemen are sneaky though they hide their real pay under the "fringe" benefits half. That 41,000 is really 49,000 and at top pay in total they come in around 100k. From year 4 to 5 as a fireman you get a $30,000 raise...

Most of my top pay firefighter pals made 100-160,000 last year while the chief of EMS makes 100,000.

Also on EMS and fire after like 7 years you collect longevity pay.


Fire payscale
http://www.nyc.gov/html/fdny/html/community/ff_salary_benefits_080106.shtml

EMS payscale
http://www.nyc.gov/html/fdny/html/community/ems_salary_benefits_042607.shtml

 

[marshmallow22]

Regarding the amount of OT at Austin we allow 12 people off per day, and that's before sick call. Not to mention the vacancies we already have for varoius reasons. As far as sick call goes we are a very busy system (probably could use another 10 trucks on the streets) so I won't deny that there's "mental days" being taken, otherwise known as burnout. We do have a variation of schedules which some people like and others do not. It's pretty difficult to please everyone in a department this size. As far as merging with Fire, that is still years away if it happens at all. There are no details regarding that topic as it was just barely mentioned so I won't even touch that topic regarding pros/cons. I am aware however of some of the difficulties and benefits other departments have had with mergers.

 

[Veneficus]

streets) so I won't deny that there's "mental days" being taken,

Isn't that a good thing though?

Mental health is still health.

 

[Shishkabob]

Take notice when an employer spends little to no resources on your orientation.

My agency does a week of basic HR, a couple weeks of basic things such as basic protocols, map reading, ePCR training etc, a couple weeks of drivers training, and then the medics come back for another few weeks of higher protocols and card type classes, followed by a a few weeks of FTO, more if they're going to run their own truck.

About 3-4 months for the average medic to get released, and that's not even to run their own truck.

 

[NomadicMedic]

It's between 4 and 6 months before a new hire at Sussex is cleared to work without an FTO.

 

[Fish]

6-8months with us

 

[ExpatMedic0]

On a side note you seem to display a degree of hostility on the subject of ATCEMS. What's your deal?

Hostility? Well in my opinion I do not agree with there new business ethics. I think they built a great reputation for themselves and I now its disheartening to see the direction there going. I do not think I am being hostel as I have no personal connection or involvement with Texas or ACT. This was a topic of discussion in light of recent events to a big well known EMS agency.

 

[VFlutter]

Lol I'm year 2 medic that puts me at $48,127 base pay. About $25/h

That's what I will make as a new grad :wacko: why did I got to school for 4 years? :glare:

 

[NYMedic828]

That's what I will make as a new grad :wacko: why did I got to school for 4 years? :glare:

You aren't in NY.

My friend just graduated with a BSN and his starting pay here is $68,000 while in training at the hospital. Nurses here top around 90-100k I think.

Firefighters make more than a nurse and college is not a requirement. But there is the whole risking your life thing.

 

[Wayne]

Sorry to bump an older thread, but google just led me here. I'm in the current hiring process for Austin/Travis County, and from what I've seen, it looks like they're mostly hiring a lot of basics, and paying them better than most basics. Also, a huge number of the paramedics that applied weren't able to pass the basic level skills exams and written exams. I guess experience doesn't count for everything.

It seems like they're working on fixing their high turnover. My experience in the process has led me to believe they're looking for younger basics/medics that want to train here and spend their careers in Austin. Whether it will work or not remains to be seen.

Oh, and someone mentioned the good ol' boy system -they've done a pretty good job of making the process mostly objective and anonymous.

The new-hire list should be posted this week, they're looking for 30 this process, I wonder how many they took.