Flight Medics/Critical Care Worth it?

[DigDugDude]

Im a 27 year old guy living in Chicago and have been a CNA in a hospital for a little over 2 years. I thought I wanted to be a nurse but I have learned bedside care is incredibly boring and the doctors for the most part are dicks. That and seeing the same patient every day for weeks at a time really wears me out. Whenever I get floated down to the ER I really have a good time, the time flies by and its new patients all the time. Lately I have really been thinking about Paramedics. But currently im making 13.50/hour as a lowly CNA. I hear the EMtTs make like 9-11$ and the paramedics make 13ish......which hardly seems worth it for the year and a half of schooling I would need to just end up making less than im making now. PS. my job would pay for any EMT/Paramedic schooling I wanted to go to.

I hear the critical care medics make WAY more as do the flight medics (hourly and call bonus wise) but does anyone know what those job prospects are like? Are they in demand? Is it stable? And what do critical care paramedics and flight medics do when there arent and critical/flight calls? Do they just go out on regular calls? Does their pay go down if its a regular call?

I really like the idea of being able to intubate, push meds without having to call a MD first, and just the general bat shit craziness of code calls, PLUS I like the fact that I could be out in the van riding around or working in an ER. I know the majority of the time its not that crazy at all but I really cant see myself as a nurse or not till im older anyways. So yah anyone have opinions or thoughts on the critical care/flight medic route?

Im also not a fan of becoming a firefighter but it kinda seems like I may just have to go that route to actually make decent money. And when I say decent money I mean 45-50g/year I dont need alot of money to be happy but from what im seeing a regular paramedic making 13/hour = 24g/year = no bueno.

Also suggestions for Chicago based Ambulance services? I feel like people dont like to name names but honestly its just asking opinions!

So yah guys any input would be GREATLY appreciated!

-D

[DartmouthDave]

Hello Dig Doug Guy,

If Critical Care Transport is what you want there are two routes. Become an RN work in a high acuity ICU and collect various certifications. Then apply to a medevac service.

Or, take your ACP (EMT-P) and work towards the same goal.

From the sounds of it you want out of the hospital setting. Go for option #2.

Also, seen if you can get a CNA position in an ICU. That way you get to see critical care first hand.

Best of luck....

Besides, your only 27....you have time to sort stuff out!!! =)

Cheers

[fiznat]

I hear the EMtTs make like 9-11$ and the paramedics make 13ish....

I don't know what pay is like where you live but here in CT I make more like $25 an hour as a medic, around $70k per year with a moderate amount of overtime. EMTs are around $15-$18 an hour.

Flight medic positions are usually very competetive (around here at least). You'll need to start out as an EMT and then medic anyways, so you'll have plenty of time to learn about that as you progress through the ranks. You could also approach flight medicine from the nursing side as DD suggested.

Edited April 25, 2011 by fiznat

[HERBIE1]

The only way you will make a decent living as a paramedic in the Chicago area is to work on a fire department. Private providers do not pay well. There are a couple companies- Superior Ambulance is a huge one- that actually employ both Critical care and flight medics. I know they pay pretty well, but I do not know the details. I believe the pay is based in large part on your experience in the field.

As for flight medics and critical care medics, employers generally want at least several years of field experience as a paramedic and it is a very competitive and expensive program to get into. Additionally, there are so few flight medic positions available, they can be very selective with their new hires. You might be better served looking into more rural areas where flight medics are used more extensively.

[paramedicmike]

I read this a little differently than some. The following information may wind up pissing you off. It's not intended to. But it might. Fair warning.

That being said, let's move on:

First off, lose the attitude. Calling the docs a bunch of dicks isn't going to win you any points either personally or professionally. It won't help you here, either, when the several regularly posting physicians and medical students (EMS-ers who are moving on) read what you've written.

Second, please re-examine your motivation for wanting to do the job. Are you doing it because you have a deep seated desire to help people as an EMS provider? Or are you doing this more because you think it's a cool thing to do and you won't have to deal with dick doctors all day? Adding in your pretty strong focus on money, what you've written sounds more like the latter than the former. Yes. Income potential is important. But when the only points you've raised are not having to deal with doctors and how much you can make it raises an awful lot of questions with regards to why you really want to be doing this.

Every flight service with which I'm familiar requires at least five years of busy 911 experience before they'll even consider looking at you. Even then it's not what you know it's who you know. Having an attitude will not win you friends or influence people. It won't get you hired, either.

As a side note, when I was flying I dealt with physicians more often than when I worked on the ground. Between seeing my medical directors almost daily and dealing with physicians on just about every flight, dealing with docs is an inescapable part of the job. Since you'll work under their license, approaching the situation by saying that docs are dicks is not going to help you.

Becoming a RN and getting some solid ICU nursing experience will help you more from a critical care transport perspective than will becoming a paramedic. In fact, generally speaking, becoming a nurse will help you more in the long run. Your earning potential is greater. The opportunities for nurses are much more variable than for paramedics. You also won't have to be a fire fighter.

Don't be mad. Remember, you asked.

Good luck.

[Kaisu]

Well said paramedicmike. My sentiments almost exactly, but I was not motivated enough to write it as well as you did.

[Bieber]

I'm with Mike on this one. I had a big long post to put here, but I realized I was really just reiterating what he said. So instead of posting it, I'll just defer to the master's original work.

[DigDugDude]

@Mike.....not mad at all i would have responded sooner but i never got any emails saying people responded to my post i just assumed i would be notified.

To give further detail,

At the hospital I work at most of the doctors are much older and jaded and for the very most part they DO come off dickish. Its a problem at my workplace and HR is trying to fix it.

The reason I want to get into EMS is beside care is not challenging in the way I want it to be. At my job new nurses out of school arent allowed in the ER without a couple years experience. But at the same time the paramedics in the ER have about as much power as the CNA's - no blood draws, no intubation, no meds, no ekg's ect.

Because my job will fully pay for all the schooling I want to get into. I am going to get my EMT-P while still continuing to bust out nursing degree courses. I know its probably a longer route but at the moment i really think im going to end up getting my nursing degree as well as paramedics license. I want to work in the ER but critical care transport nursing appeals to me as well.

I was asking about the money because yah it does make a difference. I would love to be a teacher but guess what im not going to be able to live comfortably on what they make. Money isnt everything and I get that but the sad truth is there are many jobs that pay well below not only their worth but also just general cost of decent living requirements.

I was only asking the opinion of people who have been in the flight/critical care field because personal know how alot of times can do much more than a google search.

thanks for the input so far guys!

[BEorP]

At the hospital I work at most of the doctors are much older and jaded and for the very most part they DO come off dickish. Its a problem at my workplace and HR is trying to fix it.

It looks like you've been given some good advice already but I just wanted to slip some more in. As you continue to get more information from the forum and to ask more questions, I would ask you to please try to be more professional and respectful. This is an open forum that anyone can read and judge our profession by. The last thing we want is someone coming on by and reading a thread where members are calling other healthcare professionals "dicks." And then doing it again. If you find the physicians at your hospital challenging to work with or find that you would prefer to work more independently, say that, but don't start name calling. Remember as well that one of those doctors you work with could come across this thread if they happened to be searching online for info on becoming a flight medic

Don't forget as well that whether we like it or not, in North America we are generally quite dependent on our physician medical directors for our ability to work in EMS. Although you may be able to "intubate, push meds without having to call a MD first," you will still be working under the direction of a medical director who has approved specific protocols for the things you can do and who you will need to answer to if you deviate from these.

Welcome to the forum and best of luck with everything! Keep asking questions.

[fiznat]

Oh come on. I've met a lot of prick doctors. I've also met a few prick medics lol....

Who gave this guy negative points for this thread? You guys are harsh.... He's not asking anything all that abnormal. He is interested in this job so he can earn a few more bucks doing something dynamic and interesting as well as have some degree of individual discretion in his medical care. I challenge anyone to say those aren't some of the main reasons they got into this work.

Edited April 26, 2011 by fiznat