Pros
Those looking to gain experience as an EMT or Medic will find a great opportunity here. High call-volume and autonomy can be found on almost every shift. Great part-time program: You basically pick up shifts whenever you want to as long as you work 36-hours or more a month. Great supplemental income, good resume padder. Due to high-turnover there are always openings and it's fairly easy to get a job here.
Cons
I almost don't know where to start here. I'm not one of those people who looks for reasons to be dissatisfied with "management", because at my full-time job I am management, and I understand the challenges and misconceptions that can be found in most organizations. I can honestly say though, in the Phoenix area nearly every partner I've had spends half the shift bad-mouthing the organization. The care-to-cash culture is a source of discontent for most employees. Most individuals who enter this field are passionate about helping people. I take pride in saying I'm a paramedic, but have to admit I'm almost ashamed to put on a rural-metro uniform. The fire-crews look down their noses at you, any reasonably educated patron is scared to death of the bill they'll receive, and most of the long-term employees are rude to you. It takes an smart and strong-willed person to succeed here. When I mention "succeed", I have to ask myself "am I succeeding?". I'd like to think yes of course, but to be honest I've never had any feedback from management...so I really don't know. I've worked there for 2-years (part-time, they don't pay enough for me to leave my full-time job), and I am 100% convinced that the manager that "wrote" my review has no clue who I am. I've never been in trouble or heard from QA about my paperwork. Patients compliment me, so I guess I'll just tell myself I'm doing okay until I get in trouble for something. Scheduling - This is a pro/con area. The pro is that there are always open shifts/overtime to pick up. The con is...I get text messages begging for people to pick up shifts every single day..and that is not an exaggeration. The poor schmucks working will be run ragged because the company doesn't hire enough full-time staff to make good on their commitments and keep staffing-levels at a manageable level. I understand the challenges they face will call-outs, etc, but the ugly truth is that like most organizations, they have surpassed being "lean" and staffing has reached the "inadequate" level. It is no surprise that they are under investigation for not meeting response times. Pay - Get with the times, a cost-of-living increase is 2.5-3% annually. Anything less than that is beyond insulting. There are other areas to trim-fat before messing with compensation. Now I am a part-time employee, but I haven't had a raise in the 2 years I've worked here, and I'm fairly certain I won't get one at all. $13/hr for an experienced paramedic....really?