emergency medical technician

registered nurse - critical care

paramedic

emt-basic

registered nurse

Northwest Ambulance

Northwest Ambulance is the perfect place to be an EMT for a short period of time while you build your career.  It is NOT the place to build your career.  Don't apply here without a clear plan of how you'll have a better job in two years or less.  But you can get a lot out of your 1-2 years here.

Your coworkers are amazing.  Northwest Ambulance arguably has the best reputation in the Puget Sound in terms of professionalism and patient care, and the front line EMTs are the reason for that.  Your work is generally satisfying, and you can learn a lot in the high volume environment that Northwest offers.  You have great flexibility in trading shifts and can pretty much design your own schedule if you want.  No matter what kind of rig you're assigned to, you can get any type of call (IFT, BLS, or even helping out on a CCT unit), so you get to see a lot of different things.  Having worked here looks great on your resume when you try to get a fire job or get into medic/RN/PA/MD school.  Pay and benefits are towards the upper end of the region's standards.  Your paycheck will be accurate and timely.  Management generally does a decent job letting employees do their jobs without micromanagement.  It's easy to work on different types of trucks and get new experiences.  You can work as much overtime as you want, but no extra shifts are mandated.  

What you absolutely have to understand is that every single interaction you have with management will show you how expendable they consider you.   For example, an employee died off duty and management sent out an email acknowledging his death.  They couldn't even be bothered to spell his name correctly.  For EMS week, they'll distribute gift baskets to a seemingly random list of employees, and you have to beg for one if you didn't get lucky enough to be a part of the initial distribution.  You become ineligible for many of the major job perks they advertise (like tuition reimbursement) if you use your sick days.  Your annual raise can be as little as 25 cents/hour, and you only get that if you can chase down your supervisor to get your annual review done (one colleague got her annual review and raise six months late in spite of constant emails to her boss trying to schedule it.  The same boss stood me up for one of my reviews).  In three years there, I never once saw anyone in management say anything appreciative to an EMT.  The General Manager seems like a decent guy who actually cares for employees, but he's limited in what the CEO allows him to do.  

Long story short, the experience Northwest gives you makes it a really solid first EMS job.  But don't go into it unless you have a plan to get out of it and are able to be completely self motivated and get satisfaction from your patient interactions without getting constructive feedback from your chain of command.

Northwest, like most private ambulance companies, has its upsides and downsides. The company has grown rapidly, and it caused a lot of strain for everyone. Our shifts are typically nonstop for the entire 12+ hours. Getting held over is something a lot of people complain about, but this is kind of the case in any EMS system, not just here. Our new management team is really trying to turn things around and focus on improving culture in the company, which is great, that has not always been the case. I like that our leadership team all have experience as providers in the field and have even gotten on the rigs and ran calls during busy periods. I feel like management does really care about us, and they do what they can to keep everyone happy, but there will always be those who are never quite satisfied or are just negative, which is really hard to be around constantly.  I think the hardest part of the job is just the really high call volume that is causing everyone to just be run into the ground. It's hard to maintain a healthy work life balance when you're so exhausted after your shifts. The most enjoyable part is the patient contact. I meet so many really interesting people and have made such a difference to some of my patients, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant. It is truly a great way to get comfortable with your skills and get used to interacting with patients if you plan on advancing in this field. 

  This is one of the worst companies I’ve ever worked for, for a multitude of reasons.  There is a lack of communication, EMTs are treated like children (nurses aren’t treated much better), no schedule flexibility, and an arduous workload. 
  The lack of communication between the field crews, management, and dispatchers has cause numerous fights and and overall sense of animosity.  Dispatchers are paid more and given the freedom to boss around the field crews even though the dispatchers have no direct authority to do so.  Management says a lot of nice things but has absolutely no follow through when it comes to the health and well-being of the field crews. 
  Management has been caught saying things like, “I have to go babysit the EMTs” and “the EMTs need to grow up and do their darn jobs.” With the EMTs being the backbone of the company, you would think they would be treated with more kindness and compassion for what they do.
  The lack of schedule flexibility and the arduous workload kind of go hand in hand.  Field crews will get run NONSTOP, and the only breaks they get are if they call in and request their lunch or 15min break. Even then, sometimes dispatch will give them pushback. The company has taken on more contracts than they can actually fulfill, and the field crews are the ones who are getting the mid end of the stick because of it.

I have worked at other EMS agencies and Northwest is by far the worst. They say great things when you interview and most of them are untrue. They make many promises to get you on board and do not follow through. Management boasts about quality equipment and having plenty of supplies for every unit. In reality, many rigs did not have stair chairs, many had manual stretchers, and most ambulances were run down where cupboards are broken and seat cushions are detached. As an employee, you are treated like a number on a spreadsheet; you are not treated like a valuable addition to the team. With it not being a union, there is no accountability and I felt completely unsupported. You have to request permission for meal breaks, and they can be denied even after 14+ hours of working back-to-back calls. Training was undeniably inadequate. If I were a brand new EMT, I would feel unprepared and as if I were "thrown to the wolves". Another employee there told me how they requested more training and days and was denied by management and was told, "You will be fine". Meanwhile they did not know how to operate the suction machine, manual stretcher, and glucometer. That is unacceptable. Every single employee I encountered told me how much they did not like working there and told me to "get out while I can". I would encourage prospective employees to work elsewhere.

I enjoyed my employment with NW. Only left because I moved. The general manager and central Ops manager were probably my favorite people (aside from fun EMT partners). They listen and try to accommodate you. Lots of different schedules, FT, PT, per diem. There is always OT! Some double time too. However, sometimes if you pick an OT shift, you might get sent home early and your shift given to someone who is not in OT. 
The sad thing is, most EMTs had to work OT every week to make ends meet. For that reason, lots of people are burnt out. But underpayment is an issue for all ambulance companies 
You also get held over often even though there are other crews available. I think dispatchers need to do a better job and managing call distribution and planning ahead  when possible (non emergent calls). 
Stations are very nice with couches, recliners, bedrooms, TV, kitchen, some have showers etc. Most EMTs are hard working, knowledgeable and and fun individuals. 
Generally a low key job, little micromanaging as long as you show up on time, keep your rig clean, have good pt care, good driving and do your reports right - you will be left alone. 
I would recommend NW ambulance to anyone new in the field or anyone unhappy at other ambulance companies. 


Company is very professional, has hired some great people to work with, has good benefits, a lot of opportunity for advancement and has great opportunities for continued education. They also provide plenty of work gear and will give you anything you want. They are also very supportive when employees talk about accomplishing bigger career goals within the EMS field whether its with their company or not. They are very supportive to get you the education you need to help you accomplish your goals. 

While the company is growing extremely quickly and has some growing pains, it is clear they are trying to make adjustments and put the right people in place to help it grow healthy. This also means there is plenty of room for advancement and opportunity for OT. They also make it really easy to switch shifts with a coworker to try and be flexible to needs that come up in your life. Last week, they scheduled me in between calls to come to the HQ and pick up food they had BBQ'd for everyone working that day!

Overall, the benefits far out weigh any imperfections the company might have. I would recommend this as a great place to get your foot in the door to EMS. 

Not even sure where to begin with this trainwreck. Probably the interview process where I first met two (Battalion Chiefs) who were very condescending and very clearly unqualified to babysit a pair of shoes let alone oversee any operation of any significant magnitude. I'm still amazed how ownership and upper management selects employees for such roles but it's rather remarkable. Unfortunately, I've watched really great employees either be ran into the ground and eventually leave or just be treated with complete disrespect publicly. Reminiscent of high school and the (Battalion Chiefs) want an audience. Very childish and unprofessional in my opinion. The job itself is fine, almost all exclusively IFT in Pierce County but every now and then a legitimate 911 call. Coworkers help make it a better environment but most end up leaving. Some leave EMS all together while others go to other agencies. Management also likes to remind employees that we have the Everett Fire contract but it doesn't mean anything to us in Pierce County, it's a very weird flex. If you're new to EMS and desperate for work, check it out but I would highly encourage anyone to either look elsewhere or don't get comfortable and be regularly seeing what other options are out there. 

As a long-term ICU nurse, this was my first transport job. The nursing managers were phenomenal and offered many one-on-one educational opportunities. But as a business, this place will run ambulance drivers (EMTs and nurses) for 24 hours straight with no break in order to make profit. There were supposed to be an option for a 1-hr break in between calls (3 1-hr breaks in 24 hours) but that rarely happened, and there were many shifts where we went for 24 hours straight. Often, my EMT drivers were so exhausted they were chugging energy drinks and doing everything possible just to stay awake. I often felt unsafe in the back of the ambulance. There were many times where my partners and I did not feel safe or supported, from upper management. As I said, the nursing managers (middle management) were very supportive but sometimes their hands were tied. There were many changes happening within the company before I left, that were hopefully moving things in a better direction as far as upper management staff. But ultimately the scheduling and the 24+ hour shifts were the big negatives. 

Northwest is trying to grow into a business that cares about its employees. While it is far from achieving this goal, steps are taken very slowly.  Upper management has taken progressive steps to talk with employees, yet certain lower management still doesn't have the knowledge base of NW policies, state/county rules and regulations and EMS knowledge to effectively "manage" situations or employees. 
NW is a great company to get your foot in the door of the EMS world, and not much else. Hopefully we see a change in this soon. With this, comes the revolving door. Personnel constantly leaving with new personnel coming in with little to no experience leads to plenty of field mistakes. Paid EMT Certification is a big plus here as well as one week of paid training to start your time. All other recurrent training is NOT paid, sporadic, and held in Mountlake Terrace, which is incredibly inconvenient if you live anywhere outside of there. Paid 30 minute breaks, that are random both in time and location. 
As with all companies, there are the good and bad. 

Loved my job but management is killing this company. They treat their employees like disposable garbage. Over the past year NWA has lost so many absolutely amazing employees over stupid things. Start appreciating your hard working staff. We work so hard and love our jobs. A handful of MSOs were amazing. A handful weren’t. BC were downright awful. Company wants you to run 911 calls yet not all rigs have radios. They aren’t logical with who they drop calls on and definitely could put them on closer crews. Overall it’s just a complete mess.They tell you in the interview process that there is high turnover due to people going to fire but that’s false. Most people don’t last 6 months with this company and most leave healthcare because of how draining this company is.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Emergency medical technician 42 salaries reported	$31.25 per hour
Registered nurse - critical care 29 salaries reported	$63.63 per hour
Paramedic 12 salaries reported	$40.07 per hour
Emt-basic 7 salaries reported	$25.75 per hour
Registered nurse 15 salaries reported	$120,333 per year

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