EMT Jobs near Rochester, NY

[EastCoast42]

Hey guys,

I'll be moving to the Rochester area in the next few months, so I'm looking for some places hiring EMT-B/firefighters. Do you guys know of anyone beyond Rural/metro and Monroe ems? I wouldn't mind work for a private practice either, or as an ER tech. However, the later two seem to be more difficult to find while hunting online.

Thanks yall!

 

[Smitty213]

There are multiple paid departments in the area, however I have heard of no plans for exams in the near future; also the volunteer culture is VERY strong, so unless it's RFD, the chances of a department taking on somebody who hasn't been around as a volunteer with them or a neighboring department are slim. As far as municipal/department based EMS, as I said, volunteer culture is strong, however most "volunteer ambulances" will staff a crew during the day. These are primarily Paramedic crews, as the area is saturated with them and the protocols are very ALS heavy; some will pay Basics, but once again it's very "good ol' boys club". The hospitals do hire ER techs, so keep your eyes open and their scope varies by hospital. The primary system's are Rochester General Hospital system (RGH and Newark/Wayne), U of R Healthcare (Highland, Strong and F.F. Thompson), Unity Health System and Finger Lakes Health (Geneva General); these guys have a stranglehold on most "private practice" at this point and use primarily trained Medical Assistants and RN's, not EMT's. Coming into the area, if you can't line up an ER tech position, your best bet would be the private ambulances.
Finger Lakes Ambulance is based out of Clifton Springs (under an hour commute south using expressways), they are primary 911 in the City of Geneva and are second due 911 for all of Ontario County when the volunteers can't drum up a crew; they also hold multiple private contracts in the area. Equipment can range from brand new to a bit dated but fully operational and well maintained and crews average ~3 calls in a 12 hour shift.
Rural/Metro is the 911 provider for the City of Rochester, Village of East Rochester and has its eye on a few of the other 'burbs, as well as a few private SNF and hospital contracts. It's like R/M anywhere else (if you're familiar) and is the largest EMS employer in the area, so networking will be plentiful. Calls per shift are usually one an hour or so, busy system.
Monroe at this point has been beaten out of all primary 911 in the area (except for one obscure county based contract in the Southerntier), they have made up for it by winning multiple private contracts and special event contracts (hockey, soccer, baseball, college events). Much more relaxed environment, if you like CCT they dabble in that quite a bit. Call volumes are moderate but nowhere near exhausting and their equipment is for the most part late model and kept in the best of shape.

My best advice for you would be move to the area, get established and working (private ambo or ER), joining your local volunteer department will also help keep you in the loop on municipal careers. Once you've been here a few years and people know you, unless you have a sweet paid fire gig, DO YOUR MEDIC, it's basically the only to get anywhere career wise with EMS in the area. Hope this helps.

 

[EastCoast42]

I do appreciate the help, it does mean a lot. Do you have any other potential helpful info? I'll take any help I can get.

 

[PotatoMedic]

Wrong thread...

 

[Smitty213]

Well any other career/technical training and/or experience you have could definitely be useful; the area is experiencing a pretty big job boom in everything from blue collar to professional. If working for one of the privates doesn't pan out or like most you need a second job, that will be an important asset. Also, don't know if this is a permanent or temporary move, but if you're looking to buy a home or property, look outside of Monroe county (where the actual city is); it has one of the highest tax rates in the nation, however the neighboring counties of Ontario, Livingston and Wayne all have some of the lowest and property is more plentiful. Other than those quick tips, like @FireWA1 said show us what you got and what you hope to accomplish.

 

[EastCoast42]

Well that's really good to know. I'll have to see how feasible it would be for us to live outside Monroe then... How do they handle renting there? I know some places have a "renting tax", whiles others do not.

For right now, this is likely to be a temporary move (somewhere between 1-3 years). Me and the GF are both dancers and we've been able to be picked up by a Company up in Rochester, so were gonna be up there for at least a year, possibly more depending if the contract gets renewed + if we like the place. I'd like a full time gig, or a several part-time (I do the parttime fire house jump thing now).

My current certs:
DE EMTB
NREMT
DE FF1
NFPA FF1 (Depending on what my state fire school decides to do this weekend)
Suicide intervention
De Seasonal Officer (PD)
NASCAR EMS
ISC 100 and 200
DE EVO

 

[Smitty213]

If you're just renting, I wouldn't worry too much, never heard of a "renting tax" up here. Unfortunately up here, we do not do the "fire house jump thing", but the EMS and LEO experience I feel are going to be your best paid options. Besides getting a PT private EMS gig, there are multiple colleges and private security outfits up here, and a few of the colleges are actually sworn LEO positions. Also, considering your NASCAR history; Watkins Glen is "close", but they recruit fairly heavily during race season, just to keep it in the back of your mind. As I said before, as far as fire goes, live outside the actual city limits and join one of the numerous "professional volunteer" districts.

 

[Carlos Danger]

I used to live in Canandaigua....loved it there. Worked FT at the HEMS program there and PT for Ontario County ALS, Finger Lakes Ambulance, and Monroe Ambulance. They were all OK.

 

[Smitty213]

Nothing like Canandaigua in summer! And the HEMS is still phenomenal, at this point however OCALS has folded and Finger Lakes has come under new management, so operations things are a bit rocky, but the medics are still sound.