What most contract and per diem listings ask for:
- A license valid where you’ll work. National Registry certification isn’t a license on its own. The state licenses you, and the EMS Compact lets EMTs, AEMTs and paramedics licensed in a member state work in other member states through an EMS agency there.
- Experience. Travel and contract employers usually want at least a year on the truck.
- BLS, plus ACLS and PALS for paramedics.
What the work looks like
Four kinds of flexible work show up here, and the line under the figures above shows how many of each are open:
- Per diem or PRN: shifts as needed, often at clinics, events or a 911 service that needs cover.
- Fixed-term contracts: a set length at a set rate. Some pay 1099, others W-2.
- Travel contracts: usually 13 weeks, often with housing and meal stipends.
- Temporary jobs: cover for a season or a gap.
Much of the travel work for EMTs runs through staffing agencies, and a lot of it is ER tech or interfacility transport rather than 911.
How to get hired
- Get a year or more on the truck if you can. It opens most contract and travel doors.
- Check your license: is it valid in the state you want, directly or through the EMS Compact?
- Pick up per diem shifts near home to build a record of flexible work.
- Read every contract before you sign: guaranteed hours, cancellation terms, housing or stipend, travel pay, overtime, and W-2 or 1099.
- If you’ll take travel stipends, keep a tax home. Stipends are only tax-free when you’re working away from it (IRS Publication 463).
Before you go after it
- Benefits often go. Contract and per diem jobs trade benefits and pension for rate. Run the numbers.
- Hours can be cancelled. Get guaranteed hours and the cancellation policy in writing.
- 1099 isn’t W-2. A 1099 rate has to cover your own taxes and insurance.
- Real travel contracts are scarce for EMTs. Most travel work runs through staffing agencies, often in ER tech or interfacility jobs.