1. A typical day at work: A lot of 911 calls per shift. More during the evenings than in the wee hours of the morning. Most days are non-stop running from call to hosp to call and back to the hospital. Getting lunch can be difficult and there are rarely any clean restrooms for EMS personnel. We do not stage or run out of the Fire Departments. Fire Departments are prohibited from allowing anyone in their facility. YES, even EMTs and Paramedics from Grady EMS are not allowed to come inside. Therefore, we use the restrooms at gas stations, CVS, Advanced Autoparts and Publix. The restrooms inside restaurants are closed to the public. And YES, we are considered the PUBLIC. The bathrooms in the hospital such as STAFF RESTROOMS are LOCKED-UP!!! The staff makes us EMS personnel use the patient restrooms which are usually very dirty or contaminated with COVID-19. I would say 90% of the calls are very basic transport, 5% are patient refusals and 5% are serious/critical calls. 2. What I learned: I was very experienced before coming to Grady EMS. However, a New EMT or Paramedic can learn a great deal and definitely sharpen his or hers skill set. I realized that profits are extremely important and are at the forefront of the organization. It shows thru their policies, procedures, guidelines and their algorithms. You do have to be profitable to stay in business, however, I believe Profits and Great Service can co-exist as well. 3. Management: EMS personnel are extremely difficult to manage. You either have hired great EMTs, AEMTs and Paramedics or you have a bunch of bad apples. You must have GREAT LEADERSHIP from the bottom up to the highest level. You know Management always RULES from three different scopes or perspective. (1) IRON FIST MANAGEMENT (2) SIX SIGMA (3) SCARE TACTICS let me explain: There are a lot of GREAT LEADERS in lower and middle management. This is because the lower and middle management can see the day to day operations and they are able to adjust in real time and become acclimated to make real time decisions that improve the overall performance of the EMS fleet. (SIX SIGMA) The upper echelon management on up to the highest ranking there is a bit of confusion. Please do not mistake that I am saying that the upper echelon management and leadership are CONFUSED. There is a TOTAL disconnect because NO ONE at the top of this organization cares to hear, listen or even discuss on how to make the entire EMS system better. Basically, their way or the HIGHWAY. (IRON FIST) Pretty much everyone at Grady EMS knows and feels the unforeseen pressure of being TERMINATED at any moment. We operate emergency vehicles day in and day out. Make one mistake and your terminated. For example: we had a great supervisor who was trying to stop her vehicle as the light went from yellow to red. She was running emergency to a call and the vehicles brakes were hat and would not bring the vehicle to a complete stop. She was estimate of proceeding at 15mph going thru the changing from yellow to red light. They terminated this Paramedic Supervisor after 38 years of EMS Service to Grady Memorial Hospital and to the citizens of Atlanta, GA. She was and is still revered as one of the GREATEST PARAMEDICS to every step on an ambulance. Top Level Management did not blink an eye nor did they care if they lost this Master Paramedic Supervisors. (SCARE TACTICS) Basically, You know if they can get rid of someone at the caliber then you feel they can terminate you as well. 4. Workplace culture: Pretty much everyone sees Grady EMS as a "Training Ground" or a "Stepping Stone" so to speak. The EMTs, AEMTs and Paramedics are humanitarians by default, so you have a lot of good people with the right heart and mindset. Unfortunately, the charismatic outlook and approach is thwarted because EMS is ran more like a PRODUCTION LINE of CARS being assembled rather than treating the SICK and the INJURED.

I called 911 today because I fell and broke my toes and probably the foot. I have been waiting on an ambulance to pick me up for an hour right now. 10:51am 7/28/22. It's ridiculous that someone would have to wait on the ambulance for an hour or so and then get to the hospital and wait another 5 hours. Grady has to do better about handling their patients.

Called EMS for a family member that fell with no noted injuries, I cringed when I heard "Grady EMS" but tried to give them the benefit of the doubt. After 1 hr, l called again because surely it wouldn't take 1hr for an ambulance to show up. After 2 hrs I transported them myself. 5 hrs later... * in my spongebob narrative voice. I received a call from Grady EMS saying they were on the way when their services were no longer needed

I have no idea how nothing has been done by this, but an incredibly loud alarm goes off MULTIPLE times per day at your Memorial Drive location. Incredibly unprofessional as employees seem to just ignore it, however the 100+ residents next door that hear this are not happy.

Unfortunately I had to call 911, but the 2 guys that came were amazing!! They were kind, took great care of me and by transporting me quickly, they probably saved me!! I would love to find out their names so that I can thank them in person!!

These conmen are absolutely running a scam. About 4 years ago I was hit by a crazy driver who was making a right turn while I had the right of way to continue going straight on my bicycle. I made the mistake of calling an ambulance for myself even though I was still conscious, but with one tooth now missing and another chipped. As I recall, Grady EMS was the closest ambulance. I received no more services than a taxi ride to the hospital, no taking of vital signs or dispensing of medicine or painkillers, and I even limped into the ambulance and onto the stretcher myself. They told me nothing about costs before getting into the ambulance or while inside, and then tried to bill me for $1,715 months later after I left town!! No bill was ever mailed to me over the next 6 months while I was in Atlanta where I was "treated". I discovered this "debt" years later when I checked my credit report. Insurance paid some of it, but I was still left with a bill for $881.45. Honestly, a taxi ride to the hospital costs about $25, and in my humble opinion, that's all I owed them, but I finally paid because they were hurting my credit score. Some states have laws regulating ambulance charges, but apparently not Georgia, and they found a company called Nationwide Recovery Service that was willing to take my "debt" to Grady seriously. The fact that I have paid this "debt" does not in any way imply that I consider it legitimate, and I reserve the right to pursue every legal avenue to recover from EMS my $881.45 payment, plus additional damages for harm to my credit score. The moral of the story, unless you are so severely injured that you might bleed to death in the next hour, never call an ambulance. If you're conscious and healthy enough to dial a number on your phone, just call a cab company or Uber and ask to go to the nearest hospital, or at least don't use Grady EMS.

2.5 hours before ambulance arrival. When I called, I was out on hold. Atlanta Fire Department showed up within minutes and stayed for more than 30 minutes waiting for the ambulance. After 45 minutes they advised we take my son to ER ourselves because of the wait. Glad we did. The ambulance arrived almost 2 full hours after we took him in, while he was being seen in the ER. We were lucky we didn't need them

My father has been dead for over a year an I am still getting $900 transport bill. Can someone get the record straight? His estate was settled all Bill's paid and you still want me to pay the $900. Really !! No wonder you have a 2 for a rating !! I just sent the bill I got back to you. Send another bill it goes in the trash I'm done telling you get your records straight!!!

Your ambulance drivers and bus drivers block the street behind Grady and sit in these vehicles and be on the phone when you ask them to move over they get abusive....making reports don't help cause this continues for the last past months

Sabel - We love her with our heart. Daughter was having an asthma attack and lawd… Thank you Sabel & Savannah 🖤

Extremely long ambulance ride/experience - roughly 45 min. It seemed more important to get my information for billing than getting me to a hospital during a life threatening emergency. I now have a surprise/predatory balance bill.

Tonight 2 wonderful ladies responded to my grandmother having issues. They were completely sweet and understanding that she was having a panic attack. ( which now we know) . I think she said their names were Debbie and Meghan. She also made the comment that once at the hospital the other EMT’s didn’t seem near as sweet and nice as those 2. So thank you Grady EMS for having sweet and caring first responders.