Like most health care positions, securing a paramedic position is a cyclical event. It seems like every decade or so we swing from feast to famine, then back to feast again. Trying to get hired as a medic, at least in my area of northern California, has been a challenge for the past eight years. As the recession deepened, people spent less money, defaulted on their house loans and otherwise caused the economy to contract. That affected local governments, rendering fewer tax dollars to hire replacement staff for those who were retiring from EMS careers.
At the same time, folks were staying in their positions longer, not sure how their retirements were going to be affected by the poor economy. That clogged the pipeline of how paramedics typically transition from new graduates, to ambulance provider and occasionally to fire service provider. Meanwhile, training programs continued to provide an overabundance of students trying to enter this stagnant employment environment.
In the last 18 months, things have flipped back. Fire departments have begun to hire, leaving gaps in the commercial ambulance providers. They in turn are hiring new grads out of programs – except that there aren’t enough recent paramedic graduates to fill the ranks. As the economy improves, people go back to the better paying jobs they once had, or redirect their educational endeavors to better improve their station in life.
Given the amount of training paramedics must undergo to be competent at their jobs, we have not yet attained commensurate financial recognition. It’s no wonder, given our own internal resistance to making college degrees mandatory to practice, or the compulsion to work multiple jobs at low wages, or the lack of evidence needed to convince lawmakers that we add value to people’s lives.
Without any substantial changes in these areas, this boom-bust cycle of hiring will continue unabated. So, while it’s great right now, don’t expect it to last.
