1. Benefits are great, except Acadian Ambulance personnel get vacation time, SMS gets nothing. When you max out your sick time, rather than letting it stay maxed out they take time from you so you can build it back up.
2. You will be sent out to a rig or a platform and you are considered "3rd Party". Which means you are part of the team when the client wants something, but when you want to be treated as "part of the team" you will be told, "You won't work for us, sorry."
3. Plan on doing everything but medicine. If someone with the client doesn't want to do their job, that duty will be pushed off on the medic. Helicopter landing officer = Medic, Orientation of new personnel = Medic, Rig Admin jobs (room assignment, memo writer, phone answerer, flight schedules, training request, personnel issue, etc) = Medic. Supply person (handling manifest, cargo, SDS sheets) = Medic. Those folks are making a lot more than you, but you get stuck with their job. Don't even think of bringing this up to your SMS Supervisor, you will be told, "Do what they client ask."
4. Expect to attend training at less than your hourly rate, SMS calls it, "training pay" at $15.00. Most companies pay: mileage, meals, regular hourly rate - not SMS. They don't care how far your drive either. Drive 10 hours for a 7 hour staff meeting at $15.00/hr x7hr. Drive in the day before, then head home after the meeting. Oh they will put you up in the "dorm" a 4 man room and feed you during the meeting some cold cut sandwich or cold catered meal that they picked up from some local business.
5. Low pay, starting at $18.50/hr. Seriously you could make more working a ambulance and be home more often. They don't care about how many certifications you have, it all depends on what the contract pays. So if you move to a lower paying contract, your pay goes down. My contract was being billed at just over $750.00/day. I was making $259.00/day. They don't care about your experience, training or certs, you are a cash-cow.
6. If you have to work over because you relief quits or gets run-off the rig - don't expect overtime. You get your normal day rate. If you have plans with the family, they don't care.
7. On the rig, expect to hear, "Don't go to the medic, we don't want a recordable". So folks that come in will ask, "If I get a Motrin is that a recordable?" The oil company and drilling company are more concerned about numbers than people.
8. If you are flying, you are last on the list, first to get bumped. Oh and depending on the assignment you might be taking a boat to work. Imagine riding in a boat, sitting in bus seats for 8 hours, no food, no water, folks vomiting around you.
9. If you are someone who cares about being a medic, hopefully you will get a good relief. Most of their medics are wore out, seeking a retirement job. So they don't care about the job or the patient. If you complain to your supervisor, expect to be told, "There is nothing I can do unless the client complains."
10. You will be told you are part of the "Acadian family"; yea the red-headed step children". No one else in the company cares about SMS. Don't think about transferring, once they hear you are at the SMS division, you are a black sheep.
