EMS In-Station programs with Fire

[Virgil]

Hey all, this is my first post. I hope this is the right spot.

Anyway, I'm a student in SoCal at the moment, and I'm trying to map the job market when I done with school. I'm looking at Care and McCormick, and I heard from a friend that Care and McCormick both have in-house programs with some FD's. Could anyone shine some light on this? What exactly is the duty post?

I'm assuming they respond from the station and all, but how is it(For anyone who's gone through)? Is it hard to grab a slot as a new hire?

 

[Jim37F]

McCormick does not have any units stationed in house with Fire. All McCormick stations are their own buildings (usually old houses, or a space out of a strip mall). They don't have any units posted at fire stations, and none of their units are dispatched via FD.

Care does have a few cities where they have units based in house with Fire. La Habra, Anaheim and Fullerton spring to mind, I'm sure someone who works/worked for Care can chime in on the details about what it's like to work those shifts, all I really know is that they exist, and are mostly in Orange County.

 

[Virgil]

McCormick does not have any units stationed in house with Fire. All McCormick stations are their own buildings (usually old houses, or a space out of a strip mall). They don't have any units posted at fire stations, and none of their units are dispatched via FD.

Care does have a few cities where they have units based in house with Fire. La Habra, Anaheim and Fullerton spring to mind, I'm sure someone who works/worked for Care can chime in on the details about what it's like to work those shifts, all I really know is that they exist, and are mostly in Orange County.

Aye, thanks for your reply. Going to an In-House unit seems interesting, but I'm still on the fence with McCormick too. Heard they got a new contract recently in Santa Monica. From lurking here the past few weeks, it seems like the SoCal EMS system isn't too great, but those two are my best options in term of 911.

 

[Jim37F]

Yeah, as an EMT in LA/OC you'll have little to no desicion making capabilities in the field, as Fire is in charge. If the crews don't like you/don't trust you, you'll be limited to nothing but a gurney pusher. Even if not, and tgey let you run a full assessment you'll still be reporting those findings to a Fire/Medic who will be dictating treatment decisions, and then transport decisions (if the patient wants to go to a hospital clear across town with 3 other closer hospitals in between, and you know for a fact that the requested facility is backed up with a 3 hour wait for a bed...if the Fire captain who's going back to his station 5 min away agrees, guess what, your stuck going to that hospital...)

So yeah, if your not a FF, EMS in LA/OC sucks. You might be better off looking into AMR in Riverside or San Bernardino Counties, Ventura Co...or even Hall up in Kern Co (though that's a looong drive from anywhere in LA if your nor in Santa Clarita or north lol)

 

[NPO]

Your chances of landing an in-house spot with Care is exactly zero. They are highly sought after because nearly every EMT who filters through the LA/OC 911 EMS system wants to be a firefighter, and obviously a fire station spot would help them.

If your goal is to be a firefighter, either McCormick or Care will help you get your feet wet. But like he said, EMS for private Ambulances sucks in LA and OC.

That Santa Monica contact sounds a lot better than it might actually be. The previous provider didn't responded code 3 to any call unless it was a cardiac arrest or fire was on scene. Why? The fire department wants to get on scene first. They want to be the first heros the patient sees, and what their tax dollars are paying for. This can get extreme. A medic I worked with quit from AmeriCare because he was forced to work as an EMT when in Santa Monica, and told to stage on an MVA that he could see because fire was on scene. When they were finally allowed to enter the scene the fire medic put the leads on backwards (an honest, common mistake that we all make.) Being a paramedic, in a paramedic uniform, he put them in the right places. The fire medic yelled at him and told him to never touch the monitor because he didn't know what he was doing.

That's the level of respect you can expect.
I don't miss it.

 

[RocketMedic]

Meanwhile, in Texas, you can come apply for MCHD, Cypress Creek or any other good agency and start running 911 calls out of a station with way better pay and benefits, no fire medics, and all we do is 911...

 

[NPO]

Meanwhile, in Texas, you can come apply for MCHD, Cypress Creek or any other good agency and start running 911 calls out of a station with way better pay and benefits, no fire medics, and all we do is 911...

A friend of mine just got hired with WilCo. I'm a little jealous.

 

[RocketMedic]

I honestly couldn't imagine getting treated like dirt by a CA fire medic

 

[TransportJockey]

I've been spoiled in NM and TX. I can't stand being dictated to by firemedics. We have some of our trucks based out of fire stations, but we are completely separate and are a county agency, not a city one.

 

[RocketMedic]

Like....how do you even handle that?

 

[TransportJockey]

Like....how do you even handle that?

Nice stations, one of the trucks is at a VFD station so there's no one else around, and the other one that's at a city FD station is at the nicest and newest station in teh bunch.

 

[RocketMedic]

No I mean dealing with a fire medic who makes you a gurney jockey (@ our California medics)

 

[NPO]

No I mean dealing with a fire medic who makes you a gurney jockey (@ our California medics)

Smile and nod.
Especially if you aspirate to one day be one of the firefighter who looks down on the private EMTs.

 

[VentMonkey]

Smile and nod.
Especially if you aspirate to one day be one of the firefighter who looks down on the private EMTs.

I’d certainly aspirate if I one day became one. Hey man, but in all seriousness it’s their bag, not yours, nor mine so what do I really care?...

 

[NPO]

Lol.

Aspire.

 

[VentMonkey]

Like....how do you even handle that?

I don’t.

No I mean dealing with a fire medic who makes you a gurney jockey (@ our California medics)

Again, I don’t. If it wasn’t for company policy, they’d gladly push buttons, and levers on our power cots*.

None of our stations are in-house with any FD and we all seem to play well, and get along just fine 90 plus 5 percent of the time. In other counties outside of LA and OC that do (or did it) they get/ got along just fine usually, even if you weren’t immersed in their culture. It really is the least of these crews’ worries.

To the OP, in Los Angeles—specifically LACoFD—though, in-house with this department is laughable at least, and probably a terrible idea at best. I can’t imagine having to unbreak habits learned being around them 24 hours at a time, let alone 12 hours.

Sincerely,

Someone Who Has Actually Lived It.

*I cannot confirm nor deny they occasionally do, or do not get Grabby Grabberson with said levers and buttons.

 

[wtferick]

Care has La Habra and La Habra Heights.
Westminster station 64 and 66. Anaheim, fullerton and San Clemente. Garden Grove isn't "in-house" but is dispatched by the fire department.

These spots open quite often and a ton of folks have been getting the shifts with only a month on experience.

 

[CALEMT]

Why not just apply for a fire department that has an AO program?

 

[Mufasa556]

Do some time at Care or McCormick then get an AO job with one of the FDs.

 

[DrParasite]

If your young, single with relatively nothing keeping you in SoCal, why not explore other agencies in other states that might be better for your career options than working for a private in SocaL?