State Department: Louisiana

If you’re a paramedic or EMT who’s thinking of relocating or would just like to learn more about life across the U.S., EMS World’s State Department is worth a look. We start with data-driven “snapshots” of each state, then add a few paragraphs about regional practices and lifestyle. Our goal is to highlight everyday aspects of potential destinations from a prehospital provider’s point of view.

Louisiana Snapshot

• Link to state EMS website
• National Registry: Required at all levels for initial licensure and renewals
• Average straight-time wages: EMT $17.36/hour, paramedic $20.50¹
• State area: 52,069 square miles
• Approximate state population: 4,660,000
  • Rank (↓): 25
  • Change since 2010: +3%
• Most populous cities (approximate): New Orleans 393,000, Baton Rouge 225,000, Shreveport 192,000
• Violent crime one-year change: New Orleans +1%, Baton Rouge -15%, Shreveport -14%²
• State violent crime rank (↑): 47³
• State property crime rank (↑): 48³
• Health rank (↓): 50⁴
• Average temperatures: Summer 81ºF, Winter 51ºF⁵
• Top state income tax: 6%⁶
• Average sales tax: 9.45%⁶
• Average property tax: 0.51%⁶
• Median home value: $166,600⁷
  • One-year change: +0.9%⁷
• Median monthly rent: $1,200⁷
• Average cost of electricity: $0.10/kwh⁸
• Cost of living index: 92.9 (U.S. average = 100)⁹
• Unemployment: 4.5% (U.S. average = 3.5%)¹⁰
• Best states rank (↓): 50¹¹
• Approximate annual retirement cost per household: $58,000¹²

The Connecticut Yankee Who Headed South

I’m no expert on Louisiana, but here’s why I think it could use more paramedics and EMTs:

1. It has more violent crime than all but three other states;³
2. It’s ranked last in health;⁴
3. U.S. News & World Report rated Louisiana the worst place to live based on healthcare, education, economy, infrastructure, opportunity, fiscal stability, crime and corrections, and natural environment.¹¹

Maybe it’s not as bad as it sounds. Maybe I should ask someone who knows: an EMT who moved to Louisiana from up north, where life is as different from the Gulf Coast as granola is from gumbo.

“I grew up in Connecticut and was an AEMT there for about five years,” says Nancy Magee, co-owner of MEDIC Training Solutions, a Pitkin, La. consulting firm specializing in EMS education. “A bad year of driving ambulances in snow convinced me to find someplace warmer. Louisiana qualified.”

Snow is one kind of weather—perhaps the only kind—Louisianans don’t have to worry about. As for more familiar extremes of wind and rain, locals try to take them in stride. “People down here don’t get intimidated by weather,” says Magee. “It’s another part of life. It could be 100ºF outside with mosquitos as big as cats, and we’ll just head indoors.”

From Adversity to Opportunity

Combine a hot, humid climate with cuisine that accentuates anything fryable, and Louisiana’s gloomy health outlook starts to make sense. Magee thinks that’s more of an opportunity than a problem for incoming caregivers. “EMS in Louisiana is pretty progressive compared to what I’m used to,” she says. “You can learn an awful lot and see an awful lot, but you’re going to run your tail off, even in the rural areas, because transports can take hours.”

As for hospitals, the ones farthest from population centers may be mistaken for double-wides by outsiders. “When I first came here for a ride-along,” Magee recalls, “we headed out into the woods with a patient in back. It was a pitch-black night. Suddenly we stopped at what looked like a trailer on concrete blocks. It was the hospital—two rooms with a couple of shower curtains and a nurse who wanted to go home.

“For people who need cardiac or stroke or trauma care, there aren’t a lot of specialized facilities compared to what you see in Connecticut, where you can pretty much throw a rock and hit one. That’s one of the reasons responders have to be so capable here: to take care of very, very sick patients during extended transports.”

Bring Your ‘A’ Game

Coming to Louisiana from a place like Connecticut, where EMS workers have more limited scopes of practice, means you might have to brush up on skills you’ve never used. “Here you’re expected to be able to do whatever’s in the national scope of practice and then some,” says Magee. “Most of the EMTs can assist paramedics with monitors and IV setups.”

But Magee acknowledges prehospital providers in the Bayou State contribute lots more than technical know-how. “There’s that southern kindness,” the 21-year EMS veteran says. “People are exceedingly warm and genuinely caring. Even to a Yankee they’re very polite.

“Some of them think I’m from Canada instead of Connecticut, but we’re all OK with that.”

References

1. EMS World. EMS World Salary Survey 2018, https://www.ems-stats.com.

2. FBI. Uniform Crime Reporting System, 2018 National Incident Based Reporting System, https://ucr.fbi.gov/.

3. Public Safety Rankings, https://www.usnews.com/.

4. America’s Health Rankings, United Health Foundation. 2018 Annual Report, www.americashealthrankings.org/learn/reports/2018-annual-report.

5. Current Results. Average Annual Temperature for Each U.S. State, www.currentresults.com/Weather/US/average-annual-state-temperatures.php.

6. Tax Foundation Facts and figures 2019, https://files.taxfoundation.org/.

7. Zillow. United States Home Prices & Values, www.zillow.com/home-values/.

8. Choose Energy. Electricity Rates by State, www.chooseenergy.com/electricity-rates-by-state/.

9. Missouri Economic Research and Information Center. Cost of Living Data Series, 2019, https://meric.mo.gov/data/cost-living-data-series.

10. State Unemployment Rate in the U.S. The Content Marketing Trend Study, 2019, https://www.statista.com/statistics/2000017/state-unemployment-rate-in-the-us/

11. Best States 2019: Ranking Performance Throughout All 50 States. U.S. News & World Report. 2019.

12. Hill C. This is exactly how much it will cost to retire well in every state in America. www.marketwatch.com. 06/28/19.

Mike Rubin is a paramedic in Nashville and a member of EMS World’s editorial advisory board. Contact him at mgr22@prodigy.net.