Alright EMT fags. Middle aged faggot thinking on throwing it all away and becoming an EMT and paramedic...

The job is fun at times stressful at others, the people you know that dont work in EMS will never truly understand what you do or why you do it some will respect you others will call you an ambulance driver, you work 12 hour shifts with 1 other person and that person will be closer to you in certain aspects then your significant other if you have one.

Thanks for responding brother. Yeah I don't know if it's gonna be for me or not. I can work Ironman shifts with the best of em. The course I'm looking at has 10 patient contacts as a requirement for completion. I guess that will give me a hint.

i work as a paramedic in Canada, its great and i would never do anything else, helps we actually get paid decent up here

Yeah I've been married for 21 years. My children are grown and my wife is going to school to be a rad tech. I also served a short stint as an OTR truck driver a few years back. I just need to do something with meaning.

I think paramedics get paid ok here. Not sure on the education path it requires but I'm pretty sure EMT is the first step.

Long hours, low pay, you deal with the worst of society and get fuck all to show for it but back pain and anxiety. Depending where you work you may have up to a 36 hour shift so you may get no sleep if it's busy. EMS is the redheaded step child of Public Service so don't expect discounts at McDonald's or anyone to thank you for your job. There is also typically a ton of drama in the department with tons of backroom politics and stupid shit.
Overall if you are super into prehospital medicine and helping people then go for it but don't expect it to be all gunshots and explosions 90% of what you do is bullshit non emergency stuff.

T. EMT making 10/hr

if youre in the states unfortunely not alot especially for how busy ems in the big cities can be. In canada it goes emergency medical responder-primary care paramedic- advanced care paramedic. In the states its EMR EMT-basic, EMT-intermediate/advanced and EMT-paramedic but its trickery since it can vary from state to state

I feel bad for you guys down south, PCP starting wage is 30/hour and ACP is 40/hour and i still feel sometimes its not enough. Keep in mind that is our monopoly money in canada so less value

>90% of what you do is bullshit non emergency stuff.
As I said, I have had a few trips for bullshit panic attacks. What's stopping you from going for paramedic? I have 10 years and journeyman papers as a tool and die maker, 13 years as a millwright and journeyman papers, and a CDL and some OTR experience. The money isn't doing it for me anymore. But I can't live on 10 bucks per hour. However, I am willing to eat some shit to make a decent wage as a paramedic, although I think at 44 I'm getting near the end of starting that being possible. That being said, I have serious respect for what you guys do.

Pay isn't great for either...but I'm trying to avoid big cities. I've lived rural my whole life, with a commute to rust belt shitholes to make my living.

>panic attacks and anxiety for 20 years
And you said you wanted be an EMT?

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I'm a paramedic student. Canadian, so the specifics are different. But I've spoken to a lot of working paramedics and I know quite a bit of stuff.

90% of your calls are to old people who have trouble breathing or something so slightly wrong. You're mostly just there to talk to them and bring them to the hospital.

Speaking of which your job is a lot of talking to people. IDK how they do it there, but here it's a lot of 12 hour shifts. You'll start part time for a couple of years I've heard 5 years part time is usually how long it takes to get full time.

It's also highly academic, at least the college courses here are. 2 years and very competitive to get into. The schooling is really hard, it consumes your whole life.

You're 44 and worked hard labor your whole life, how's your back? Back injuries are super prevalent medic career killers. Lift lift lift.

If you're not a people person, this isn't the job for you.

Even accounting for currency exchange I'd kill for 15 USD/hr there's few people at my department that don't work two jobs.
Getting my paramedic license would cost about 6k or so and take up about 2 years of my life for a negligible pay increase of maybe a dollar an hour. The pay for EMS may be different where you live, I'm in a more rural area, if you live in a city it can be closer to 15-16 an hour easily but you get your dick ran into the ground daily and risk getting stabbed by some meth junkie or heroin addict you just narcaned.

Kek. Yeah....Shouldn't one face their fears head on? I don't have much on the line here...my union pays for the course, and I still have my job. Hell, they paid for my CDL, and I ran caustic Hazmat loads through NY and nobody died.

good idea, i work rural and its nice. Different every day, could either sit on my ass for 12 hours or be run off my feet for 14 doing calls, some bullshit not all. I love it cause its different everyday. Dont let people tell you we do almost all bs calls, it can feel like that sometimes but it really isnt imo, and some stuff may seem bs to you but to the pt it really is an emergency.

yeah dont stop yourself from doing something beccause of existing anxiety, but trust me if you do go through with it dont be afraid to talk to someone when you get tough calls or feel anxiety getting worse. Dont let it build, im 23 been working for only 2 years and have had 3 EMS practitioners commit suicide in my zone alone in rural Canada... I couldnt imagine what the stats are like in the U.S

I'm in fairly good shape; a bit fat lately from the job I've had for the last four years where I'm basically king turd of shit mountain. As far as being a people person...I have a huge heart, and I have no outlet for it currently other than my dogs.

>I love it cause its different everyday
See, I used to feel that way about maintenance. Then a decade passed. I started noticing that I fixed the same shit over and over. The only thing that changed was the aging of myself and my friends at work. Thus began my existential crises.

EMT service in my area is privatized, which means low wages, long hours, and constantly being understaffed. A majority of the work is handling the elderly, the obese, and the drugged. Patient transport is more common than trauma service. But most of the EMTs I know love it because the days go fast and there's not a lot of accountability

thats fair and I see that with older medics who have been doing it forever, there are ways to avod burnout, change up where you work/ take up teaching/ further education. Nice thing about ems is theres tons of avenues to change it up when you feel it getting boring

So, if I can handle the blood and poop and human misery, you think I have a shot?

Yeah man, I mean if you can low risk get into training, that's pretty dope. I honestly got into to impress a girl. That didn't work out, but god damn do I love learning all I can about being a paramedic. I definitely feel like I found my calling. The paramedics constantly tell us something like, only 4% of paramedics actually retire as paramedics. So be prepared to have a backup in the case of physical/mental injury.

My backup is driving truck again. It honestly wasn't that bad and paid the bills. But I still had that empty feeling. Look. All my wife and I want is a shithole in the desert in northern Nevada. We've lived the good life. Now we want to live our lives.

honestly imo its more about if you will enjoy it over being able to handle it. Only way to find out is see it/try it, I would definetly suggest doing a ride along and getting EMR to see if you enjoy the didactic side as well as the real world side cause theyre very different. Ultimately the only person who knows its right for you is you.

I'll try it. I'm not afraid to put myself out there. I'm still 50/50 on knowing if I can make a living from it.

good luck user

Thanks. Thanks to all the EMT fags ITT. Gonna hit the sack since I gotta fix some mechanical asshole in the morning.

I don't think it would be worth it at this point in your life. Making $100K to a starting EMT-B wage would feel like you're volunteering, and the cost for the schools are much more expensive than they were 10-15 years ago. If you're in your 20's and looking to make a career in the medical field, or become a firefighter, sure - give it a shot. The average career span of a paramedic in the U.S. is around 7 years. Many go on to nursing or firefighting, some become PAs, MDs, or DOs. Sometimes, people leave the medical field altogether. Others become field supervisors (Ha!) It's a job, just like many others. There will be a lot of redundancy, bullshit, and frustration. Others have already said how EMS is the bottom tier of the emergency response system. It's true. At least if you end up working for a private ambulance company. If you are in a city or county based (and funded) program like Austin/Travis County, or Denver Paramedics, there's a much better chance of decent pay and equipment. I worked in a major city with a dual response system that provided citizens with a FD response and private ambulance response for transport. I did this for about 12 years, then was able to go to a flight program and work on helicopters for 5 years. I had some great experiences, but looking back, I should have quit a long time ago. I'm now a flight attendant for a major airline and wish that I would have made the move at least 10 years ago. My family and I would be in a much better financial situation right now. It just took me a long time to "hit the wall" and come to the realization that I'd been sacrificing way too much for inadequate compensation. Many people in EMS (U.S) have to work second and third jobs, unless they're married to someone who brings in a good income. There was a time that I held the main job, and three other part time jobs for a couple years. I had to work many weekends, holidays and birthdays just to make a decent living for where we lived.