Careflite in Dallas/Ft. Worth Texas area

[medicfarva1]

Hey all, just curious if anyone knows about Careflite in the Dallas metroplex area. Pros and Cons, call volume, equipment, pay etc.... I am looking to move there after I'm through with Paramedic School in September and have been contacted by them to possibly work for them. Any info would help a lot!

[Dustdevil]

It's not EMS. It's just a non-emergency transfer service with a fancy name. Good equipment and decent money, compared to the local average for ambulance drivers. They stay pretty busy, and they are more professionally managed than most transfer companies. Most of their employees I talk to are relatively happy there, but still wish they could be real EMS medics instead.

They do have one EMS contract in Johnson County, south of Fort Worth. I think they run maybe three trucks for the entire county (although a couple small towns run their own volly ambulance instead). That's not many EMS jobs, and they pretty well stay full without a lot of turnover. EMTs are a dime a dozen in this area, as every professional firefighter is required to be an EMT in this state, and there are fly-by-night schools everywhere. Not to mention that ninety percent of their transfer jockeys are on a waiting list to move over to EMS if an opening comes up.

If you're really into being a taxi driver, you'll make better money and get treated better just driving a regular cab than an ambulance in the DFW area. But, if you're dead set on being a non-EMS, non-emergency transfer ambulance driver/attendant in Dallas, then CareFlite is a good bet over the others.

[medicfarva1]

Well, that pretty well clears up a lot.. by the website and brochure it seemed that they run a lot of 911 as well as transfers. It may not be a bad place to start and get my bearings I guess... but, as I'm sure most new up and coming medics such as myself, I would like a chance to run 911 and get that experience as well. Any suggestions? I hear Medstar stays busy and gets their butts kicked most days... Thanks for the info!

[Dustdevil]

Yeah, MedStar is one of only two real, non-fire EMS job in the metropolitan area. They are almost always looking for medics (though not EMTs), so it's not a locked up deal. So long as you pass their process, you stand a good chance of getting in. The pay is crap, and they run you ragged. But at least it's steady work with a relatively professional outfit that is not a private. And they don't run 24 hour shifts, so it's not too overwhelming. Unlike every other EMS system in the entire five county region, they run SSM, so you will be sitting in a truck your entire shift, not in a recliner in front of the big screen. It's not really that bad for a ten or twelve hour shift though. It's just a real culture shock to people who are used to 24 hour shifts.

Similar to the MedStar operation, next door in Arlington, is Arlington EMS, which is operated by AMR (the trucks say Arlington EMS on them, with only a tiny little AMR decal on the doors). It's a "public utility" operation, like MedStar used to be. They are one of the better places to work in Dallas-Fort Worth, with a lot of competition for the positions. But it appears that they have kind of sunk down a little in the last few years. They had always been dual medic since the inception of the system, but AMR came in and whined that it cost too much, and now they run some trucks with one medic and an Intermediate. Still no EMT-Bs, at least. Nice equipment. Nice city to work in. Good people. Busy, but not overwhelming. I think they run a combo of 12 and 24 hour shifts. Good relationship with the FD, about three quarters of whom are also medics. Surprisingly enough, there is very, very little conflict between the FD and EMS. EMS is in charge of EMS.

Besides CareFlite in Johnson County, if you are willing to drive, there are other non-Fire EMS opportunities in other surrounding counties. Parker County, just west of Fort Worth, runs the best of them. Three full-time, dual-medic trucks in a third-service administrated by the county hospital. Great pay for the area, excellent equipment, medically progressive, and very professional management. They don't hire anybody without a crapload of experience though.

Wise County, northwest of Fort Worth, runs a county third-service EMS too. I haven't had much contact with them in the last few years. It used to be the best around when it was hospital based. When the county took over on its own, it went downhill, hiring mostly local good ol' boys. They do have excellent equipment, and last I heard, some pretty well educated guys. The uniforms look like janitors and the trucks are Freightliner diesels that are so big that you'll end up doing a lot of walking because your truck wouldn't fit through the cattle gate. It is an almost exclusively rural farming community. Very nice community, really. But the county is rife with politics, and they aren't terribly supportive of EMS. They're always threatening to turn it over to a private.

Hood County, just southwest of Fort Worth and Parker County, is a hospital based, county wide service that used to be top notch, but I have had no info about them in recent years.

Palo Pinto County, west of Parker County (a good hour west of Fort Worth), is also hospital based, two units I think. Pretty low budget and unstable, last I heard. Having trouble keeping people.

Rockwall County, just east of Dallas, is supposedly pretty good. County wide third-service with just a few units. I believe they are all medic. I think their neighbour, Kaufman County, also runs a third-service system.

Hunt County, next county east of Rockwall, is huge, and is run by a private company supplying about 3 or 4 medic units. Not sure who runs it anymore. Might be AMR. But it's historically been a pretty good gig out there.

Ellis County, south of Dallas (east of Johnson) is run by an outfit called "East Texas Medical Centre EMS", and provides all EMS for the very rural county (two and a half little cities, and the rest farm land). Ugliest uniforms ever. Trucks are pretty ugly too, but of good quality. I don't know what they pay, but they are a satellite unit of a very big operation. ETMC also runs Tyler, an hour west of Dallas, where the main base is. This is the same company that runs the Tulsa and Oklahoma City EMS utilities under the name EMSA. Because of that big infrastructure, I think their benefits are decent, and you don't have to worry about your paycheque bouncing, even if it is pretty small.

Other than that, you're pretty much out of luck around here as a non-fire medic. All of Dallas, Denton, and Collin counties are strictly FD run. And the supply of medics being pumped out here far outpaces the number of non-FD jobs available. Outpaces the number of FD jobs available too, for that matter. Supply and demand is not on our side here.

The good news is, there is no basic EMS anywhere around here. Everybody is all ALS, with many of them being dual medic. And, if you're not too picky, you can at least make better than minimum wage at most of the ten-million, fly by night transfer companies around here.

If you're serious about coming here, Arlington is probably the best bet around right now. And, like every AMR operation, they seem to always have openings. But, if you prefer a slower, rural experience, you would definitely want to call CareFlite and see if they have any guaranteed jobs in Johnson County. You could luck out and be in the right place at the right time and beat out one of the transfer jockeys in Dallas.

Are you already in Texas, or out of state? We don't need anymore New Jersey rejects. :wink:

[medicfarva1]

I'm out of state (Iowa) and 5 months from being done with medic school. I currently hold NREMT I-85 certification, which I realize is null to Texas with 5 yrs experience running 911. Started as a B volunteer in my home county then got on with the hospital next county over. Been PRN there for a year now and dispatch full time for the county. My fiance is from Gainesville and we'll be moving to the area in September.. possibly Little Elm. Coming down in a couple of weeks to look at houses and take care of some personal business there. I really do appreciate the info and will check into a few of those in addition to CareFlite. My options are open at this point... just trying to find a good service to start with and will move forward from there.

[Dustdevil]

Cool. Are options limited in Iowa, or are you just wanting to join family here?

Little Elm is Collin county, which is all firemonkeys. Gainesville is Cooke county, which is more like Oklahoma than Texas, lol. It's right on the border. I'm not sure what EMS is like there. I think it's a lot like Denton county, where the city FD runs EMS for most of the county, but there may be something else there. Except for Wise County, there really isn't much opportunity in the counties north of Dallas-Fort Worth. And again, Wise County only has like 3 or 4 units.

Back to the Gainesville thing, there seem to always be medic jobs open in south Oklahoma, although they are one of the worst paid states for EMS. Lots of vollies and Indians farking things up for us. It's an easy commute from Gainesville though.

Little Elm is a nice town and area. It's growing, though. It'll be urban pretty soon.

Congratulations on the engagement!

[medicfarva1]

Thanks for the well wishes! Options in Iowa, especially southeast where I am, are limited in that all the full time slots on the services around here are filled and they are all hiring PRN. The hospital I work at PRN has a full time slot open now, but the pay starting would be less than what I make behind the console and the worst in the area so... a guy has to pay the bills. We are moving so she can finish her education at TWU and settle down there. With the way this winter has gone so far, I can say it'll be a welcome transition!

[Ridryder 911]

Ardmore (Southern OK Ambulance Service/SOAS) usually are looking for EMT's and medics. They pay, okay in comparison and have liberal protocols. They are not far from Gainesville as well.

Here is a link to their web site: http://www.soas.net/

[medic_texas]

I'd stay put until you get your medic cert in hand. I would then check out Rockwall or some of the other services that were posted. I looked at Rockwall a few years ago, they pay decent have aggressive protocols and seem very friendly. CareFlite isn't that great of a gig on the ground unless you just want to be a transfer monkey. 911 experience is going to look better on a resume than non-emergency transfer experience. Good luck with the job hunt.