Houston EMS

[1aCe3]

I'm doing some looking into with EMS in Houston, Texas. If anyone works in the area, pls let me know as I've got some questions. Has anyone worked with the Houston FD? What are the private 911 contracts (company names) over there? and also, what is the pay like for the privates? (Paramedic).

[Fox800]

I work for a county 911 system that borders Harris County (Houston). As far as the City of Houston goes, they run 911 for the entire city...there aren't any private 911 EMS contracts within the city limits. Almost all of the county EMS coverage is provided by government services, either through a city (ex. Houston, Humble) or an Emergency Services District (Cypress Creek, Harris County ESD-1, Northwest Rural EMS). I can't comment on EMS pay for the privates...I'd imagine it's not too great. Houston has over 200 private EMS companies. It's gotten so bad that Medicare has a task force specifically for Houston to try and crack down on Medicare fraud. There are new companies popping up all the time. I've heard that the city is trying to pass some sort of ordnance limiting the number of private firms. Are you wanting work as an EMT or as a paramedic?

[1aCe3]

thanks for the info. I'm looking to become a fire-medic. (Fire suppression is a new interest...) I'm working as a medic in NYC right now. Pay as a fire trainee with HFD is on the low side. (Although I realize the cost of living in Houston is much lower than where I am now) I was thinking I might be able to pick up some medic tours with a private while in the academy. Then again, I'm also debating whether HFD is the place to be. I'm hoping someone here would be able to shed some light.

[Dustdevil]

Medically, HFD is the pits. Quite possibly the worst in Texas. Prefill arrest meds accounts for almost all of the drug list. NYC EMS is light years ahead of HFD. Few of their medics want to be medics. Most of their ambulances are BLS units. Typical urban, short transport times and apathy on the part of the medics results in very little medicine actually being practised. They were transporting my grandmother during a cardiac event some years back and weren't even going to bother to start oxygen or an IV until I strongly recommended it.

Their medical director talks a lot of smack. He's an ex medic. To listen to him, you'd think HFD was the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. I don't know if he's really that ignorant, of if he's just a big bullshitter. But his previous job was medical director of Los Angeles EMS, so that ought to tell you something about his idea of excellence.

I don't know how easy it is to move from EMS to suppression there. You can burn out pretty quickly in an environment like that, so I would hope it would not be too difficult after a couple years. But they are constantly so short of medics that they probably keep you there for a long time. Unlike other large departments in Texas, like Dallas and San Antonio, Houston doesn't send all their rookies to medic school to keep the staff up. Instead, they rely solely upon hiring medics off the streets to be firemen. They started off in the beginning training their own medics in-house, with the worst school ever run in the country. The state wouldn't even certify them because they were so horrible, so they functioned under their own "city certification", which they could get away with in Texas at the time. But now they're too cheap even for that. About ten years ago, they were so short of medics that they actually did send several hundred guys to the cheesiest, ten-week paramedic course they could get. I wouldn't be surprised if they did that again sometime.

Houston is starting to come back financially, so the cost of living isn't as low as it used to be, but yes, it is MUCH, MUCH, MUCH lower than you, as a New Yorker, could ever imagine. Your money will go a long way there. No state taxes. No union dues. A new three bedroom house in the suburbs will cost you less than a 80 year old two-bedroom apartment in NYC. You won't need or want to work a private for extra money. And they all pay far less than $10 an hour anyhow. There are a few municipal and ESD services around that hire part-time though. Definitely a much better choice than private transfer jockeying.

You might feel more at home in Dallas. A tonne of New York companies, including American Airlines, moved here in the last few decades, so there are a crapload (read: too many) frostbacks down here already. Not nearly as many made it to Houston, as the heat and humidity would kill them. It is an unimaginably inhospitable environment for Northerners in the Summer, which lasts six months or more.

Definitely a lot more professional opportunity down here than in NY though. If you can stand the heat, literally, it's a smart move.

[1aCe3]

Thanks for the low-down dust. I'll be looking into some of the protocols to take a glimpse at what kind of backwards medical thinking you were talking about. The way you were speaking about their EMS, it seems as if it's a completely separate division. I was reading on their website, (and I'll be asking more about it when I visit Houston in 2 weeks to take the entrance exam) it says that all their medics are cross trained as FF's. Do you know if they perform both job duties on a rotational schedule. Because that's the stick to it. I may have a new interest in suppression/rescue but there's no way I could give up the EMS side.

As for $$$ I'll have to experience some of the city for myself...

When you mention professional opportunities, what kind of things are you thinking about?

[Dustdevil]

...it says that all their medics are cross trained as FF's. Do you know if they perform both job duties on a rotational schedule. Because that's the stick to it. I may have a new interest in suppression/rescue but there's no way I could give up the EMS side.

That's kind of misleading actually. They're not really cross trained in the sense of being hired to be a medic, but being casually trained to fight fire too. It is a fire department, straight up. There is zero separation between divisions, as there is in FDNY. You are just a fireman, or you are a paramedic and a fireman. There are no single role medical people. Just like Kalifornia, over ninety-percent of all medics there became medics only because it helped their chances of getting hired. You will find very few like-minded people there, who share your passion for EMS. It's pretty rare.

I am not sure whether they rotate regularly or not. I'm just guessing, but I am thinking not, because unlike Dallas, they simply don't have a glut of medics. A lot of guys let it go as soon as they are able to. As long as you want to stay on the ambulance, they're likely to let you, and even encourage it. I could be off though. They may require so much time on the trucks to keep you balanced. That's the way Dallas does it, but even there, if you want to stay on the ambulance mostly, they are happy to oblige you.

As for $$$ I'll have to experience some of the city for myself...

Houston is actually a cool place to live. Very cosmopolitan. And you don't really have to drive far to be suburban or even rural. You can live out in the country and commute only an hour to work. Lots of things to do. Pro sports teams out the wazoo. Museums. Fairs and festivals. Awesome lakes and piney woods. Great educational opportunities with some top unversities. It's where I did my undergrad. Crime is a motherfarker though. Once you live there for 6 months, you will want to IMMEDIATELY get your concealed handgun licence. Violence is mostly in the ghettos, but it spills over into every neighbourhood at times, so be prepared. You'll see more shootings in 3 months in Houston than I saw in a year and a half in Iraq. And although it's not really "violence", it doesn't pay to drive a nice new car in Houston. Within three months of buying it, you WILL be in a wreck. It's unavoidable in Houston traffic. Somebody is going to hit you eventually. That is, if they don't steal it first. Sometimes they hit you AND steal it, so again, get your handgun licence.

When you mention professional opportunities, what kind of things are you thinking about?

I'm talking about job opportunities for medics. There seems to be few in NYC. You've got FDNY and a handful of voluntaries, and then the rest is whacker squads and transfer jockeys. Not really an opportunity rich environment. In the Metro Houston area, there are simply more opportunities, and better opportunities, and as mentioned, the money goes a lot farther.

[1aCe3]

hehe, you're making me have second thoughts here. Starting to fit the stereotype of the gun-slinging state. Everybody's packing eh?

[flight-lp]

I think Dust has touched on most of the subject, but I want to add a couple of things.

1. HFD sucks! Period! They are the worst EMS agency I have ever come in contact with. Most do not want to be medics as Dust pointed out, they just want their premium pay for being a Medic. Fire side isn't bad, but definately don't go there with any belief that your presence as a Paramedic will remotely be of any service.

2. If you still do to HFD, please be aware that you CANNOT work while you are in the academy. Take a job, they will terminate you. It's written in their conditional job offer paperwork.

3. There are much better places to go, most with better quality of life and better pay. North Houston also has some of the best Volunteer Fire Departments in the nation. Most also have paid duty crews. There aren't too many fulltime Fire / EMS jobs here as our communities have wised up and realize that Fire based EMS royally sucks, but here are a few you could check out..........................

http://www.villagefiredept.com/

http://www.cityofhumble.com/fire/history/index.html

http://www.katyfire.com/index.shtml

http://www.texas-city-tx.org/Fire.htm

Good Luck!

[Dustdevil]

hehe, you're making me have second thoughts here. Starting to fit the stereotype of the gun-slinging state. Everybody's packing eh?

Mostly just the bad guys, like everywhere else. But at least we do have the option of packing legally, if we choose to, like most states nowadays. Very few do though. The average packer is a middle aged, middle class family guy who's been around long enough to realise that it's smart to hedge your bets. But yeah, that right saves lives here all the time. You'd be crazy to live in Harris County and not take advantage of it.

[paramedicmel]

There is also Cyfair EMS......they pay pretty good and they have a great medical director!!! I worked for them about 4 yrs ago.