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waloshin

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Oct 9, 2008
3,556
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I hear the average EMT(Advanced Care Paramedic) in the United States makes $ 6.00 - $11.00 an hour. There's a job in Calgary Alberta it's a oil field looking for EMT, and the pay is $550.00 a day, 40 hours a week.

What do you think?
 
Speaking as someone who lives in Alberta, I'd must remind you that living in camp in the oil field is NOT a pleasent experience... google Fort McMurray and you'll get a sense of what I'm talking about.
 
ObDisclaimer: I'm an ex-medic. :)

The US minimum wage is currently $7.25/hour, and several states have a higher minimum wage, so what you hear about EMT salaries has to be wrong. It's not like an EMT gets tips. ;) According to payscale.com, the hourly rate for an EMT is usually between $10 and $16 per hour.

That said, while the hourly rate isn't that high, EMTs usually work more than 40 hours per week. I'd work 2 24-hour shifts back-to-back, so that's 8 hours of overtime just in those two days. While I was only making $8/hour, overtime would run that up pretty quickly to a good salary.
 
I hear the average EMT(Advanced Care Paramedic) in the United States makes $ 6.00 - $11.00 an hour. There's a job in Calgary Alberta it's a oil field looking for EMT, and the pay is $550.00 a day, 40 hours a week.

What do you think?

I think I started reading this thread thinking it was about Tubular Bells. Lots of people move to the oldfields for a few years to make some good money. It's hard work, and the living is not easy. Some people play really hard, buy all the toys, burn-out and leave the 'fields with a truck, an ATV and not much else. Others bank the pay, have a good time regardless - but without the toys - and walk away with a good sized bank account to start a new life.

Oh, and unless you are a Canadian citizen you can't just move to Alberta and apply for work - you need to apply for a work visa which generally aren't easy to get if the job is one that a Canadian can fill.
 
Working for extractive industries (mines, oil companies) in the field can be very lucrative - but they pay high wages because you'll be working in remote locations, in harsh weather, and there is often a elevated level of risk to the job. You have to factor all that against the higher pay.
 
Oldfield EMT pay is ridiocouls.

Speaking as someone who lives in Alberta, I'd must remind you that living in camp in the oil field is NOT a pleasent experience... google Fort McMurray and you'll get a sense of what I'm talking about.

Yes. I am told, by people in the know, that biker gangs rule the place.

If you do decide to try it, don't burn your bridges before you leave. ;)

And your title is hurting my eyes. Please fix it.
 
ObDisclaimer: I'm an ex-medic. :)

The US minimum wage is currently $7.25/hour, and several states have a higher minimum wage, so what you hear about EMT salaries has to be wrong. It's not like an EMT gets tips. ;) According to payscale.com, the hourly rate for an EMT is usually between $10 and $16 per hour.

That said, while the hourly rate isn't that high, EMTs usually work more than 40 hours per week. I'd work 2 24-hour shifts back-to-back, so that's 8 hours of overtime just in those two days. While I was only making $8/hour, overtime would run that up pretty quickly to a good salary.

I know a lot of people the the EMT field (mostly pre-meds etc) in LA and they'd be freakin lucky to get $10 an hour. That said, most of their situations are exactly like yours where, they make $8 with a good amount of overtime.
 
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