Second Alarmers Rescue Squad (SARS) is announcing its 2011/2012 hiring process for paramedic and EMT applicants.  Please go to www.SARS.org and click on “Work Here / Send us your resume” to reserve a seat at one of our new employee orientation (NEO) days.  NEO is broken up into three parts.  NEO I and NEO II are classroom setting and the third portion is out on the street for call response evaluation.  The whole process can be completed in as short as two calendar weeks or at a slower pace of 2-3 months, it’s up to you!  After reviewing the following dates, continue reading for a full explanation on the process!

www.SARS.org - Second Alarmers Rescue Squad proudly serves the townships of Abington, Upper Dublin, Upper Moreland, Whitpain and the boroughs of Hatboro, Jenkintown, Rockledge and surrounding communities
  
Need a Paramedic or EMT Job?
Second Alarmers Rescue Squad (SARS) is announcing its 2011/2012 hiring process for paramedic and EMT applicants.  Please go to www.SARS.org and click on “Work Here / Send us your resume” to reserve a seat at one of our new employee orientation (NEO) days.
 
NEO is broken up into three parts.  NEO I and NEO II are classroom setting and the third portion is out on the street for call response evaluation.  The whole process can be completed in as short as two calendar weeks or at a slower pace of 2-3 months, it’s up to you!  After reviewing the following dates, continue reading for a full explanation on the process!
 
NEO I Offering Dates:
Wednesday December 7th 7am    
Wednesday January 4th 1pm or 6pm
Saturday February 4th 10am    
Wednesday March 7th 1pm or 6pm
Saturday March 31st 10am    
Wednesday May 2nd 1pm or 6pm
Saturday June 2nd 10am    
Wednesday July 11th 1pm or 6pm
Saturday August 4th 10am    
Wednesday September 5th 1pm or 6pm
Saturday October 6th 10am    
Wednesday November 7th 1pm or 6pm
Saturday December 1st 10am    
 
WHAT IS NEO?
NEO was devised to address three areas; provide an organized process to evaluate the large amount of applicants interested in employment, provide objective testing of new applicants and to standardize a quality training program for new hires so that they can become successful additions to our family.  Our goal is to tailor a training program for new employees which will strengthen identified areas of weakness and give applicants that are not immediately hired objective data for self improvement so they may reapply in the future successfully.  NEO is the first step to becoming a part-time per diem employee at SARS which is the most common entry way to eventually becoming a fulltime employee.
 
NEO I
This is non-compensated evaluation which will take 3-5 hours depending on class size and your individual pace.  The session will include
  • Overview of SARS, overview of the job that you’re applying for, EVOC test, clinical scenario simulation lab testing exercise, map reading test exercise, application paperwork, video patient care report charting test, written clinical skills test, one on one interview time.
 
NEO II
This day is compensated and will take approximately 8 hours depending on class size.  The session will include :
  • Classroom time for radio overview, clinical documentation overview, billing documentation overview, HIPPA, blood borne pathogen Class, skills review, truck familiarization, human resource paperwork, uniform issue and photo ID.
 
If you successfully complete NEO I, you will be invited to participate in an employee health screening and NEO II.  You cannot attend NEO II unless you are invited and reserve a seat for the offering.  NEO II dates will be offered on the following dates with a 9am start time:
  • 2011 – November 9 (7am start)
  • 2012 - February 15, April 18, June 13, August 15, October 17, December 12
  
What are the Minimum Employment Requirements?
You must submit a resume through our online portal at www.SARS.org.  On the day of NEO I we will request that you turn in a $20 application fee, proof of EVOC, CPR, EMT/EMT-P, HAZMAT certification.  ALS providers will need a list of all places where they have had command as well as proof of ACLS and PALS equivalent certification.  It is highly preferred that applicants have 1 year of 911 emergency ambulance experience as an approved EMT/EMT-P with driver status to independently provide patient care.
 
Additional items that you will need to provide on the day of NEO II; Two forms of ID (one of which must be a drivers license), NIMS 100, 700 certificates, for direct deposit you will need bank routing numbers or a voided check, if you have received Hepatitis vaccinations any documentation of such.  For the ALS provider; a copy of last years CEU report and before you get final ALS command with SARS you will need to provide a letter from a current medical command physician stating that you have command in good standing.
 
If you do not have current Pennsylvania EMT or EMT-P certification, you must contact the closest Pennsylvania EMS Regional Office to get reciprocity before applying to SARS.  They can also give you information on available EVOC, CPR, NIMS, ACLS, PALS and HAZMAT classes.  If you need experience or certifications so you may meet minimum requirements to apply for EMS employment please consider volunteering at SARS by visiting our website www.SARS.org and clicking on “Volunteer”.
 
WHO IS SECOND ALARMERS?
Since it’s founding in 1938, Second Alarmers Association and Rescue Squad of Montgomery County, Incorporated (SARS) has grown to become one of the largest private not-for-profit pre-hospital Emergency Medical Service (EMS) providers in the region, responding to over 12,000 emergency incidents each year.  SARS is a combination department composed of 100 volunteer and 123 career members, delivering service from five stations with 23 vehicles, including thirteen advanced life support ambulances. SARS provides these crucial life saving Emergency Medical and Rescue Services to the over 130,000 residents, in the 55,371 households of the 56.68 square mile area of Abington, Upper Dublin, Upper Moreland and Whitpain Townships as well as the Boroughs of Hatboro, Jenkintown and Rockledge.  SARS is also the primary contracted EMS and rescue company for 15 miles of the Pennsylvania Turnpike from the Willow Grove Inter-change.  You can learn more about us at www.SARS.org.  
WHERE DO I GO FOR THESE CLASSES?
Montgomery County Station 380 (formally Station 353) which is located at 307 Davisville Road, Willow Grove PA 19090.  The cross streets are Everette Avenue and Davisville Roads.  There is off street parking on Everette Avenue and limited spaces in the parking lot behind the building, enter through the double glass doors off of Everette Avenue.
 
WHAT SHOULD I WEAR?
Dress appropriately for an interview that requires you to physically perform EMS related tasks (such as stooping, crawling, lifting, climbing).
 
IF I AM RUNNING LATE HOW DO I CONTACT SARS? 
If you are running late or cannot make it the day of the meeting, you are to call our 24-Hour On Duty Shift Commander's phone number at 215-392-0895.
 
 www.SARS.org - Second Alarmers Rescue Squad proudly serves the townships of Abington, Upper Dublin, Upper Moreland, Whitpain and the boroughs of Hatboro, Jenkintown, Rockledge and surrounding communities
 
Squad named top spot to work
By: BILL DEVLIN The Intelligencer
Ask most people to describe a great place to work and they'll provide a list that likely will include such things as an office with a view, a boss who is not an ogre and a coffee machine that doesn't produce sludge.
They certainly wouldn't describe a job where trauma, death or disaster is part of the workday.
But then again, those people probably don't work for the Second Alarmers Rescue Squad, which recently was named one of the Top 100 Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania.
The Montgomery County unit, which is headquartered in Willow Grove, will be recognized Nov. 30 in Lancaster at a ceremony sponsored by the Team Pennsylvania Foundation, the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development and the Central Penn Business Journal.
Executive director Jamie Haddon said the state recognition is a great honor, but he admitted that he isn't surprised that the ambulance unit's employees feel so positive about the Montgomery County squad.
"We're the premier (emergency services) employer in the area," said Haddon. "In the last 18 months, 600 people have applied for positions with us."
Haddon took over the operations in 2003 at a time when there were fewer volunteers and increasing paid staffers. Today, the squad, which operates five stations, has 123 employees and 100 volunteers.
Haddon said there is no distinction between the volunteers and the paid staff.
"All are called 'members,'" he said. "Everybody is equal. We make a conscious effort to make everyone feel part of what we do."
The ambulance squad has 63 full-time and six administrative staffers.
"Our board and leadership value people and equipment," said Haddon. "You need the best people and the best apparatus if the point is to try to save someone's life."
Anthony McGrail is a paramedic who started 13 years ago as a volunteer and today works full time. He said he loves the work because it's fast-paced, busy and challenging."
"You get to help a wide variety of people - both rich and poor," said McGrail.
What makes the Second Alarmers different from other ambulance units is "the family atmosphere," the paramedic said. "They care about you here."
McGrail said the squad has a supervisor on duty 24-hours a day. He or she is there to ensure that the paramedic have the wherewithal to get the job done.
"Any roadblock that may get in our way, the supervisor takes care of it," said McGrail.
Haddon said there is a paramedic shortage in the area but not at the squad's five stations.
"We are always on status," Haddon said, using the term for an ambulance unit that is staffed to respond to advanced life support and basic life support calls.
Chief Fred Trasatti has been a volunteer with the unit for nearly four decades. He credits Haddon with making the ambulance squad the tops in its field.
"We always knew we needed someone to steer us in the right direction," said Trasatti, who looked over at Haddon. "He is the reason for this (award)."
According to Trasatti, the Second Alarmers is the "busiest station in Montgomery County," providing services to the more than 130,000 in a 56 square mile area that includes Hatboro, Upper Moreland, Abington, Upper Dublin, Whitpain, Jenkintown and Rockledge.
Trasatti said a testament to how great a squad the Second Alarmers is can be found in the number of employees who have remained on the job.
"In our field, the burnout from the job on the average is about nine years; we have full-time employees who have been here more than 30 years," said the chief.
Mark Poling, worked as a paramedic in Oregon before moving east last year. He said he put out "a ton of applications" to ambulance squads in Southeastern Pennsylvania and found work in Lehigh County. There he heard about how great a place the Second Alarmers was. He came down to Willow Grove for an interview and was hired.
"The comfort level here is fantastic," said Poling "This place has a great reputation."