emergency medical technician

mechanic

paramedic

runner

emt-basic

Acadian Ambulance Service

Acadian is a growing company that has lots of opportunities if you want to pursue a career in EMS. A typical day on the truck starts with inventory and making sure all equipment is working and accounted for. Depending on how busy the day is you may not get to finish this task at the station and may be forced to do it on the road and some days are so busy you'll be hard pressed to finish it at all! It is an ambulance so you can expect all forms of ill or injured persons, but with Acadian some things you wouldn't expect are the number of regular transfers back to nursing homes or from one hospital to another. It is a great way to see lots of Louisiana and sometimes go out of state with long distance transfers, which were my favorite as you got to spend time talking to and getting to know your patients. Getting off late happens more than at a "normal" job but one can't control when someone is going to have an emergency.

The job can be physically demanding at times requiring the lifting of patients in and out of awkward areas, often patients can tip the scales at over 300lbs. Acadian does have policies in place to help with this including to send a second unit or find help in other forms to get these patients into the ambulance. Coworkers, for the most part, are about helping each other. It can be like high school at times where there will be cliques, but you will find this in just about any job that has groups of people working together. Just be who you are and you'll be fine.

On the ground, and in most parts of the operations aspect of Acadian, advancement, leadership and such are heavily given to paramedics, and rightly so. That being said in order to really advance you'll need that glitter patch. Coming in as a basic is a great way to get experience and Acadian offers ways for you to advance to paramedic if it is what you want. Disadvantages of working on the ground are there are no guaranteed lunches, or any breaks, as these are solely dependent on emergencies and call load. That said you may be eating your bag lunch on the way to the next call while your partner drives. Paperwork is a lot, though they do train you how to do it correctly, it is still up to you to do on a regular basis. Customers are not always happy to see you and you have to swallow some pretty harsh tempers/words/attitudes to get through the day at times. You have to pace yourself and have compassion even for the patients you may think don't deserve it; they may actually need it the most. It gets hard to treat every patient as a true emergency patient over time but getting lax leads to mistakes. On that note there is also a seeming tidal flow in Acadian when they have more people coming out of their EMT school or an area is overstaffed and more people seeming to be let go. Job security feeling during these times in both ground and dispatch is not the best as you feel you are very replaceable and mistakes may lead to termination no matter how big or small. This is a personal opinion on my feelings and those of some of my co-workers at the time. I will add, though, that if you do your job you will be gainfully employed as long as you wish.

In dispatch it is only a different form of the same game. You are now responsible for all patients in your area and getting them from point A to point B. A typical day starts when you relieve your opposite and they brief you on the day and all pertinent information about the area (this bridge is closed, that road is blocked, this truck is out of commission "10-7"). Then you log in and start the party! As a dispatcher in Acadian you wear lots of hats; you are responsible for the crews, the call load (Patients that need to be transported emergent and non-emergent) and you are a 911 call taker. Before you get to dispatch Acadian puts you through training as a call taker because this can be the most difficult part of your job. For example giving CPR instructions to a distraught family member while people are yelling in the back ground as you are also trying to get directions to the home can be, well trying at times. Then you add to this trying to talk to crews on the radio or getting the person next to you to monitor your traffic so you can focus on the CPR at hand, and you understand why you were a call taker first! You will be certified as an Emergency Medical Dispatcher and work with a program that provides a script and self-help tools to the person on the other end of the phone. The challenge of this comes with the person on the other side of the phone. It is hard to understand some people's accents, their phone cutting out or just trying to get someone to let you talk when they are, understandably, panicked. Then there are the added pressures of trying to do all of this as quickly and efficiently as possible. Once you have been a call taker for a bit you work the console where you keep up with the policies on where an ambulance needs to be in relation to coverage and you have the managerial tasks of working with the crews to try to get them to food, and restrooms (No there aren't any bathrooms on the ambulance, the alternative is not nice either). Sometimes you have to work around trucks breaking, crews breaking (getting sick, etc.) and environmental acts of God that are out of your control. You handle all of this with grace and easiness as you get patients where they need to go quickly and efficiently and make all customers, including the hospitals as happy as you can.

Shifts are typically 8-13.5 hour shifts with 85% of them being 12 hour shifts, on a 2-2-3 schedule. When I first started as a basic, I loved working here, one might even say I was excited to come to work. We have 3 levels of trucks: BLS, ALS, and CCT. In order to get emergency calls you must be on an ALS or higher truck as basics can not run emergencies in the SCTX region (not the same rule for other regions). When rumors started back in October that we might lose the 911 contract for the county, people started to leave for the company that now holds the contract. Since then we’ve lost the county contract, and about 60% of the good people and just staff in general have up and left because the work life is just miserable now. Dispatch is running crews into the ground, gives crews calls with ridiculous response times because you’re the “closest available unit” (1 hour away response times). Dispatch was great until they moved their office to the main call center in Dallas. Since then it’s been new dispatchers who have no idea how traffic works here, and have never even been on the trucks or to the city in general. The pay is low for the industry, and not competitive at all. Raises come once a year. They push ESOP but don’t reinvest their money into the employees before letting it sit in the account. Minimal sick/vacation hours, only 5 paid holidays, often catches late calls, can’t consistently post crews to provide adequate coverage for the 3 small cities we do still have, and is a hit or miss on getting a break for food. With the way things are going downhill as of late, I don’t see myself staying much longer. There are better jobs out there that pay better, less hours, and better work/life balance.  Management has always been good to me and understanding of personal situations, and the operations management is not the problem here. It stems from the company not seeking change to fix the issues that crews bring up, and refuse to address the situations at hand. 

This company was formed the year I was born. In my 15 year tenure, I've seen many people retire, which is basically unheard of in private EMS service. Employee-ownership makes this possible. If you have a great work ethic and are willing to go the extra mile, you'll be rewarded by way of respect, compensation, promotion and support from management and peers. There is a different generation of people leading the great things Acadian does and there is a different generation joining the Acadian family on a daily basis. To the younger generation, the rules and policies may be difficult to understand. I dont always agree with the decisions that are made, but overall, I DO trust they are made for a bigger picture that I may not see and necessary for the betterment of the organization. After all, 45 years is a long time so that means they have done more things right, than wrong. Employee retention, job satisfaction and compensation is always at the forefront of management. It is something they take very seriously as a company. While front line employees may not see it that way, behind the scenes there is a lot of work that goes into ensuring employee satisfaction. It is often you'll see managers staffing units to ensure the call load can be handled and crews are able to get off on time. I understand getting off late can be frustrating, but I always try to think about how much more frustrating it is on a customer who depends on our service to get them from point A to point B. Our job is to serve the public. Sometimes you'll get off late. I understood that getting into this career, so my expections are exactly that. The company does have high expectations of their staff, but they have far exceeded my expectations as an employer.

There are many different shifts and hours you can work. 
You can work 5 days a week, Mon-Fri, 9 hrs a day. This I DO NOT recommend. More days of work, less time off and more hours.
They have a 2 off, 2 on, 3 off, 3 on schedule which is great. IF you can get on it  
There is always plenty of overtime available.

Management is a mixed bag of nuts.
You have the ones who act like you are absolutely nothing to them, other than a warm body and then you have the few that actually care.  I will tell you this. Management is a boys club. HANDS DOWN.
It's near impossible to get management to follow through or get anything accomplished that you may need or have asked of them. 
Lots of BS and broken promises.
There are the definite favorite employees of management and it shows. 

This is a private, FOR PROFIT company and bottom line, all they care about are the numbers. They will put patients at the very end of their priority list. They don't like when you pushback and dispatch runs you silly right into the ground.

This is a mostly transfer only company so keep that in mind.

Unless you are a paramedic, be prepared to be nothing more than a transportation company that has lights and sirens you will never use.

They do not have tolerance for anyone being sick. If you miss four days a year from calling in sick, you are terminated.

They constantly push you to go through their school which is a watered down version of EMT school that you would get anywhere else. Avoid it and their "contracts" at all costs. They are so desperate for warm bodies that they will place you in a 30-35 day long class to become a very unprepared EMT. 
The uniforms are hideous and uncomfortable. Louisiana heat is no joke. They make you pay for your own uniforms. 





Besides dealing with supervisors who don't seem to understand the basics of their job functions, you will also be exposed to coronavirus by those same supervisors. They will then contact their favorite people in the department right away to let them know to get tested, but will let everyone else spread it to their family over the weekend before letting them know.

The favoritism does not end there. It extends to every aspect of this company. Promotions and performance appraisals are based on how well they like you, not how well you function at your job. No matter how much extra work you take on, no matter how much you help out others, if your supervisor or manager do not hang out with you outside of work you will not be fairly compensated nor will you be considered for any sort of promotions. You will be given a 2% yearly raise(Which is about the max, so expect less sometimes and this assuming they do give a raise that year which they did not for 2020) and told "good job, be happy about this, not everyone gets that much."

Some of your co workers will be here 5-10+ years and will not understand the basic functions of their job and how to do them. If you show any signs of competence you will be cleaning up their messes every single day, and enjoy no recognition or anything what so ever.

There's an "employee of the quarter" chosen from each department and given 8 hours PTO. It's nothing more than a popularity contest since it's chosen by the employees. Enjoy seeing 20% of your yearly vacation time given to someone who fails at basic job functions just because they're "nice" and "sweet" or other whatever other adjectives people like to say. 

Highly recommend you chose to work somewhere else where you will be fairly compensated for the work you do.

started off with acadian as a paramedic was some what decent when we had our original OM steven simon. we received a new OM Beau. ever since than, we lost 22 employees, vans, EMT,Paramedic. The lewisville administration office is a complete joke. they expect pure loyalty for you to come in on your days off but when you ask for a day off they completely won't allow it. a bit of advice for employees and future. they do NOT allow time off, you have to actually find somebody to SWAP your shift. (which is impossible). Make sure to pack your lunches and pack extra. The chances of you actually getting a lunch break are slimmer then a tooth pick. you are always running constantly, weather its dialysis, emergency calls or transfers. they never give breaks. but management since on their lazy A** all day and gets an hour lunch? does that seem fair? equitment is decent. whenever it breaks it does take several days to weeks to repair a simple PEN from a computer. my job as a medic is to supply MY Ambulance and patient care. acadian thinks Medics, EMT's and wheel chair people are mechanics, they request you check the tire pressure and oil stick. thats not my job. what to mechanics get paid for anyways? the pay is some what alright. EMT basic starts off at 13-14$ an hour. medic is 17-20 an hour. Dispatcher is 20-23$ an hour. management is salary getting paid 30-40$ an hour. OM is about 55$ an hour. all in all acadian needs better management . would not recommend.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Acadian Ambulance is a great company and a great company to work for. Acadian is rare because it is one of those organizations that backup what say, eapecially as it pertains to how to value the employee. Its the important work that makes a difference in the luves of people everyday. The work is stressful, at times, but its part of the satisfaction of the job, at least to me. The training is really good, the compensation is good and the opportunities for advancement are endless. My only regret is that I didnt enter this line of work as a young man and made it my career. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Obviously the stress of seeing traumatic injury and illness but also, the urgency of the job can get to you a little. There is a lot of procedures and protocol to follow but you can always get help with that.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The enviroment is really good. I expected to find more people with an elitist type attitude but there are very few of those kind of people. 99% of the people are humble dedicated professionals.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
The great thing about working for Acadian is there are no "typical" days. Of course the ambulance area of the company is a 24/7 operation and each unit has similiar duties.

If you like tons of hours for little pay, then this is the place for you! Management lies all the time when it comes to "fixing" issues. Pay for an EMT working 911 is less than an EMT doing transfers. If you plan on working to better yourself in any other way that wont benefit the company, they will make it hard for you. You will be stuck with this company for a very long time until you find a way out. You work so many hours that you cant go to school, look for another job, or spend time with family. OM and Scheduler cant do their job properly and manage employees. They dont let supervisors do their job and always micromanage or have to have the last say for everything. My advice is to steer clear of this company. Yes, experience in 911 is awesome, but do it elsewhere with another agency. Lots of lies from the beginning of the hiring process. OM harps about "seconds making the difference" yet cuts having 5 24hr trucks in the city to only 3 24hr trucks after midnight. So in perspective if you live in the city, and it is past midnight, expect a delayed response from across town. Horrible decision to providing timely response the citizens of the city in an emergency situation. Turn over is horrible. Like previously said, do yourself a favor and go elsewhere. Unless a change in management is made and they actually become a part of the solution and not a part of the problem.

Just don’t do it. As a dispatcher you are unappreciated and always the enemy even though you care more than anyone and try so hard. Unnecessary drama. You can only be as good as the resources you are given and let me tell you the company only cares about budget and numbers. Everybody gets screwed in this company.. from all depts within to the public. The worst is the management. Their only care is that they are not inconvenienced with issues and they work you like a bunch of minions with not as much as a thank you. The crews compare their job to yours constantly as if it’s comparable. It’s a different career people. Secondly dispatch does not have it any better, they have it as bad as everyone else even the supervisors are run down and treated like a warm body to fill a slot. It’s horrible. Waste of effort and time to work here. They will suck the life out of you in a field that is about lifesaving ironically. Oh and when you finally have enough and leave, you’re treated like old garbage. You can forget all you did for this company because they did. There is a reason they can’t keep anyone and are always short handed: MANAGEMENT.  All they are good for is talking the talk but never walking the walk. I feel sorry for anyone working here that is stuck in the “Acadian way” circle jerk.

This place is ok to work for, they rather pay new employees a bonus and bring people from Australia and pay traveling medics way more than they should and their tenure employees get left with the base minimum. You get a raise that’s cool until they bring up the minimum pay and you make as much as a brand new kid who just graduated school even though you’ve been there for years and have experience. And bless you if you make dispatch mad they’ll play favorites and run people ragged and leave they’re buddies only sitting around and there no way to know since you can’t see what anyone does and you have to expect dispatch to be honest. Dispatch has the last word so it doesn’t matter what you think they control your life. Besides all that the people are great people you’ll definitely make friends but like every job there’s sometimes drama but nothing that can’t be handled appropriately. Management is supportive in your needs and really do want to see you succeed.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Emergency medical technician 147 salaries reported	$12.36 per hour
Mechanic 41 salaries reported	$65,000 per year
Paramedic 28 salaries reported	$25.07 per hour
Runner 3 salaries reported	$14.00 per hour
Emt-basic 3 salaries reported	$16.33 per hour

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