Working in private, paid EMS.

What is it like to work in private EMS?

• What are the difference between 911 and IFT?
• Is it possible to make a decent living in NYC working a single paid EMS job?
• What is the difference between 3rd service (Municipal), private, and volunteer EMS?
• How has COVID changed the scope and practice of EMS?
• How do EMTs and paramedics work in such a stressful environment and continue on?

This essential question and sub-questions are extremely important to me as EMS and the people I work with in EMS matter a lot to me personally. I have spent a lot of time becoming an EMT, applying to different agencies, and putting in time actually working. With that said, I have only worked in a 911 setting for one particular volunteer agency. This is entirely different from say working at a private company doing both emergent and non-emergent interfacility transfers. Further, the people you work with in EMS become like family as you spend tens or hundreds of hours with them in a metal box. The people who are EMTs or paramedics in their professional lives face many challenges on a daily basis and learning about and addressing those problems is paramount.

The challenges of working in EMS that I will face personally include working long, strange hours, working in stressful conditions such as driving emergency vehicles, taking care of patients, etc., maintaining professional relationships with the company I end up working for, and, how to later quantify this experience for people who have had no exposure to it.

For the experiential portion of the project I will work for a private ambulance service (specifically I am thinking SeniorCare EMS). Due to the nature of EMS in general and other factors, private companies are generally a revolving door for young employees. This combined with COVID and a shortage of EMTs and paramedics around the country means that these companies are always hiring and are willing to hire people in entry-level positions. I believe I will not have trouble getting a job as I have been an EMT for what will be a year by the time I start the project and I have been working in that time. Further, I know multiple employees at SeniorCare including the recruiting manager and SeniorCare likes to take employees from the EMT school I went to because the owner has connections with that school. I have chosen this path because there is really no way to understand these challenges without being in the shoes of an employee at one of these companies.

The backup plan. While I am 99.99% sure that I will be able to work for SeniorCare I do have a backup plan in place. I have worked for a company in the past providing COVID testing for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. I was offered a position to do this on a regular basis but turned it down due to the time constraints with school and my volunteer EMS job. This position (as far as I am aware) is still open to me should I choose to take it. Another backup plan I have is to work as a COVID-19 vaccine administrator. As an EMT I am authorized by the governor’s declaration of emergency to give the COVID-19 vaccine, there are many opportunities to do this and almost certainly will be for the next couple of months.

 

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1jXjBYMWxBoC0UmJQkPRnC6bPOYoc_P1oohwCTDGmbwI/edit#slide=id.p