EMT in Seattle/Washington...any hope?

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Problem:
I have 4/5 months to find an EMT job (or get affiliation) before my WA-cert expires in June 2011.

Background & Details:
I finished my EMT program at NSCC and got my WA-cert in 12/2009. Yes, I know, it has now been 13 months and I am quickly running out of time on my 18mo expiration before I will have to go take the NREMT test. (In the meantime, I haven't done much healthcare/EMS-related work other than volunteering with the Red Cross as a FAST team member/lead. I also just started a volunteer position with the KC Public Health Reserve Corps but haven't done anything yet).

I have not applied for any position yet, but am currently filling out apps I printed out from TriMed, Rural Metro, and AMR's respective websites. After reading through several posts in this forum, it seems the overall consensus is that in WA (esp. the Seattle are), there are a ton of EMTs and not enough jobs for them. I also understand that it usually takes about 2-3 months for you to get registered/affiliated with the state once you get a job.

To add onto this pile of sh*t, I would also prefer a part-time position over a full-time position, but I've heard that TriMed doesn't hire part-time and AMR is not hiring, period. (I can do full-time if necessary, but the problem is I would September 2009, I simultaneously was accepted and hired into this new job, like to keep my current job as well. Right as I was got into EMT school back in and there wasn't really a good time to leave/quit over the past year. It would be ideal to keep both jobs, part-time, if I can.)

So, am I completely screwed? The 18 month on my WA cert expires in 5 months, so I don't know if I even have a chance at all of getting a job by then. Is anyone even hiring right now? What happens if my cert expires in the middle of the process? I'm willing to look into other ambulance companies if there are any that are hiring, just nothing that is obscenely far from Seattle-area. My goal is to get hired, part-time, ASAP but that seems like a far-fetched notion...

I'd appreciate any advice or inside info, thanks :)
 
I should add on that I am completely willing get affiliated in a volunteer capacity as well, but I don't know where to start with that other than FD's which I'm not sure is realistic for me at this point (mostly due to the short amount of time I have).
 
Apply everywhere.

King County Search and Rescue may be a volunteer option. I'd check into that ASAP. The website is www.kcsara.org

Good luck.
 
Thanks, I'm looking into these options (when I first finished EMT class I remember looking into SAR, but don't remember why I decided it wasn't going to work at the time).
 
I just saw this on the KCSARA web page...

New members who are already EMTs and are looking for KCSO to sponsor their license must be a member in good standing as a KCSO registered emergency worker for six months prior to being considered for sponsorship.

Try Tri-Med again. They are your best bet.
 
n7lxi said:
I just saw this on the KCSARA web page...

New members who are already EMTs and are looking for KCSO to sponsor their license must be a member in good standing as a KCSO registered emergency worker for six months prior to being considered for sponsorship.

Try Tri-Med again. They are your best bet.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'm definitely hoping Tri-Med will work out. I saw some of your other posts about Tri-Med not hiring part time EMT's except on very rare occasions, do you know if this is still true? The few people I know who work at Tri-Med didn't seem to really know.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Not a clue. It used to be that only full time crew could transition to part time, but who knows what the story is now. Call Josie in HR and ask.
 
You have to understand that in this field the job is not going to come to you. There are plenty of jobs available. The people who get hired are the ones who send in an application and then call and follow up routinely (it may take several weeks) but CALL, find out where you are on the list and when they anticipate holding a hiring process. Rural/Metro Sno/King is hiring this month. The testing process begins next week. As a new EMT with pretty much any agency you can expect to be assigned the worst possible schedule, nights, weekends, etc. It comes with the territory. Until you earn seniority you need to be glad you have a job and work hard for it.
 
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