looking for input from paramedic supervisors

[SixEightWhiskey]

I'm currently an EMT-B, going to school for my -P...my long-term goal is to make my way up to field supervisor and beyond, something in EMS management.

Can I get input from anyone who currently does this? What your career/school track was to get there? What your day-to-day is like? Thank you!

 

[shfd739]

I'm currently an EMT-B, going to school for my -P...my long-term goal is to make my way up to field supervisor and beyond, something in EMS management.

Can I get input from anyone who currently does this? What your career/school track was to get there? What your day-to-day is like? Thank you!

Ill tell you what I know and my experience. Currently my wife and I are both supervisors for the largest privately owned ambulance service in the country--our colors are green and gold--if that helps. First some background. I started as an EMT @ 18 yrs old and became a paramedic when I was 20-Im 28 now. My wife and I started working as paramedics for our current company in 2003 right after finishing P school. At 18 I worked for a local family owned service as a nondriving basic on a BLS unit doing transfers and BLS 911 rollovers. Moved from there while in P school to a paid 911 fire/ems dispatcher job for the county's volunteer 911 service. When I became a paramedic I moved to my current company full time and went to dispatch part time and then field part time when the volunteer service added paid staffing. Ill toss in that in high school I ran a paintball shop and playing fields on weekends. Within 2 months of being incharge I took us from losing money to very profitable just by getting rid of waste, improving our efficiency and improving customer service.

For schooling beyond high school I only have a paramedic school. I read alot and keep with the changes in treatment, equipment etc. At my current service I always had an interest in how things work and are run and kept my nose into the business and ops. Alot of it has been learning the state ems rules, learning company policy and learning the right thing.

Currently Im a paramedic field supervisor. I work a normal unit shift and fill in as shift supervisor as needed. I have management responsibilities and have to uphold and enforce policies as needed. I try not to do that and educate rather than discipline. Im pretty much like every other paramedic on our units-except my shirt is white so I handle alot of management stuff- from helping employees with reports, handling issues with other responders, facilities etc.

My wife is the next step up which is operations supervisor. She spends her shift solo in a marked and emergency equipped truck. She is salary and her duties run the gamut. Most shifts it involves taking equipment and items to crews, filling the schedule, dealing with complaints, answering clinical questions, running emergency calls, helping employees and more than I can list. Our shift supervisors are incharge and responsible for 10-18 units and their crews when on duty. Aside from that each one has 40-50 employees they are directly responsible for.

Here the next step up is operations manager then vice president of operations. Our OMs are responsible for a moderate sized geographic area usually a couple hundred employees. In our case our OM's 2 areas have about 320 employees with 8 or 9 Ops supervisors. I think our area may be splitting to a second OM soon due to recent growth.

Over the OM are the VPOs. Those guys have 2-4 OMs that report to them. All of our top management have worked their way up from field medics.

I do not have any formal college education; my wife a little. Ive moved up just by learning the business and EMS. Ive worked hard and stuck my self in the middle of anything I could just to learn from it. Ive worked special events, sat in on meetings, kept up with our performance standards and how we are meeting them etc. I should be the next full time supervisor promoted as well.

This seems somewhat rambling but I hope it helps. If you want more specifics ask away and Ill answer them.

 

[SixEightWhiskey]

Wow thank you for all the great information! Do you feel that from what you've seen, having a bachelors degree, especially in something related like EMS management, would help put you on track to being a field supervisor and beyond?

 

[shfd739]

Wow thank you for all the great information! Do you feel that from what you've seen, having a bachelors degree, especially in something related like EMS management, would help put you on track to being a field supervisor and beyond?

Im already a field supervisor just on a lower level. Ive thought about going back to school to take the local EMS management program. Some of our employees have taken it/are taking it and said its a good program. Right now Im still way ahead of them due to time and experience in EMS they dont have yet. Being experienced and capable seems to get people further here than a piece of paper. Not all places are like this though.

I have considered going back to school for a non-EMS focused management degree. That way I could also use it as a fall back if decide to leave EMS or get hurt and have to.

 

[abckidsmom]

After a long, varied career in EMS, a guy I know is having trouble being promoted because of his lack of a college degree. Get the degree. In anything, really. The last guy to get promoted had a degree in history and a much shorter career than my friend, but it was the degree that did it.

 

[medicdan]

It's really interesting the trade-off between educational experience and field experience. When I started at one of the companies I now work for... almost all of the field personnel had a college degree (or were in school), and virtually none of the front line supervisors, managers or administrators-- they had spent that time working in the field, getting experience, or seniority. For some time, it looked like the company promoted those with the most seniority, not clinical excellence, leadership skills or problem solving capacity.

At another service I work for, I am the leader among peers-- in both an administrative and clinical capacity-- merely because I have seniority and more clinical experience.

I simply don't understand this disconnect. As someone pursuing higher education (plans to get a Masters in Public Health after my dual BAs), I would like to think that academic experience has some role in advancement within EMS, but it appears not to be true. Why is this?

My best advice for you is to get as much EMS (clinical) experience as you can, alongside other leadership experience and academic work, and see where you stand after 2 or 3 years.

Good Luck!

 

[mct601]

I will say it depends on what service you go with. It helps to have degrees of sorts, it will make you a better candidate for promotion. I'm not a supervisor, but I am speaking from observation.

Green and gold eh? Those guys operate next door, got a lot of friends who work with them.