Working at American Medical Response — Reviews by Employees

This company is broken. Incompetent management, incompetent staff, absence of leadership, the list goes on and on. Every piece of equipment they had from the toilet paper sheets they put on the stretcher to the ambulance itself is broken or inadequate for the purpose. Everything, and I mean everything was broken, radios that wouldn't work inside, trucks that caught on fire, doors with broken glass in them fixed with card stock and packing tape. The management was completely out of touch with reality, we had to go up in the system at our scheduled time, but we couldn't clock in more than six minutes prior to our shift. It is impossible to get a truck assignment, do prechecks, get all the equipment loaded and get up in the system in six minutes. When I told them this their only reply was "Make it happen, you're a smart guy.", essentially asking me to work off the clock. They might as well have done just that with the fluctuating work week method of payment they used. Eight hours out of twenty four hour shift were a bonus for the company. Incompetent dispatchers sending us from one end of the county to anther to respond for emergencies because all the other units were off chasing transfer money. Constantly running the system thin, then blaming me for not making the times. They have ZERO respect for National guardsmen, constantly giving us crap about guard drills, convieniently losing notifications that had been made about drill weekend. Policies that changed overnight, then writing an employee up nine times for violations of the policy previous to its creation, then firing him. I would crawl to the hospital on bloody stumps before I would let 90% of the people I worked with touch me. AMR Jackson is the worst job I have ever had, and that is saying quite a bit.

Former employee that will NEVER again work for the company! After putting in almost 3 years with the company roughly 120 130 hours every two weeks, I transfer to another operation within the company. During this time I'm told I have to go part time, I accept it due to the operation supervisor at that location telling me that I will be back full time within the month.... Instead within the month I find out they are shutting down! Keep in mind at this point I have been 3 weeks without a paycheck due to still showing as a JACKSON, MS FULLTIME EMPLOYEE so the other operation couldnt pay me! Also ask if im getting a severance and what do you know how convenient it was for them to now change me to part time status send me a check thats missing 50 hrs and then tell me I will not be getting a severance!!! WOW some great company to work for huh!!! Not only that but the supervisor at the new location had been with the company for 20 years and gets 6 weeks severance... really way to shit on your loyal employees!! There are few VERY FEW that i would trust with my life at that company! The company as a whole is going to hell in a handbag and quickly since this new change in upper management!

When recruiting you, you might be told that the experience is worth putting up with the terrible management. Don't buy it, the majority of our calls are transfers and you see very few quality EMS calls. Nothing wrong with transfers but if you truly want experience you would be better served working for a more rural service like Hardy Wilson or Med Stat.

At my location we are union! I came from a company that didnt care if you were happy. They worked you long hours. At AMR the manager of SSD thanks you for coming in. They want you to be happy. If you are in school they will help you find coverage for your shift! I am making alot more money than I did at my previous employer. And I am able to get my partner and son medical insurance. Which again at the previous employer they didnt allow any benefits to same- sex couples. AMR is open and diverse. It also helps to that we have a union to protect us. Also the union makes sure we dont take it up the ARS.

Lack of supplies needed, upper management coming out from their desks and messing everything up, NO RAISES FOR 3 YEARS STRAIGHT while upper management gets monthly bonus' and yearly raises!!!!!!!! Something is wrong with that picture

Pros:

Rewarding to know your company saves lives every day. Coworkers are great people, like comrades in arms you would go to war with.

Cons:

Employees don't matter, only shareholders. Cost cutting is rampant. Employees always expected to do more with less. Pay is less than market mean, long working hours and stressful environment. Employees who perform well are not rewarded, pay raises nonexistent. Career growth is not possible as leadership openings left unfilled for months to save money, despite great harm this causes. Senior management does not know how low morale is, would not be willing to fix if someone told them.

Summary:

Come to EMSC for experience and resume building, leave for more pay, less stress, and better quality of life.

Was an AMR Jackson, Miss. spouse until they fired my husband for complaining too much about workplace safety and incompetence. Pretty much everything the other posters have said is true (except for the guy from Olympia). The two years that my husband worked there were miserable because all he could talk about all the time is how much AMR sucks.

As a potential patient/customer who lives in the area covered by the company I am afraid. I will never forget the day I called 911 for my husband when he was stung by a bee. In response to the exceedingly stupid dispatcher's query "What's your emergency" I answered anaphylaxis. I then spent the next [seemed like] five minutes screaming anaphylaxis and trying to explain to the idiot what that is. Luckily, a first responder happened by while I was still on the phone. Most of the EMTs and paramedics are competent (though certainly not all), but the "dispatchers" are not certified to be dispatchers (they call them "control") and the management is just awful.

I, for one, will be lobbying my city council members and county supervisors to get rid of this horrible "organization."

The pay sucks.. most of the emt's and medics have to have second jobs just to make rent.. the supervisors play favorites and show no respect to employees. the benefits are ok but we are all to broke to use any of them.. as for the job security, watch yourself because you can get fired for the smallest things.. they also constantly brown out shifts when we are already short staffed. you have pretty much no life cuz you always have to work just to get by. unless you want to where a white supervisor shirt, all you can do is be a medic..the location isn't to bad, nice somewhat safe place.. except for a few cities in the county. as for co workers most field workers are good but since there is low pay no one really cares cuz we dont get paid what the jobs worth and get in trouble for everything we do. and the dispatchers.... complete morons... they play ping pong with the units on shift. if they are posting in one area for more then 20 minutes we get moved to other side of county and pass other units going to cover they area we were just in.. most of the fire departments we work with are filled with "a holes"... our units are falling apart as we drive constantly out of basic supplies that dont get reordered until every unit has been picked clean.. but the hospitals we transport to are real nice so that kinda makes it better i guess.. i shoulda listened to my FTO, i should have worked at IN and OUT

Where to begin? You never get the same answer twice to any question regarding company policy.The field employees are always blamed for Supervisor,Dispatch, and especially Business Development's inadequacy. The whole show is run by burnt out staff or even better- part time fire fighters. There is no job security except for the fact that they are so short staffed- they can't afford to fire anyone else. If your partner screws up, you had better write them up and sell them out before you both go down in flames.Raises are based on who reviews you and how much they like you.The other EMS services in the metro area give AMR all their non-paying calls because they know dispatch can't refuse. If it wasn't for the few nationwide contracts, they would lock everyone out of the building.*the opinions stated above are not the views of corporate and are definitely not approved*

AMR of Olympia is a fairly goodplace to work. Our pay is allright and and we are at least "resected" by management here. We are also a member of the Internation Assoc. of EMT's and Paramedic's so that helps out being a union shop. We are ALWAYS short staffed but we seem to make it through. There isnt really much opprotunity for growth except to go to medic school.