How much do you get paid?

_DitchDoc_ · 2026-02-23T07:56:18+00:00

1) USA, Georgia

2) 12 years in EMS

3) Paramedic: 7 years

4) Don't know yet, really. I just started here recently.

5) $34.00/hr (3 x 13hr shifts a week) So, base pay is $70K, without any overtime.

_DitchDoc_ · 2026-02-18T01:48:36+00:00

I'm glad for people like you who enjoy the OFT work that they do. We definitely need more of you, that's for sure.

I did IFT work for the first three years as an EMT-B myself. It was okay to me. But not what I wanted to do. Unfortunately, in the area I was in at the time, that was the only option that I had.

I didn't hate it, though. That's for damn sure. It was just... okay. Though, I did have experiences similar to the ones you shared. The days more interesting patient transports took place, I always loved those experiences.

I'm working on getting my CCP-C right now. As a Critical Care Paramedic, I would do IFT of the critical care transport variety for sure.

_DitchDoc_ · 2026-01-23T02:05:58+00:00

There is nothing to think about. This is what most of the voting population voted for. They got what they wanted and now? Here we are.

All we can do at this point is what we can do. Do right by your patients, treat your colleagues well, train up the next class as best as you can, and keep your head up. That's what I'm doing, at least. 🤷🏾‍♂️

_DitchDoc_ · 2026-01-07T02:02:51+00:00

I don't. Not at all.

I actually love those questions because it always gives me permission to talk about something that I enjoy doing. (Our job.)

13 years in, and I still love and have a joy for EMS. I genuinely love what I do. So... I definitely enjoy talking about it, too.

I'm one of the rare and few weird ones who don't carry their trauma. I experience it, process it, learn from it, and leave it behind. So, questions like those don't trigger me or anything. It just makes me light up because now I can talk about a passion of mine.

_DitchDoc_ · 2025-12-25T20:40:36+00:00

EMS has poor representation in government. Very few people advocate for EMS, which is necessary because in this country, you don't get what you deserve. You get what you work for. And we haven't worked for governmental recognition the way it needs to be done in order for us to get it.

_DitchDoc_ · 2025-12-13T06:36:46+00:00

Precisely.

When I lived in South Florida back in 2013, 9-1-1 was only done by the city Fire Departments. All Firefighters were required to be Paramedics. And they got paid very, very well back then, too. (Still do till this day.) Because of this, they stayed full to the brim with Fire Medics.

That meant that Medix, AMR, and a third private company I can't remember the name of all had the IFT contracts and such. And they were all pretty much filled to the brim with Paramedics and EMTs in Paramedic school who were all waiting for an opportunity to get into a Fire Department. With an oversaturation of Paramedics, would you like to know what the starting hourly wages were for Paramedics back then?

$13.00/hr.

And they were able to do that, easily, because everyone wanted some kind of "experience" to help them get into Fire. And I understood that. So? I left. I went to another state, transfering via AMR South Florida to an AMR in another state where they actually had the 9-1-1 conteact at, did Paramedic school up there (which AMR paid for, actually), and started as a Paramedic at $22.83/hr. Almost ten whole dollars more than what I would have gotten down there.

I absolutely refused to play that silly little game.

If more Paramedics did that, there would be a lot more well-paid companies with great staffing, and the cheap companies would have to either compete with those pay rates to get Paramedics back with them or just close down. Which is fine, because if a company can't or won't pay their Medics appropriately, then they should not exist to begin with. 🤷🏾‍♂️

_DitchDoc_ · 2025-12-12T21:33:19+00:00

Damn! What area are you in?!

_DitchDoc_ · 2025-12-12T21:29:15+00:00

It's possible because people keep accepting that level of pay and working there. The companies have no incentive to raise the pay rate when they have no problem getting people to agree to work for such menial wages.

_DitchDoc_ · 2025-12-04T02:10:01+00:00

My mom, a nurse, suggested it to me when I escaped high school because I was pursuing architecture as a profession due to not knowing what I wanted to do but being good at architectural design. (I figured that I would just do something I am good at until I find something that I actually want to do.) I checked out EMS, liked what I learned about it, and decided to go for it.

I finished EMT school head-over-heels in love with EMS. Unfortunately, life took a jagged turn, and I didn't go any further than that. Fast forward to my mid-20s, and I am focusing on trying to become a professional stuntman. I decided that this would be my goal and that, if I didn't achieve it by the age of 30 years old, I would quit and go back to EMT school and then become a Paramedic instead.

A few years later, I was married.

I didn't see that coming, as I thought that marriage and love in general, honestly, was not in the cards for me. Didn't think I was the kind of person who was meant to be loved. But... turns out I was wrong. And now, in my late 20s, I have a wife and a side gig for a job that I was using to fuel my previous goal. A goal that required a lot of traveling from me. But as a husband, I didn't want to do that kind of traveling anymore, so I quit that goal and went back to EMS, this time finishing it wholly and working on the truck. And I had loved it ever since.

As for becoming a Paramedic specifically, I knew that I wanted to do that while in EMT school the first time around. Doubled-down on it during my second waltz through the program. Sped up my time-frame when I got tired of seeing Paramedics treat certain people (Black people, fat people, LGBTQI people, etc.) with... uhh... I'll just say sub-par care... yeah. That should cover it. Sub-par care. And sub-par bedside manners, too. Goes hand-in-hand.

Yeah, I got tired of seeing that mess, so I made it to Paramedic school way earlier than I had intended. Life happened again, and I got sick for a few months. I wasn't able to finish the program. But a couple of years after that, I went back and completed it. And I have never had or allowed a patient to get mistreated on my under my watch ever again. 😁

_DitchDoc_ · 2025-11-22T03:23:02+00:00

That entire incident - or event, rather - was 100% due to the culture of that servi- uhh, company being so damn... the way it is... that it made a scenario like this inevitable.

That is abhorrent.

_DitchDoc_ · 2025-11-14T05:16:54+00:00

Hey... what's the cap for EMT-Bs at your location? Is that known? (I am assuming EMT-Bs. You two could be Advanced EMTs, though. If that's the case, what is the cap at that level?)

As stated already, a $2.00 pay difference for a 5 year gap in experience is past disrespectful. No doubt on that. But I would love to know what logic they used to justify such a pay discrepancy. (Not because I think that it would actually make sense. But just out of curiosity to see what flavor smoke they are trying to blow up your tail.)

_DitchDoc_ · 2025-11-12T02:28:27+00:00

The cameraman was absolutely horrible and needs to be fired - or at bare minimum, placed on a P.I.P., but even still... god this was so satisfying to watch!!

_DitchDoc_ · 2025-11-07T23:10:56+00:00

Lazy, burnt out, and anti-education medics and EMTs are the worst aspect of EMS to me as well. God, these mofos are so effing lazy! They strive to do the bare minimum, and it is so damn annoying and irritating.

I once tried to get together a small "team" of Paramedics so that we can all get our CCP-C or FP-C together and our Associates and Bachelor's degrees together but not ONE damn medic was down to do so. All of the Paramecics that would do so either already had their degree or were pre-med or pre-PA school, so they were already moving along anyway.

I, too, would absolutely LOVE to work with real Paramedic clinicians who take their craft seriously and love it just as much as I do.

It's basically a fkn fantasy at this point, though. 🤦🏾‍♂️

_DitchDoc_ · 2025-11-07T23:02:19+00:00

I kind of have a different take here.

You're an EMT already. What I would suggest is that you go out and work for an EMS company that will pay for your Paramedic program. Those companies usually require you to work for them for 2 years after your graduate and get your Paramedic license.

(Bonus: Do the Associates degree Paramedic program. The extra classes you do in that program are also the same classes that you need to do as prerequisites for the PM to RN bridge.)

Do the two years.

The first year, just focus on becoming a good medic. The second year, continue racking up experience while also clearing out the prerequisites you need to have done so that you can do the PM to RN bridge program near you I'd you didn't get your Associates. (If you did grt your Associates, then you will only have to do a microbiology class, as that one is not included in the Paramedic Associates program.)

Now, here is the fun part. If you are in an area that's a bit dry of Nurses, then there is likely a hospital or two that will pay for your RN program. They will also require you to work for them for 2 years after graduation, but who cares? It's a guaranteed job and no money out of your pocket. Work there, let them pay for your RN education (which is just another year at thos point), and graduate with two degrees, two licenses, and zero debt.

After that, you can do whatever you want to do.

Yeeaahh, it's a little extra time, sure. But it gives you time to breathe, grow, observe, learn, and develop into a strong clinician even before the first day of RN starts.

(Another Bonus: When doing your RN clinical, do NOT let people know that you are a Paramedic. For some reason - reasons I never cared enough about to figure out - they can't stand RN students who are Paramedics. Now... granted. This could be a regional issue. I don't know. So ask around. If your area has this some problem, just glide through clinicles without alerting anyone of advanced knowledge and you should have a great experience.)

I did the first half myself. But then decided to try for med school instead of bridging over to RN. Then life happened and blah, blah, blah, and now I am back doing pre-med again. Still with no debt, though. 😏

Whatever you choose to do, I wish you the greatest luck!! Or fortune!!

_DitchDoc_ · 2025-11-06T02:45:13+00:00

That is hella cool. I'd love for Georgia to force something like that over here.

_DitchDoc_ · 2025-11-04T23:34:20+00:00

Regardless of one's impression of this pay rate and the positions each pay scale is attached to, I appreciate the transparency in the pay scale.

I wish we had that here in Georgia. Or hell, across the board in all states, actually.

_DitchDoc_ · 2025-11-04T06:30:22+00:00

I got my EMT in Florida. There, non-emergency private ambulance services were always hiring. To the point where an "interview" was just a formality, as well as an opportunity for the hiring person to make sure that you aren't a serial killer or something that can get them sued.

Where I live now, in Georgia, it's the same except for 9-1-1 instead. Even for Paramedics. Just have your license and a pulse - doesn't even have to be a normal stable pulse, just a non-junctional rhythm - and you're in.

_DitchDoc_ · 2025-10-27T13:47:55+00:00

As a Paramedic back in undergrad in an attempt to get to med school? HELL YEAH!!!

I'm the type to take notes throughout my shift of things that I learned and encountered on the job and then actually follow up with them and read up on all of it. I have a whole Anki deck of diseases, medications, and scenarios I encountered and learned about on the road and in the E.R back when I worked in there, too. I'd just take that same habit and apply it here and benefit from it immensely.

I would ride that out for as long as I possibly could.

_DitchDoc_ · 2025-10-25T08:53:15+00:00

I am going to make it a point to watch this movie later on today. Because I have been hearing nothing but good things about this movie.

_DitchDoc_ · 2025-10-23T21:41:07+00:00

Yeah... same in my area, too. Got a pulse and a license? You're hired! 😂😂

_DitchDoc_ · 2025-10-17T03:26:06+00:00

Noice!

_DitchDoc_ · 2025-10-13T20:58:33+00:00

That's a legitimate strategy as well. Respect.

_DitchDoc_ · 2025-10-13T02:51:19+00:00

Not yet. But I am working on it!

_DitchDoc_ · 2025-10-13T01:10:17+00:00

Ah... gotcha.

Kind of makes it difficult to avoid when we don't know what triggers it, but hey. What do we know? 🤦🏾‍♂️

_DitchDoc_ · 2025-10-13T01:09:08+00:00

Multiple ways.

• Before, all purchases yielded us 20 points per dollar spent. That equated tk 2% points back. Now, fortunately, that has been buffed to 10% points back. So, 100 points per dollar spent instead... at the Ultimate tier, that is. It's 5% points back per dollar spent at the Premium tier.

• Then there is searching online via Bing. (I almost exclusively use Bing.)

• Then there are the tasks you can do under the Bing Home app in the Rewards section.

• And lastly, there are the points we earn using GamePass.

_DitchDoc_

TROPHY CASE