Best North Carolina EMS system to work for??

[TopGun77]

I'm currently working as a transport Paramedic in a busy 911 EMS system in the Bay Area, CA. I'm thinking about possibly relocating in a few years to NC, specifically the Raleigh area, and was wondering which systems are desirable to work for in NC? I have heard the protocols in NC in general are pretty progressive and forward thinking. How hard is it to get hired with Wake County EMS, Durham County EMS, Mecklenburg, etc? Which system would you all recommend and why? I'm interested in hearing about how it is working for these larger EMS systems, specifically continuing education, protocols, call volume, pay, retirement if applicable and how that works, and workplace satisfaction. Thank you in advance.

 

[LACoGurneyjockey]

@Imacho knows the area

 

[pineapplenick]

As a Student I had the opportunity to ride in a fair number of these places, so here is my Two cents. NC as a state is typically a good place for EMS, though some places are hit and miss.

There is a reason why Wake County gets a lot of hype, it's a good place to be a Medic. They have great protocols, great equipment and have really made a name for themselves. They recently lost their medical director/EMS director Brent Meyers to AMR, and have posted two no positions to take his place. Everyone I met there seemed to love working there. It's competitive to get on, but not impossible.

Durham County EMS was advertised to me as a great place to get experience. I was told they get there fair number of shootings stabbings. I never visited the service but I here decent things about the service.

Guilford County EMS (Greensboro) was one of the my favorite places to ride. They use a modified System Status meaning they start at a station and get posted station to station. They frequently ride Medic/Basic, depending on experience. They typically work 12's but there are Peak units as well. They have strong protocols, LP 15's Lucas 2's, Medium duty chassis. I had great preceptors each time I rode here, and if you are looking in the area I would give this service a good look.

Medic- Mecklenburg County EMS (Charlotte) was a service that I had reservations about until I actually rode there. It's full System Status, but you get to ride in the Medium duty crew cabs. There protocols were decent, though I am not as familiar with them. I was surprised that they did not have power cot's. The consensus opinion of people who I know who work/worked there was you either love it or you hate it. It just depends how busy you like to stay on a shift. They are always hiring, and from what I hear it's based in part on your score on the fisdap test you take as part of the interview.

Other places I like or hear good things about in NC are Forsyth County, New Hanover, Henderson County, just to name a few.

Hope this helps!

 

[Imacho]

Ya, I moved from San diego to here with my wife. We both love it here. The above is true. If you're not completely set on the Raleigh area, look at MEDIC. Www.medic911.com. We have a few coworkers here that used to work for wake county. They stated they like it here better. Also look us up in JEMS. We have several studies regarding cardiac arrest saves. It's the reason we're tied with Medic 1 for saves.
PM if you'd like more info.

 

[46Young]

What do the typical pay scales for medic look like in NC? I have some friends that don't want to be dual role, and are looking to work somewhere that's nice to live, and doesn't pay welfare wages.

 

[TRSpeed]

I was looking and all pay under 40k starting.

 

[cfd3091]

Cabarrus County NC. Great Medical Director and very progressive protocols. Bordering on a little too busy for the size of the agency and is going to 12 hours shifts to address burnout. Very good equipment.

 

[Carlos Danger]

Medic- Mecklenburg County EMS (Charlotte) was a service that I had reservations about until I actually rode there. It's full System Status, but you get to ride in the Medium duty crew cabs. There protocols were decent, though I am not as familiar with them. I was surprised that they did not have power cot's. The consensus opinion of people who I know who work/worked there was you either love it or you hate it. It just depends how busy you like to stay on a shift. They are always hiring, and from what I hear it's based in part on your score on the fisdap test you take as part of the interview.

Ya, I moved from San diego to here with my wife. We both love it here. The above is true. If you're not completely set on the Raleigh area, look at MEDIC. Www.medic911.com. We have a few coworkers here that used to work for wake county. They stated they like it here better. Also look us up in JEMS. We have several studies regarding cardiac arrest saves. It's the reason we're tied with Medic 1 for saves.
PM if you'd like more info.

I can vouch for Charlotte being a solid choice, if you want to be in or near an urban setting. The city has grown a lot in the 8 years I've been here, but definitely more good (cool stuff to do) than bad (traffic) IMO. Plenty of stuff to do, good weather, low cost of living, close enough to both the mountains and the beach for easy weekend trips.

I've never worked for MEDIC, but as a flight nurse in Charlotte, I've had quite a bit of exposure to them. They are busy, but they have good trucks and equipment. Decent pay and really decent state benefits, from what I hear. They are tightly integrated with the local health systems and they have a lot of stuff going on with MCI / disaster response teams and stuff like that. They obviously work closely with Charlotte Fire, which also seems like a solid place. MEDIC'S protocols are quite progressive from what I've seen, not in that they "get to do a lot of stuff" (they didn't have RSI last I knew, for instance) but in that they are big on evidence-based practices and really focusing on following the research in terms of patient outcomes. Overall my impression of the place is quite positive, and the folks who work there seem pretty content. Probably a solid choice if you want to work in a busy urban single-role system in a growing city in the south.

If you don't care a lot for doing 911, MedCenter Air is the local hospital-based flight program in Charlotte and they've gotten very busy over the past couple years with BLS transports, taking over much of what MEDIC used to do (from what I understand) and also handling almost all of the transports within Carolinas Healthcare System's many hospitals and clinics. I don't know if they are hiring right now, but they've gotten big enough that they have a lot of staff now and probably have to hire frequently. You'd be an employee of the healthcare system and stay busy doing BLS and ALS interfacility stuff, with the opportunity to do some REAL ground CCT work with the flight RN's and flight RRT's, but I don't know how they are doing that staffing right now.

The greater Charlotte metro area also has several smaller, county-based EMS systems. Mostly single-role, station based BLS/ALS setups, though I don't really know enough about any specific one to comment on it.

 

[DWR]

I moved from WA state to Wilmington, NC for a job with New Hanover Regional EMS. I'm pretty happy with the decision. While the count itself is really small it has a great diversity of calls (and the beaches are awesome!). The big perks is honestly working for a hospital. The pay/on par with surrounding county EMS systems, the benefits are ridiculously good and theres a pension. New equipment (New Phillips MRX, Glide scopes, power stretchers, nice medium duty ambulances). The protocols are really liberal which is nice and to be honest we're kind of just left alone. NHREMS has a great working relationship with surrounding fire and police agencies which make things easy. We have a critical care side with ground and air transport. And I think the most important thing is, moral is good. We run our butts off most days. 2 on 3 off 3 on 2 off. Let me know if you have questions.

 

[Handsome Robb]

I'm interested in the pay scales as well. Everything I've heard about all the agencies in NC is nothing but amazing. My biggest qualm with moving is that I realized today I'm on track to pull down ~65k this year without breaking my back with OT. That's as a medic for a private service contracted under a Public Utility Model with fully paid benefits (I pay $9/month for extra life insurance) in an area with average cost of living and no state taxes so I get to keep everything besides what the Feds take and I put into my 401k (not a pension but my employer matches a pretty fair amount). Money isn't everything but it certainly is something.

Another question I have, and I'm not hating on genuinely curious, is what's with everyone in NC running nedium-duty chassis? I'm used to type-IIIs and they've got plenty of room, MDs seem like they'd be a PITA to drive and park. I wouldn't be super stoked to drive code in one. Also, how smooth is it in the back with the suspension to hold one of those beasts up and also with air brakes. Every truck I've ridden in with air brakes, granted never been in an ambulance with them, are far from the smoothest stopping vehicles I've ridden in. The mechanism for how they work isn't conducive to being super smooth.

 

[DrParasite]

Orange County EMS in Chapel Hill/Hillsborough is also a place to look at.

EMS in NC is absolutely one of the best single role systems. Wake County EMS pays the best. In the Wake County EMS system, you have Apex EMS, Carey EMS, & Eastern Wake EMS. Same progressive clinical protocols, smaller operations compared to the county, no posting ever, no government benefits (except for Apex, since it is municipal based), and much lower turnover.

I've heard the turnover at MEDIC is horrendous. You are treated like a number, run your *** off, and are viewed as replaceable. But I also know its great experience, and has a lot of lifers.

NC has state wide protocols, which are all pretty good. Actually, they are pretty amazing, at least compared to other states I looked at. Each county medical director can modify them for their agency (assuming it's all approved by NCOEMS, which I have been told is pretty much a rubber stamp), and most do.

In general, the larger the population, the more money you make. Some places work 24/72 (usually the more rural/slower agencies), but more places are switching to 12 hour shifts. Street corner posting isn't all that common (except in Mecklenberg), and most places FD and EMS are seperate; however, FD does responding to many EMS calls, often as the first responder due to their being more FD units than EMS units in any given area.

One other thing: more places are going to testing for new applicants, and more places are starting academies that are longer than the 3 day orientation that EMS is known for. So apply if you apply to Wake County EMS, when they give you the testing dates, fly into Raleigh for a week. Talk to the providers. While you are in Raleigh, visit Durham County EMS, Orange County EMS, Granville County EMS, & Franklin County EMS. They are all within an hours drive of North Raleigh. You can also check out Nash & wilson county (to the east), johnston & hartnet (to the south), and chattam to the west.

Ditto for Charlotte: you will be coming for 2 days, but spend 5 here and plan to visit the surrounding counties, and talk to the providers.

One thing I will caution you: EMS in NC typically pays better than FD, especially as an experienced ALS provider (some agencies will start you at higher wages if you have years of full time experiene). However, you won't be rolling in dough, and most take a pay cut when they move down here, but housing costs are much cheaper than the north east. Getting fully released as a medic can take up to a year, so your opportunity for OT might be limited when you start. & many providers are looking to leave EMS for nursing, med school, law enforcement, and even the FD.

It's far from a utopia, and most places are under staffed, but it's better than others.

 

[NCmedic]

I've heard the turnover at MEDIC is horrendous. You are treated like a number, run your *** off, and are viewed as replaceable. But I also know its great experience, and has a lot of lifers.

NC has state wide protocols, which are all pretty good. Actually, they are pretty amazing, at least compared to other states I looked at. Each county medical director can modify them for their agency (assuming it's all approved by NCOEMS, which I have been told is pretty much a rubber stamp), and most do.

In general, the larger the population, the more money you make. Some places work 24/72 (usually the more rural/slower agencies), but more places are switching to 12 hour shifts. Street corner posting isn't all that common (except in Mecklenberg), and most places FD and EMS are seperate; however, FD does responding to many EMS calls, often as the first responder due to their being more FD units than EMS units in any given area.

Curious to your definition of horrendous turnover? Our turnover has been incredibly stable for several years despite large increases in our workforce. A large portion of our turnover is for employee's moving on to PA and Med school, nothing wrong with people advancing their careers further. Medic is a great place to gain the experience.

We are a big organization, but employees are like close knit familiar and most certainly not expendable. We are very busy, and it does seem to get busier by the day. Average is just under 4 transports per 10hrs. That doesn't include cancellations, refusals, etc.

Street corner posting is very rare in Meck county. Yes it does occur from time to time, usually if there is a sudden spike in demand over a short period of time. We are SSM but it's a modified SSM. We have several of our own stations throughout the county that are used as post along with Charlotte Fire stations, County FD's, Hospitals, and Police substations. All of which provide us with far more comforts than street corner posting.

If there is something that you want to know about Medic, just ask, or PM. I won't sugar coat or spin the answers. We are far from perfect but it's a great place to work if it matches what you are looking for. There is no point in embellishing information in order to recruit people, only to have them come on-board and find out the agency isn't the right fit for them.

Be Safe

 

[DWR]

I'm interested in the pay scales as well. Everything I've heard about all the agencies in NC is nothing but amazing. My biggest qualm with moving is that I realized today I'm on track to pull down ~65k this year without breaking my back with OT. That's as a medic for a private service contracted under a Public Utility Model with fully paid benefits (I pay $9/month for extra life insurance) in an area with average cost of living and no state taxes so I get to keep everything besides what the Feds take and I put into my 401k (not a pension but my employer matches a pretty fair amount). Money isn't everything but it certainly is something.

Another question I have, and I'm not hating on genuinely curious, is what's with everyone in NC running nedium-duty chassis? I'm used to type-IIIs and they've got plenty of room, MDs seem like they'd be a PITA to drive and park. I wouldn't be super stoked to drive code in one. Also, how smooth is it in the back with the suspension to hold one of those beasts up and also with air brakes. Every truck I've ridden in with air brakes, granted never been in an ambulance with them, are far from the smoothest stopping vehicles I've ridden in. The mechanism for how they work isn't conducive to being super smooth.

 

[DWR]

The medium duty chassis were something I really had to get used to honestly. While they can be a pain sometimes, I'm told we get more life out of them and the cost per mile is lower then anything else we've owned (Kenworth chassis specific).