colorado fire and ems

[flucas]

I know there are many threads similar to this post ,but they didnt answer all my questions. So I was wondering if anyone knew of any more info on the following departments. I planning on moving to colorado between now and may. I just got my paramedic, I have three years exp.. 2 years being in a very busy ems system as an emt. I would really like to eventully get on a fire dept in colorado but I am aware that the process takes a long time. So I would like to move to colorado and get know the area plus its easier to test when you are in the same state. I was looking at apply for the following departments

colorado springs - next test in 2009 ( this is my dream job) I was wondering how much would my paramedic help me in the process. I know they do the fireteam test.

Denver I would love this job if they where ALS is there any news if they will be hiring paramedics soon.

castle rock- I know they just had a hiring process not sure when they are hiring again I know they pay well and they are a growing department.

DRCOG- Looks Like alot of great departments and alot on there that run there own ambulance. wont be able to test there till june so I was worried I wouldnt get on most department list in time for this years academys Cause it seems most departments start there process in early spring.
Littleton- seems like a great department when are they hiring again.
Parker , South Metro merger seems like they put there hiring on hold for 2009
North metro there web site sounds like they are a great dept and will be a new station soon.
but it looks like all the departments on there would be great to work for.

So I would like to work on the ambulance till I got hired on fire. But I still had alot questions about them Like what is the PAY, Shifts I prefer 24s, And how often they hire. and if they are out of stations or system status management
Denver seems like the same system I am in but I do like the double paramedic truck. sounds like there pay is all right starting out at 19hr
AMR in the springs I have only heard bad things about AMR but alot people say they are not that bad in the springs. Whats there pay
Platt valley ? pay? Shifts
Grand county EMS ?Pay Shifts?
NorthGlen Pay? Shifts ?
thompson valley Pay? Shifts ?
estes park ems Pay? Shifts ?
Summit County Pay? Shifts ?
Eagle County Pay? Shifts ?
Western Eagle County Pay? Shifts ?
Pridemark
Pudre Valley ambulance..

also was wondering about the cost of living in colorado. I am coming from okc which has some of the lowest cost of living in the country 18 bucks an hour would go along way here. paramedics here only make 12hr. I am a single guy and dont have many expenses and am willing to live in a small apartment.

Thanks for any help

[secmas12]

Whoa. That was a bunch of questions all bunched into one post. I'll try to help out with the very limited knowledge I have about this stuff:

Denver I would love this job if they where ALS is there any news if they will be hiring paramedics soon.

Denver is BLS w/ no change to ALS coming anytime real soon. It's rumored they want to eventually take over transport, but that would take years/decades.

castle rock- I know they just had a hiring process not sure when they are hiring again I know they pay well and they are a growing department.

Pay well and growing department is correct. Probably not the busiest dept. w/ fires because it is a very new community. Good department w/ a good reputation.

DRCOG- Looks Like alot of great departments and alot on there that run there own ambulance. wont be able to test there till june so I was worried I wouldnt get on most department list in time for this years academys Cause it seems most departments start there process in early spring.
Littleton- seems like a great department when are they hiring again.
Parker , South Metro merger seems like they put there hiring on hold for 2009
North metro there web site sounds like they are a great dept and will be a new station soon.
but it looks like all the departments on there would be great to work for.

You have to score pretty well to be invited to apply to a lot of these departments. That's typically how DRCOG works. They contact you when they're process starts. You can send Letters of Interest to any department that you're looking at.


Re: ambulance companies:
AMR: I don't think AMR deserves they're bad reputation. The biggest game in town will always have a target on it's back. I've met some satisfied AMR employees. They're also in Longmont and Cheyenne. Pay is fairly low. I know EMT's start around $10/hr.

Platte valley: don't know much. smaller.
Grand county: If you can afford to live in Grand County for an EMS job, more power to you. Mountains, very beautiful. Not many Fire Depts. up there.
NorthGlen: Very small, but a good service from what I've heard.
thompson valley: Very difficult to get hired. An excellent company w/ a very good reputation.
estes park: Same thing as Grand County. If you can live in Estes just for an EMT job, good for you.
Pridemark: Good company. Limited 911 contracts (Boulder, Arvada, etc.) pay is $10-ish for new EMT's and $16-ish for new medics.
Pudre Valley ambulance: Very good company. VERY difficult to get hired unless you're an experienced medic. Pay is quite good.

Cost of living varies greatly around the state. $10/hr. will get you a long way in Greeley (Union Colony Fire, Weld County EMS), but $10/hr won't buy you a cardboard box in Summit County.

A few tips:

- Obviously apply wherever you can for fire. Take the DRCOG. We all know that you can't count on getting offered a fire job, so this won't be the reason you move out here.

- You could find an EMT job pretty easily out here. Pridemark and AMR usually hire quite frequently.

- I would focus on the front range for the highest probability of finding a job. It would be tough to get a job in: Grand County/Eagle County/Summit County. They're just great places to live w/ very high cost of living and very few jobs. If you can pull it off, Good for you!

Feel free to send me a pm w/ any specific questions. I work for one of the ambulance services listed above as a ft emt, and volunteer for a Front Range Fire department w/ an excellent reputation that gets thousands of applicants when they hire. I also try to pay close attention to the industry as a whole here.

[flucas]

Iam not really sure how to PM you or I would, but thank you so much your input. I guess I leaning toward AMR or Denver Health I will be applying as a parmedic I have heard denver health pays about 18.50 hr and AMR About 16.50 hr

First I was wondering whats going on with denver health I heard they are having alot of problems right now. and how far will 18. 50 an hr go in denver will you be living in poverty. 18 bucks an hour in okc is a great rate. every one is telling me it is real expensive to live in denver right now.

Second which is better AMR in denver or in colorado springs? Does AMR in denver run 911 calls or just transports.

thanks

[avers03]

hey i just came across this and am originally from colorado, but have lived on the east coast for about 3 yrs now and have recently been applying to some fire departments out here, but am considering moving home....also i will be starting an emt-b class soon out here..
my question is are there a lot of people in colo that make the move from emt positions to ff positions within the state? does it help that much or is the drcog pretty much the only gig for major colo fire departs?

[secmas12]

First I was wondering whats going on with denver health I heard they are having alot of problems right now. and how far will 18. 50 an hr go in denver will you be living in poverty. 18 bucks an hour in okc is a great rate. every one is telling me it is real expensive to live in denver right now.

I've heard some similar concerns about Denver Health right now. However, I don't know much about the situation and don't want to offer any opinions/heresay that aren't true.

$18.50/hr. is decent pay here in Denver. That is certainly enough to live comfortably. You obviously won't be buying a house in the nice part of town w/ that kind of income, but it's enough to survive. Honestly, I think the cost of living here is pretty decent.

Second which is better AMR in denver or in colorado springs? Does AMR in denver run 911 calls or just transports.

thanks

AMR does not have any 911 contracts in Denver. Only CO Springs, Pueblo, Longmont, and Cheyenne.

I didn't read your post closely enough to notice you're a medic. Since that's the case, I wouldn't limit your search to AMR/Pridemark. Medics always seem to have a good chance at getting an ambulance job around the front range.

One thing to keep in mind is if Fire is your goal, I would stay in Denver. If you move down to the Springs, there's only a few departments down there (springs, pueblo, tri-lakes, maybe Castle Rock). If you live in the Denver area, there's about 20+ departments in the region. It would come in handy when you get to the application period.

[secmas12]

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