Okay... for those that don’t know I am a professional Paramedic and Firefighter and I have worked in Private EMS since the beginning of my career also, that being said...
II have seen the pay scale across the country for EMT (Basic) and since I started as an EMT things have improved greatly. While I made minimum wage as an EMT when I starts, EMT's today (at the same company) start at $10/hr a huge step up. Not bad when you think about how little schooling they had to complete to become an EMT! Paramedics in the private sector start at almost $14/hr (again, in AZ). When I read the EMS wages reports every year, it seems that most locals have increasing pay also
I know there are other Professional EMS providers out there who are sick and tired of our coworkers [censored] because they only got a $0.50/hr raise this year, expecting more, but when a 0300 move-up or interfacility comes over the radio the call the dispatcher and complain and [censored] about it for the next three days. If we expect to get more pay, then expect to DO YOUR JOB and not complain about it.
Now, to the question… NO area is notorious for poor pay and corrupt EMS companies (the companies, not the providers!) the rural area also has a number of volunteer agencies which bring the averages down. Those providers did an outstanding job (from what I heard) in very poor conditions. They were hindered by a number of things, but incident management was a major one!
A good number of the agencies who sent resources to the disaster were volunteer departments. I witnessed many of these volunteers who left their jobs and families for poor pay from FEMA act more professional then many of the Career firefighters who deployed!
Just out of currosity, how are EMS jobs threatened by illegal Immegrants? Living in the southwest and all, and being well intrenched in the EMS community here I have never heard ANYONE talk about this... The Illegal Immegrant's are job security for many EMS providers!
Edited by romania (07/25/06 06:59 PM)
_________________________
"Trust in God --and press-check. You cannot ignore danger and call it faith." -Duke