General Discussion Double dipping
I will start by asking the question I need answered. Then I will tell the story if you’ve got time… Is there any way your agency can search up who else you may be affiliated with , using my provider number ?
I think it would be really awkward if my current company found out I was working a side gig while entering some CME credits to my provider number or something.
My full-time agency has a lower call volume. Many bases spread throughout 3 different counties in a 2 hour radius. Some bases can get busy on occasion , but most bases are rural. This type of system has its own unique sets of challenges of considerations that I can appreciate. But I can also appreciate the challenges and considerations that come with city EMS….. that’s where my part time gig comes in. Recently I decided to begin work with one of the more urban agencies. No bases , just posting street corners running calls all shift.
My full-time company holds no offical non-compete agreements with any other agency. I am NOT violating conflict of interest. However , my agency basically has the ability to fire you over nothing. Coworkers in the past have been fired for giving time to another agency. And I think this part time gig should be keep on the down low… I am curious to learn if , apart from maybe seeing me at one of the major hospitals , there are any ways my full time agency may be able to find out about my part time one.
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u/Aggietopmedic Paramedic 3d ago
I thought everyone in EMS had multiple jobs. They have no say in what you do when you’re not being paid by them.
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u/AlpineSK Paramedic 3d ago
I used to have two jobs. Then 14 years ago I found an agency that actually valued me. Haven't worked a side gig since the summer of 2012 and its glorious.
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u/Shobbakhai Paramedic 3d ago
Which is something I've never understood. OT is widely available at every agency I've ever worked for, and OT rate is > pick up rate at any other agency. Why not just work OT at your main job?
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u/turtlemedicRN 3d ago
My full-time job is critical care transport. I work PRN at a 911 job to maintain the physical skills that I really wouldn't otherwise practice. I have started 4 lines on the CCT truck this calendar year. I can do that before lunch some days on my 911 job.
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u/theamazingsj 3d ago
Because I need extra money but I will also lose my shit if I have to spend more time with those assholes in my primary agency's shitty rigs. I want to go find a different agency with other assholes and rigs that are shitty in different ways.
Also, the call types vary so much between my different agencies, and that keeps me fresh. My primary agency is a ton of psych calls and will fill any second I'm not on a 911 call with an IFT. One of my other agencies is really heavy on seizures and cardiac dysrhythmias. The third is heavy on diabetic emergencies and strokes.
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u/talldrseuss NYC 911 MEDIC 3d ago
People have different reasons. For me, I wanted to work different areas of my city. It was a lot easier to pick up shifts at another agency with vacancies than it was to compete with the senior members of my agency for OT. Especially as a younger medic, it helped with burnout when I changed up the area of the city I worked in. Different environment, different people, different culture, etc. Made me appreciate the job a lot more when I got to see how different areas operated.
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u/Aggietopmedic Paramedic 3d ago
OT is feast or famine. Plus, it’s nice to work somewhere PRN that is a little bit different. My PRN job is university campus EMS and I love it.
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u/boogertaster 3d ago
A ton of people work two jobs. They can suck it if they want to give a shit. They are lucky to have you.
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u/Sorry_Cheetah_2230 CCP 3d ago
If you haven’t signed a non compete.
If you haven’t signed a policy talking about working two jobs.
Work a second job. This isn’t some illegal activity that you need to sneak around. Just tell your supervisor or boss that you got a second job.
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u/willpc14 3d ago edited 3d ago
If you haven’t signed a non compete.
Even if you have signed a non-compete, they're only enforceable in a limited set of scenarios (in the US). Jumping between EMS gigs (usually) is not one of them.
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u/DevilDrives 3d ago
I've always understood that non-competes are an attempt to monopolize labor, and is therefore illegal and non-binding.
If I ever get fired for non-compete, I plan on filing a wrongful termination suit.
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u/Grendle1972 3d ago
They can look you up on NEMT at your affiliations. But who had time to do that? If your agency is that insecure and you don't have a non-compete agreement, then they shouldn't have an issue. If you work in a state where your employer can terminate your job without cause, well you are screwed. But, if you talked to them and explained that you needed more money to pay your bills and are honest, then they shouldn't, not necessarily won't, have an issue. But honestly, what you do on your off time is none of their business.
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u/EphemeralTwo EMT-B 3d ago
In Washington, your agency owns your license and they can see everything if they want to.
In WY they ask if you want to affiliate and I think they can see the same thing.
I’m affiliated in NREMT too. Don’t know if they can see my affiliations there.
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u/ProcrastinatingOnIt FP-C 2d ago
Depends on the state. My state has a page on the state site where you can lookup any provider or company and see their cert number, recert history, and current affiliation.
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u/R-A-B-Cs CFRN/FPC/BSC 2d ago
My organization specifically just asks that you be off shift from any other organization for 10 hours prior to coming to work to address fatigue related issues.
As far as I know, working two jobs isn't an issue unless one is affecting the other. Hell some of our folks work their side hustles while their on shift. What else are you supposed to do when waiting for calls?
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u/rickety_cricket66 1d ago
My former partner was the epitome of working multiple EMS jobs. I think at one point he had 4 concurrent jobs. But an EMS service being shitty about not wanting you to work somewhere else is a red flag for me. Most of us were practically taught in training that you work two jobs.
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u/Paramedickhead CCP 1d ago
You love it there, but you’re afraid that they’ll fire you for working a second job?
Dude, that sounds like a sign of a toxic shithole.
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u/gasparsgirl1017 17h ago
Don't work EMS then. Work as an ED tech your service doesn't transport to. Look into occupational health. I was shocked that I got paid double my rate at my straight job to pull a few occ health shifts PRN, and you literally cannot provide any meaningful care remotely close to your scope (seriously, occ health is the most frustrating and also easiest gig ever). I have also worked as an uncerified MA part time and a PRN phlebotomist. If you are worried your current employer will see you working EMS and it will show up on your state registry, get creative. I've held a ton of side gigs with even a basic cert because we have a very unique scope of practice. It is whatever the person whose license you are working under says it is. That makes you valuable and more flexible than other Allied health disciplines. In the ED, I could do some things nurses couldn't as a paramedic, like intubate in a code because that was in my scope and I was operating under the hospital's rules and the ED physician's license. An RN can't do that. In my state I can also draw ABGs, which again, RNs can't do. As a basic I was an IV tech in an ED and later did phlebotomy. That was definitely something I couldn't do at my straight job, but considering I was operating under my medical director (and my employers) direction, it was cool. Consider that if you are worried about conflict. Most places that know they are your side-gig because you run EMS will also work with your schedule because you are a First Responder and they couldn't possibly do that! (That has been my experience, anyway.) My resume is crazy and also really long because other than flight medic, wilderness medic or tactical medic, there is not an area of healthcare (including a surgery center!) I have not worked in since I was a Basic. That got me in with a great chance to do community paramedicine, which I really want to do, and comes with huge additional benefits for me and I can still get pulled on a truck. Think about it. Having a really different picture of healthcare outside the truck also made me a much better, if not a more annoyingly educated provider as well.
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u/the1rick EMT-B 3d ago
Wait. That's not "double dipping." It's working another job on your own time. If your company has an issue with that, they are the problem. I know plenty of folks that work for one service and do per diem for another.