Philly/Surrounding EMS

[Emtpbill]

Just for those who might be interested, a friend of mine who completed PFD academy for medics told me the city is planning another class for September of 2011.

[stcommodore]

Just for those who might be interested, a friend of mine who completed PFD academy for medics told me the city is planning another class for September of 2011.

I can confirm I have seen the same info

[scratrat]

I can give you some feed back on the virtua hiring process to, needless to say if your not from NJ its months of hassle and at anytime they may change there minds on you an there goes your job.

Yes, Virtua Health Systems covers Camden city. But you rotate through all different trucks. It wouldn't always be in Camden. That's Medic 43 and 45 is in Pennsauken as the second due in. If you are out of state, it appears you will have to have NREMT first. Then Virtua would have to "sponser" you, which basically means they will hire you temporarily for 6 months and then apply for your full certification. Once you have that certification, you move to any other projects without a problem.

Every MICU in the state has it's own set of problems. I had no problems at Virtua because I made it what I could. It can be a miserable experience if you let it. And since you are relatively new, I'm guessing you want Philly/Camden because of the call volume and the glory. Allow me to inform you that BLS there in Camden is no joke. They don't care if the patient is bleeding to death. They will load and go and leave your ass behind in a heart beat. You don't really make it to very many calls within the city itself. They will cancel you and just drive to Cooper without you. The city is relatively small, so transport times are less than 5 minutes usually.

[maaghimself]

Very interesting.

Still haven't heard anything back from PFD. My guess is if they're putting on a class in September I would have heard from them by now.

The search continues...

[snoopy911]

Where do you live now? I know that there are some spots open at Crozer in Delco(Delaware County) I would look into that. You rotate through all the stations that Crozer has medics at, which will put you in the City of Chester quite often, so you get the big city feel, minus the PFD bull. That would be my reccomendation. I am not sure that PFD even went ahead with their plan to put another class through the academy in September, due to extreme budget cuts in the city. I am not 100% on that though, as that was heard through the grape vine, and i am not directly involved with EMS in delco right now, due to an injury. I finally am coming back to the forums. Good luck in your search and if you want any more info, feel free to PM me.

[stcommodore]

FSP 29 completed the academy a few months ago and graduated over 20 Paramedics that are now in the system and nearing full command status. I know of at least one person that received there paperwork within the last few weeks so it sounds like there should be another class within the next few months. There are only 20 vacent posistions left, so it'll be intersting to see if we gain add or upgrade any units if the numbers continue to trend up.

If you contact me personally I can give you contact info for several people in Delco or my opinion on the system, various hospital ALS services.

Very interesting.

Still haven't heard anything back from PFD. My guess is if they're putting on a class in September I would have heard from them by now.

The search continues...

If you haven't heard anything I'd contact HR and see what info they can provide.

[Bullets]

Look into Captial Health, the run ALS in Tenton and surrounding areas of Mercer county, pretty good system for NJ. Other options are AtlantiCare in Atlantic City, a straight shot out the ACX, or one of the other Hospitals in South Jersey like Underwood Memorial in the Deptford area

[Chief1C]

Talking to many firefighter-paramedics, at least those who have gone to the FFII level. Their dream is to leave PA as soon as possible and seek employment in one of the big departments that have become career in North and Eastern Maryland. Right around DC seems to be a hot spot. In fact, most ppl I know have gone down to tag along with departments that are big on College Student live-in programs. The places that really put the term WANKER to the level.