Guest guest Posted August 19, 2004 Report Share Posted August 19, 2004 > As the NR makes getting paramedic certification harder, and the > shortage becomes more severe, (which is inevitable for the next > several years), the pay scale will have to go up. Is NR really making it " harder, " in an educational sense, to become certified? Or is it merely making it more complicated in an administrative sense? Food for thought. > how about a union for ems? how about a strike? something to > show that ems personnel are serious in what we believe in. Great idea. What better way to show the public that we are nothing more than uneducated labourers instead of educated professionals? Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 20, 2004 Report Share Posted August 20, 2004 The statement about pay being low because of people who are willing to " do it for free " is, in my opinion, comparing apples to oranges, and not really the point. Volunteers, both in EMS and fire service, (such as myself many years ago in my home town), do it for a sense of community, and other motivations. The vast majority have another job to support themselves and their family, are not the individuals having to deal with the pay issue. These people, by definition, aren't worried about how much they are getting paid, because, of course, they are not getting paid. There are individuals who are working for very low (8-10/hr) wages right now for some private services and some municipalities. My original point on a previous post about the NR being good for pay rates still should hold true. If there are less people who are paramedic certified, then maybe the individual medic making the lower rate will see an opportunity to leave for a higher rate, or may be able to leverage a higher rate out of their current employer. It will almost inevitably increase the pay scale if the employers need to attract paramedic level individuals to hire, and will give incentives to offer more money per hour so that employer can pick and choose the most qualified of the applicants. Supply and demand. (Just like OPEC is doing to us right now at the gas pumps) Anyway, point is, it really has nothing to do with volunteering, it has to do with those of us who do it for a living. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 20, 2004 Report Share Posted August 20, 2004 ) < Anyway, point is, it really has nothing to do with volunteering, it <has to do with those of us who do it for a living. Although it's not the point of the entire discussion, it may very well be a contributing factor. I'm currently a volunteer paramedic, and have been for almost 20yrs. I have a master's degree in education, and have taught special ed for many years as well. To make a long story short.....I love EMS, and I'm good at what I do. It cant pay me well enough to leave my kids and go off to work....hats off to those of you who can do it. Education didnt pay very well either, nor does the fire service(hubby's with a city FD), but many ems salaries are ridiculous. Even if I managed to find a ft paid position in EMS that paid well, I'd continue to volunteer within my own community. But, again...to leave my kids for 24 hrs at a time, for a " pittance " is not worth it. Kathi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 20, 2004 Report Share Posted August 20, 2004 I have no idea what the out come was but let the volunteers worry about it. Not sure what the point was. I'm sure the poor patient..or their family worried about it as well. Our volunteer service gets our units out--at times 4 of them, plus at least 2 ALS responders. Kathi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 20, 2004 Report Share Posted August 20, 2004 I have no idea what the out come was but let the volunteers worry about it. Not sure what the point was. I'm sure the poor patient..or their family worried about it as well. Our volunteer service gets our units out--at times 4 of them, plus at least 2 ALS responders. Kathi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 20, 2004 Report Share Posted August 20, 2004 The statements I heard about volunteers was something to the effect of why pay people to do the job when the volunteers are doing just fine. Of course this opened up the whole discussion (and joke) about what if we gave a emergency and nobody came. This was a while back and I don't remember if it was about the fire dept or EMS. Again, these were statements I heard and are not my opinion. > The statement about pay being low because of people who are willing to > " do it for free " is, in my opinion, comparing apples to oranges, and not > really the point. Volunteers, both in EMS and fire service, (such as myself many > years ago in my home town), do it for a sense of community, and other > motivations. The vast majority have another job to support themselves and their family, > are not the individuals having to deal with the pay issue. These people, by > definition, aren't worried about how much they are getting paid, because, of > course, they are not getting paid. > There are individuals who are working for very low (8-10/hr) wages > right now for some private services and some municipalities. My original point on > a previous post about the NR being good for pay rates still should hold true. > If there are less people who are paramedic certified, then maybe the > individual medic making the lower rate will see an opportunity to leave for a higher > rate, or may be able to leverage a higher rate out of their current employer. > It will almost inevitably increase the pay scale if the employers need to > attract paramedic level individuals to hire, and will give incentives to offer > more money per hour so that employer can pick and choose the most qualified of > the applicants. Supply and demand. (Just like OPEC is doing to us right now at > the gas pumps) > Anyway, point is, it really has nothing to do with volunteering, it > has to do with those of us who do it for a living. > > Chris > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 20, 2004 Report Share Posted August 20, 2004 I disagree in areas where volunteers the Medicare pay level is much lower and the pay is lower and the pay services have a much harder time collecting no matter what quality of service they deliver. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Re: Re: Paramedic Shortage The statement about pay being low because of people who are willing to " do it for free " is, in my opinion, comparing apples to oranges, and not really the point. Volunteers, both in EMS and fire service, (such as myself many years ago in my home town), do it for a sense of community, and other motivations. The vast majority have another job to support themselves and their family, are not the individuals having to deal with the pay issue. These people, by definition, aren't worried about how much they are getting paid, because, of course, they are not getting paid. There are individuals who are working for very low (8-10/hr) wages right now for some private services and some municipalities. My original point on a previous post about the NR being good for pay rates still should hold true. If there are less people who are paramedic certified, then maybe the individual medic making the lower rate will see an opportunity to leave for a higher rate, or may be able to leverage a higher rate out of their current employer. It will almost inevitably increase the pay scale if the employers need to attract paramedic level individuals to hire, and will give incentives to offer more money per hour so that employer can pick and choose the most qualified of the applicants. Supply and demand. (Just like OPEC is doing to us right now at the gas pumps) Anyway, point is, it really has nothing to do with volunteering, it has to do with those of us who do it for a living. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 20, 2004 Report Share Posted August 20, 2004 I disagree in areas where volunteers the Medicare pay level is much lower and the pay is lower and the pay services have a much harder time collecting no matter what quality of service they deliver. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Re: Re: Paramedic Shortage The statement about pay being low because of people who are willing to " do it for free " is, in my opinion, comparing apples to oranges, and not really the point. Volunteers, both in EMS and fire service, (such as myself many years ago in my home town), do it for a sense of community, and other motivations. The vast majority have another job to support themselves and their family, are not the individuals having to deal with the pay issue. These people, by definition, aren't worried about how much they are getting paid, because, of course, they are not getting paid. There are individuals who are working for very low (8-10/hr) wages right now for some private services and some municipalities. My original point on a previous post about the NR being good for pay rates still should hold true. If there are less people who are paramedic certified, then maybe the individual medic making the lower rate will see an opportunity to leave for a higher rate, or may be able to leverage a higher rate out of their current employer. It will almost inevitably increase the pay scale if the employers need to attract paramedic level individuals to hire, and will give incentives to offer more money per hour so that employer can pick and choose the most qualified of the applicants. Supply and demand. (Just like OPEC is doing to us right now at the gas pumps) Anyway, point is, it really has nothing to do with volunteering, it has to do with those of us who do it for a living. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 20, 2004 Report Share Posted August 20, 2004 I live in an area near an all volunteer ems service and the last several day that is just what happened there was no volunteers to respond and because there were suppose to be volunteers there were no private services to respond so a near by area city paid service was asked to respond seems there were no available units in that city paid or municipal or private to respond I have no idea what the out come was but let the volunteers worry about it. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Re: Paramedic Shortage The statements I heard about volunteers was something to the effect of why pay people to do the job when the volunteers are doing just fine. Of course this opened up the whole discussion (and joke) about what if we gave a emergency and nobody came. This was a while back and I don't remember if it was about the fire dept or EMS. Again, these were statements I heard and are not my opinion. > The statement about pay being low because of people who are willing to > " do it for free " is, in my opinion, comparing apples to oranges, and not > really the point. Volunteers, both in EMS and fire service, (such as myself many > years ago in my home town), do it for a sense of community, and other > motivations. The vast majority have another job to support themselves and their family, > are not the individuals having to deal with the pay issue. These people, by > definition, aren't worried about how much they are getting paid, because, of > course, they are not getting paid. > There are individuals who are working for very low (8-10/hr) wages > right now for some private services and some municipalities. My original point on > a previous post about the NR being good for pay rates still should hold true. > If there are less people who are paramedic certified, then maybe the > individual medic making the lower rate will see an opportunity to leave for a higher > rate, or may be able to leverage a higher rate out of their current employer. > It will almost inevitably increase the pay scale if the employers need to > attract paramedic level individuals to hire, and will give incentives to offer > more money per hour so that employer can pick and choose the most qualified of > the applicants. Supply and demand. (Just like OPEC is doing to us right now at > the gas pumps) > Anyway, point is, it really has nothing to do with volunteering, it > has to do with those of us who do it for a living. > > Chris > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 21, 2004 Report Share Posted August 21, 2004 I think the point was not to say that the volunteers are doing it for the wrong reasons or the wrong motivations. I don't think anyone has ever belittled individuals for being volunteers. Rather, the point is that if you took all of the EMS volunteers in the state away, that would in fact create the severe shortage that you speak of. Of course the effect would be that many, many communities would be left with no ambulance or first responder coverage (which noone wants to happen, of course). But I think that is the point of the statement about volunteers. Supply and demand, why buy the cow when you get the milk for free, etc. Chambers, LP Re: Re: Paramedic Shortage > The statement about pay being low because of people who are > willing to > " do it for free " is, in my opinion, comparing apples to oranges, > and not > really the point. Volunteers, both in EMS and fire service, (such > as myself many > years ago in my home town), do it for a sense of community, and > other > motivations. The vast majority have another job to support > themselves and their family, > are not the individuals having to deal with the pay issue. These > people, by > definition, aren't worried about how much they are getting paid, > because, of > course, they are not getting paid. > There are individuals who are working for very low (8- > 10/hr) wages > right now for some private services and some municipalities. My > original point on > a previous post about the NR being good for pay rates still should > hold true. > If there are less people who are paramedic certified, then maybe > the > individual medic making the lower rate will see an opportunity to > leave for a higher > rate, or may be able to leverage a higher rate out of their > current employer. > It will almost inevitably increase the pay scale if the employers > need to > attract paramedic level individuals to hire, and will give > incentives to offer > more money per hour so that employer can pick and choose the most > qualified of > the applicants. Supply and demand. (Just like OPEC is doing to us > right now at > the gas pumps) > Anyway, point is, it really has nothing to do with > volunteering, it > has to do with those of us who do it for a living. > > Chris > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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