Pros
Plenty of overtime with attached bonus cash and the occasional opportunity to see and treat very interesting patients and cases relative to other IFT services in the region. The experience that a provider that is new to this field can gain when it comes to proper patient care and procedure is very valuable. It's a decent stepping stone. Benefits are decent in price and quality, specifically health care and dental. Patient care and interaction for most patients is easy with calls rarely being complicated in any way.
Cons
48hr (with mandatory holdovers, average of 54hrs/week for me over a one-year period) work week for FT employees with no exception. Pay is very low relative to other agencies in the area and especially relative to the quality and quantity of work provided. Equipment, including the ambulances and tablets for completing ePCRs, are faulty, outdated, and frequently broken. You're often trying to get a "Good ambulance" or "Good tablet." Management claims to care about the well being of employees while making absolutely no meaningful changes. When requesting things like lift assists, the first words from the Captain (Immediate supervisor) will almost never be about why and how you can get help, but about how they can't provide it or how inconvenient it is for them to do so. Employee turnover is very high and staffing is extremely poor. Calls are routinely delayed 6+ hours because of this, with field employees baring the brunt of complaints from awaiting facilities and patients.
