BC Ambulance Service Employee Reviews

This is a job that can put you in danger physically, emotionally and mentally. Be prepared by establishing a good work/life balance, have activities with people outside of healthcare or emergency services, pack healthy meals (no scheduled breaks, some days you only have a few minutes between calls) and keep fit (you don't have to but being fit will help reduce physical injuries) and a good therapist on hand!This is a rewarding career but try not to let it break you.

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Broken system

Paramedic (Current Employee) - Surrey, BC - 14 July 2023

The job is great but the employer is a challenge. Good wage after 5 years considering the lack of education. Management is a boys club that is slowly changing luckily

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Rewarding work.

Paramedic (Former Employee) - Vanderhoof, BC - 26 June 2023

Its not an easy job but its rewarding. Its great work if you can handle long hours and a shifts all over the map. The pay isnt great but its more about the job.

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Toxic workplace

PCP (Former Employee) - Vancouver, BC - 15 June 2023

Management will consistently ignore your issues, toxic coworkers are never reigned in on, policies that make no sense or change for no reason.Prepare for a career of stress while in the peanut gallery.

Pros

easy to find work

Cons

Toxic

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Tough job, good people

Emergency Call Taker (Current Employee) - Vancouver, BC - 8 January 2023

Do your research before you take a job here.Keep in mind that you're working in an emergency unit, and be aware that we are currently experiencing not one, but two epidemics, and think about what that might be like on a day to day basis.If you think you can handle it, what you'll find at BCAS are supportive team leads who've suffered through toxic management and want to change things. You'll find teammates who are remarkably empathetic and staff who'll bend over backwards to support you. Great work-life balance; I don't know any other companies who give 6 days after a work block. Benefits are also very good

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Insights into BC Ambulance Service

Based on 7 survey responses

What people like

Inclusive work environment
Clear sense of purpose
Ability to learn new things

Areas for improvement

Overall satisfaction
Fair pay for job
Time and location flexibility

There’s a reason they can’t keep staff

DISPATCHER/EMCT (Current Employee) - Vancouver, BC - 24 August 2022

Incredibly stressful, always short staffed, terrible management, long shifts with no flexibility , hostile work environment, outdated work environment, out of touch management

Pros

Good coworkers

Cons

Long hours, high stress, high staff turnover

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Not a good place.

BC Emergency call taker (Former Employee) - Kamloops, BC - 17 May 2022

not a fun place, very disorganized... and having the temerity to point that out gets you fired. Very disorganized training material, and the training does not match the material given.

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2$ an hour is not livable

Paramedic (Current Employee) - Vancouver, BC - 15 March 2022

if you like being sent hours away from home and having to work back to back days to make ends meat then this is the job for you. job is very rewarding but struggling to pay bills is not.

Pros

making a difference, continuous learning

Cons

long hours, commute, pay

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High stress job with little to no employer support

Paramedic (Former Employee) - Abbotsford, BC - 17 July 2020

Employer is demanding and relies on the employee submitting a grievance rather than dealing with any issues, The employer will fight you on every front and most of the improvement in working conditions have been by order of WorkSafe The union is unable to deal effectively with the employer and the salary has continuously fallen farther and farther behind other emergency services The employer takes advantage of new hires by requiring them to work part-time and commute to far away station to work for a stipend of less than $3 per hour while waiting for a call. Off times it costs an employee more to commute than they'll make while on call

Pros

The job itself is great, You'll make a difference in peoples lives

Cons

Long hours. High stress. Psychological trauma. Physical injury

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Worst place I have ever worked, you are no more than a number

Primary Care Paramedic (Current Employee) - British Columbia - 26 May 2020

This job stifles creativity and growth. You are forced to either commute or move out in the middle of nowhere. This is one of the most stressful jobs in the world yet I find myself more stressed about Whether or not I will get paid over what I see people going through. The company does not care about you as an employee. You get paid $2 per hour on most shifts and are only paid if you see a patient which is rare in the small community you are forced to start in. It takes YEARS to get to a point where you can actually survive off your income let alone prosper financially. You are a number to them, and everything is based on your seniority, some managers are great and my co workers are like family but I would not suggest working here if it was the last job on earth.

Pros

Co workers are like family

Cons

Pay sucks, long commute, all about seniority, takes YEARS to advance, union does not do anything, employer Could not care less about you, takes years to even get benefits....I could go on

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Part time has poor pay, and is treated less than.....full time employees. Better have a second job!

Paramedic - Retired (Former Employee) - Victoria, BC - 9 April 2020

The employer is never concerned about their employees, their well-being or mental health. They will push you until you break, moral is poor, it is an US vs THEM between ALS and BLS as well as Full time and Part time. You better love the work - and not be looking for advancement. Patients always make it worth while, patience is essential for the repeat patients but they are ill, no matter how you look at it but your partner's attitude may differ and this can be difficult.

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Good job

Emergency Medical Responder (Current Employee) - East Kootenay, BC - 3 January 2020

Variety, interesting work. Not super impressed with the employer. They make me feel like a number. But the local station and the town spirit makes up for it.

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rewarding,stressful workplace

Paramedic (Current Employee) - Kelowna, BC - 14 December 2019

Typical day could be fun or stressful but usually rewarding always learning about the job, about people,about life. Management was along way from the Paramedics on the street as a result workplace culture was not the best P Hardest part people dying best being able to help people, make a difference

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Continuous education updates.

Emergency Medical Responder (Current Employee) - 100 Mile House, BC - 24 August 2019

Obviously life and death situations on some calls. This job teaches you that you are not an island, and can reach out for help from colleagues, supervisors and of coarse Doctors. The hardest part of the job is training yourself that you can't save everyone. You have to be able to go from 0 to 500 in 90 seconds.

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BC Ambulance will use you and abandon you

EMR Paramedic (Current Employee) - Kootenay, BC - 6 July 2019

Do not work for them if you want a career. Try a different province. You will not have advancement or benefits for at least 6 years. You will not make enough money to meet your bills and you will never have a life outside of the job.

Pros

None

Cons

Everything

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Would not recommend

Primary Care Paramedic (Current Employee) - Parksville, BC - 23 June 2019

Worked for 6.5 years as a part time PCP (Full time is a different story- I’m only speaking on my experience as a part timer) Start in rural areas so must have second job to pay your bills Wages - awful, not paid by the hour, paid “pager pay”= less than minimum wage Management inconsistent and unsupportive Generally negative workplace culture Work life balance as a part timer is non existent as wages are inconsistent you need to work as much as possible to ensure ends meet Not a lot of chance for front line employee feedback

Pros

Coworkers are the best part

Cons

Long hours, unpaid OT, work life balance, management, pay, workplace culture, system structure

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Great job, poor management

Paramedic (Former Employee) - Vancouver, BC - 20 November 2018

You do this job because you have a compassion for it. Nothing more than that. It takes a long time to become full time and even so, you have to commute to Vancouver.

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Women shouldn't bother applying

Emergency Medical Dispatcher/Paramedic (Former Employee) - Vancouver, BC - 14 January 2016

BCEHS is only too happy to hire women as part-time employees in rural stations where the pay is low, and staff is hard to attract. If by some miracle a female employee makes it to full-time status(after 6-7 years of poverty, and no life) she will have to move to Vancouver, where the physical demands of the job will, likely as not, result in a career-ending injury. The BCEHS has been warned by their own ergonomic advisers that half of the women who start their paramedic careers while in their early twenties will have left the service by the time their cohort reaches their forties, due to injuries and the physical demands of the job. So much for your pension! The pre-employment physical testing is a joke; it does not nearly replicate the actual demands of the job. If the testing did reflect the actual demands of the job, only a minute portion of female applicants would pass(I certainly wouldn't have !). When you only pay $2.50 per hour, you can't afford to be too choosy! The BCEHS injures the equivalent of every single paramedic, every seven years(averaging 550 time loss injuries per year, 3700 paramedics in the service, but women are 30% more likely to be injured or disabled) No private company could, or should, tolerate this kind of injury rate, but BCEHS seems to be immune to the persuasive powers of WorksafeBC. The effect of this Darwinian culling of employees, based solely on physical durability, has lead to the almost exclusive promotion of men to advanced training opportunities, as well as supervisory and managerial positions, which further denies women the ability to -

Pros

Pays well for a job requiring limited education.

Cons

Worker safety is a joke.

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Great Part time job

Paramedic for BC (Current Employee) - okanagan - 11 June 2015

This job is great adrenniline rush. allowing us to put in the availability that we want it is an easy job to have as a secondary income or when travel is more important. No 9-5 behind a desk, it allows you to be in the heat of the action and playing detective as you diagnosis your patients.

Pros

Job security, Addreniline rush, meeting new people

Cons

Long hous, and not the best pay

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Excellent place to gain Medical experience.

Paramedic (Current Employee) - Kamloops Division Yale Land District, BC - 10 March 2014

Usually a 12 hour, shift, paid $11.oo hour to wait at provincial ambulance station, for any emergency calls, from Dispatcher. It is a good place to learn, with many continuing education courses available to maintain your EMT Licence. management is good and very helpful. Hardest part of Job, is Dealing with mass casualty situations, death, and dying patients. The most Enjoyable Part of the job, is helping people when they are in need of emergency help.

Pros

Excellant place to gain experience

Cons

long 12 hour shift for only $11.00 hour

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Become a paramedic! it rocks

Paramedic (Former Employee) - Chemainus, BC - 15 May 2013

I miss this job a lot but it has its pros and cons for sure. Ambulance paramedic is not for everyone but it can be the most rewarding job in the world.