Is it me or are most of FDNY EMT/Medics miserable?

[tskstorm]

NYC_EMT,, tha answer to your question about why you may get the cold shoulder from FDNY-EMS is as follows:

When I worked for the city, pre and post merger, there was no transcare metro care doing 9-1-1.. Voluntary Hospitals hired their own people, almost all of them were former or current FDNY or NYC-EMS members, they knew the system, the protocols, SOP's, OGP,s etc.

Now as for Metro Care. Even though you are all EMT's, and or Medics, and you hold the same certifications as municipal units, you are not the same. NYC has an academy that all new hires go thru.. even if you were a Medic for 20 years in another system. This can not be said about the Privates. The other thing is the vehicles you drive. I dunno what they are like know, but i remember being at a local ER in Manhattan when a NYS-DOH inspector rolled in and he put multiple private operators out of service for lack of equipment, CO in the patient compartment, lights not working, sirens not working, etc.

Not to mention the fact that they go out of service for long periods of time, "get lost" literally and figurativelly, as well as just a lack of overall control, what is FDNY going to do if they screw up???

So, I think the reason is that in their minds the Privates are providing sub standard care. And when a scandal breaks, the POST writes about EMS, not the private, and they FDNY personnel get lumped in with metrocare.

When a municipal unit backs you up, you know what you are going to get, not so for a private 9-1-1 contact ambulance,, you don't know if the person is familiar with the SOP, OGP, or REMAC protocols, Hell you don't even know if this is their first day working, whatever.. So you can say what you want but the standards are not the same.

This is my personal opinion about why they shun you.

My thoughts are my own and do not represnet my agency, dept, or company.

I speak from over 10 years exp in NYC-EMS/FDNY as an EMT, Disp, Medic, and LT, any other questions feel free to ask.

isnt this a little presumptive ? i mean transcare medic starting pay is 23$'s an hour straight from school, so why wouldnt a medic from fdny with years of expirienve getting paid $19 transfer over to make more money?

just a thought based on money. and money only, nothing to do with being part 800 etc...

[FormerEMSLT297]

isnt this a little presumptive ? i mean transcare medic starting pay is 23$'s an hour straight from school, so why wouldnt a medic from fdny with years of expirienve getting paid $19 transfer over to make more money?

just a thought based on money. and money only, nothing to do with being part 800 etc...

Well the truth about private companies in NYS, is that you can be fired at any time for any reason... that being said,, I don't see any new hires staying with NYC because the pay dropped soo low, but prior to the drop a top salary medic made about 40-45 K per year,,, ..

The other thing like Asysin2leadsd said was the Line of Duty Injury package and 25 year retirement is another factor...

[croaker260]

The 25 year retirement that someone mentioned at 18k/year doesn't sound that hot. Here we are rule of 80 (years in service plus age must equal 80) so we work longer (example I will retire at 54) but will get the average salary of my 5 highest years... so at least I will be able to live....It would be nice making 5-7k/month in retirement and still be reasonably young enough to enjoy it.

[Richard B the EMT]

Someone just dissed a group of my friends.

Within the five counties that make up the city of New York, there are several volunteer fire departments; in Queens County alone, we have the Broad Channel VFD & EMS, Point Breeze VFD, Rockaway Point VFD & EMS, Roxbury VFD & EMS, and West Hamilton Beach VFD & EMS. Kings County, better known as BROOKLYN, has Gerritsen Beach VFD & EMS. I am told of, but don't recall the names, two VFDs in Richmond County, AKA Staten Island, and I think there is another VFD/VAS in the City Island area of "Da Bronx!"

(For my convenience, I have called their ambulance sections "EMS", they may be listed as "First Aid Squad", "Volunteer Ambulance Service/Corps/Squad" on their registration and letterheads. No offence to these agencies was intended by calling them as I did.)

I also wish to address something else. The NYC 9-1-1 System EMS is under the control of the FDNY EMS, via the EMD, located a few buildings away from FDNY HQ. They control FDNY ambulances, operated by union personnel, and ambulances from Diocean and private hospitals, that we of the FDNY EMS call "Voluntaries". The vehicles are marked with the hospital name on the side, and a patch on the door indicating that they are a participant of the FDNY EMS. The personnel are paid by the hospital, not NYC, although the hospital is paid for the participation by NYC, and the personnel are in one or another union.

A few of the hospitals in the program subcontract out to private, proprietary ambulance services, like Metrocare (Metro-"Scare"). These vehicles have the hospital name, the service provider, and the participant patch on the door or side. They are still referred to as "voluntaries" (and a few other choice names by the FDNY EMS unions, but that is a topic for another narrative).

Next, there are the community based Volunteer Ambulance Services. There are still about 30 or so of them in all five counties, with some of them being from the VFDs I mentioned in the first paragraph. They run 9-1-1 calls, but only those direct called into their dispatchers. Most of them, if not all of them, are members of the Mutual Aid Radio System (M.A.R.S), which is used when FDNY EMD calls them up to handle a response within the VAS' service area, or close to it, via a radio that was issued to them by the FDNY, or in a few cases, by the old NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation EMS, prior to the FDNY/EMS merger of 1996. Except for some "MCI Drills" of late, the relation between Municipal (FDNY), Voluntary, and Volunteer, at least in the field, seems to be pretty good, while the unions play it up as nobody but union people should be on an ambulance..

Then, you have the "Privates", the proprietary ambulance services. Except for their units already described as being under direct FDNY EMD control, they are self-dispatched, mostly to do the prescheduled ambulance/ambulette clinic transport work, and seem to not have any union representation at all. They might do an Emergency run, but these are as privately requested by their customers (a bad example is, some "Rave" operators have a private ambulance service do standby work, so if they transport a drug case, the public won't know it was from their location, a local issue being addressed by the NYPD and the ATF).

[NYC_EMT326]

I would like to apologize to everyone for my naive actions. I really thought TransCare really did care about their employees but I found out the real ugly truth. All I have to say for myself is they just lost a very experienced Tech. Oh well, I have some options on the table. Whether its moving to Las Vegas or staying and going to to FDNY. Plus I still have the Firefighter exam to fall back on. Well like I said, I am sorry for what I said I was naive to think different.

[tskstorm]

I would like to apologize to everyone for my naive actions. I really thought TransCare really did care about their employees but I found out the real ugly truth. All I have to say for myself is they just lost a very experienced Tech. Oh well, I have some options on the table. Whether its moving to Las Vegas or staying and going to to FDNY. Plus I still have the Firefighter exam to fall back on. Well like I said, I am sorry for what I said I was naive to think different.

ut oh what did they do now ? lol

[Asysin2leads]

NYC_EMT, if its anything you want to talk about, PM me.

[NYFD-PARAMEDIC]

After 15yrs I worked the vollies, privates and NYC-EMS (the good old green and white days) and now FDNY-EMSC. I've worked with good people and bad people. Honestly I don't care who you work for as long as you do your job well. I had good BLS back up from the private side and bad BLS back up from the FDNY side. We all take a state exam so what makes people bad at pt. care is laziness for the most part. I have no problems with the private guys nor does any Medic I ever worked with. The only problem I have is those damn type II buses are too small, LOL!

[ALERT Medic]

Don't forget Hatzalah....

Every time I'm in NYC, I've seen their units on runs. They seem pretty busy.

Never heard of them but they seem to be a busy service. Good info.

[Dustdevil]

Seems like there was a thread about Hatzalah here quite awhile back, although it does not come up in search anymore.

I recall it was less than flattering. Some charges of poaching and unprofessional/unorthodox medical practices.

I dunno. I'm only half Jew, so I was only half interested. That was the first I ever heard of the guys though.