Pros
A paycheck, great for gaining experience if you are starting out, decent pay for experience, and plenty of shifts available.
Cons
Minimum equipment, its all about the company, poor managment locally and regionally, unrealistic expectations, if you are part-time they do not care about your full-time job, or care about reserve/guard obligations, and constantly harass part-timers about becoming full-time, managment by bullying employees. Also be cautious of what you say around fellow employees, some of them will throw you under the bus, and are brain washed. While employed for a month there I constantly heard one supervisor base other fire and ems agencies in the local area and surronding area. When this supervisor was advised that one of the agencies was my full-time employer, I quickly confronted the supervisor about it and recieved a write up in my box. Even though I was early for a shift, I forgot to clock in, and clocked in 10 minutes past the start of my shift, I was written up for being tardy despite the supervisor looking at me and knowing I was early. Lastly AMR policy states part-timers must work 24 hours a month, but demand 12 hours of availability a week from part-timers. You have to give them a day that you can possibly work, but "it doesn't guarntee that you will work". Getting back to the comment I made in the box (pros) you sign up a day, you will probably get it. I have done fire and ems for 15 1/2 years, and have worked in the private industry part-time for other services before, and know that in the private business that bodies to work means trucks on the road, meaning you can make more runs, and generate more revenue for the company.
