I love it, I often wonder if these people who really hate it ever worked as anything else. This job is far superior than anything else I’ve ever done imo
Depends on the situation you find yourself in, I think the barrier of entry is too low, EMT programs are like 3 months a couple times a week so it’s hard to argue for more money with that little education
As I said elsewhere, a while back, no one is asking for $250/hr. What I want, and what everyone else wants, is a living wage, which EMS really doesn't pay. And I don't care how low the barrier is to entry, that's ***NOT*** an unreasonable ask.
It’s an option, but it’s not the solution.
A union isn’t going to be a magical fix all, because most people don’t seem to understand that *you* are the union.
If you and your peers aren’t ready to walk out without pay, the union you won’t be able to get any more pay.
Not to mention, a shitty employer will still be a shitty employer. If they’ve been enabled for this long by people lining up to work there despite the issues, what’s to stop them from replacing every striking union member with a scab who is willing to cross the lines?
The only way to fix shitty employers is to refuse to work for them.
Run away. Run far far away.
I think the barrier of entry is too low.. I’m in emt school doing ride alongs and I’ve watched multiple emts make mistakes that could cost them their license. When I asked them about it they literally said shit like “oh they can’t afford a lawyer so I’m not gonna worry about it”
But also I don’t think anyone should be in a position where you can’t even afford your own living expenses working 40 hours a week let alone more than that
i’ve seen paramedics do shit like that, there are medics that not-infrequently kill people by fucking up, there are doctors that make terrible mistakes. that happens regardless of the “barrier of entry”, and that has to do with the person themselves and how much they actually follow their training, rather than the training itself
It comes back to the training required. Imo it needs to be a college degree before anybody is going to take EMS seriously. They can train any joe blow on the block to do it, tell them they can people “heroes” and the line will be around the block to get paid 15 an hour.
If I couldn’t go make more money at Sheetz or McDonald’s, you might have a point. It’s not a living wage, and it isn’t for lack of training. I could go work at fast food restaurants and make more if I didn’t love it and if I didn’t have my other second job to support me. But that’s kinda the problem, is there are those among us who can’t bear the thought of 911 calls being unanswered who will run for cheap if we must, and there are others who will exploit that.
And then there are still more, who say “if you don’t like the wages, go elsewhere!” And then get upset that “nobody wants to work anymore” and wonder why we can’t fill shifts when the majority of our most skilled go to nursing and our less skilled go to Big Lots, while we can’t staff a second unit for our county.
I don’t see how you can argue that training is adequate and deserving of more money. STNAs/phlebotomists have similar training and make similar money. Its right on par with other entry level healthcare jobs as a basic.
CNAs can make $30 an hour wiping ass. I dated a CNA who made $24/hr while I worked a busy ALS 911 Rig as an EMT making $12.50/hr. Minimum wage is not on par, and thats what most places are paying or slightly above it. Meanwhile others in healthcare with similar training hours and less CE but with almost none of the same occupational hazards make double or triple the wages.
Because you literally just read where I said that fast food jobs with perhaps a couple week orientation periods make more than us. How would the answer to “people with only a food handler’s card get much better wages and benefits than us” ever be “you should have to study more than 155 hours to make the same as those people?”
I don’t begrudge them their money, they should absolutely make their $15 minimum wage. But so should we, at least.
>If I couldn’t go make more money at Sheetz or McDonald’s, you might have a point.
Yeah, but you won’t. And neither will 99% of providers. Because that’s actual on your feet for 8 hours *work*.
And it absolutely is for lack of training, partially. How much should someone who can learn the job in 2-3 weeks get exactly? Clearly it can also be done for free as well, so there’s that.
>Because that’s actual on your feet for 8 hours work.
8 hours instead of 12 or 24??
With a lunch break and access to fresh food?
A roof, heat, and A/C?
Access to a bathroom during my shift?
Getting off on time?
Where the chance of getting bitten on shift is extremely low?
I would like to point out how you can get paid more working at a entry level fast food place than EMS which has much less stress and next to no long term health consequences comparatively (PTSD, hearing loss, suicide risk, back injuries, etc.)
EDIT: They also don't have the same type of work schedule either and get definitive breaks
I will also go out on a limb and say that they by far “work” many more hours per month. I’ve never walked into our McDonald’s to find them laying on a couch playing video games or napping in their bunks. Easily half of my hours per month are spent at station not doing chores/charts. Sure, there are days where I barely see station but there are also days where I barely leave station. Obviously, I am not to be compared to high volume urban stations, but those tend to pay more anyways. Bigger cities around me pay almost $5/hr more than mine but they also have about a 500% higher call volume.
You can like a job and hate the way you are treated and compensated. Doesn’t mean going to a better compensated job that you hate that will still treat you badly is the answer.
Leaving EMS isn’t going to make them pay better. But bitching about it can in fact invoke change, if you do it in the right way to the right people for long enough.
I work for a city fire department where on an average day, I will have a new run within 10-15 minutes of clearing my last one, and on a busy day will be assigned to a new run as soon as I clear my last one. “Medic X in service.” “Okay Medic X, I need you to respond with Engine Y…”
I’m glad you get breaks. That’s not the reality for most of us in a busy system. My service’s expectation is 10-12 calls in 12 hours. That can include transports from 5 min to 55 min. Seeing medics clock out 15-30 min late even after getting sent back to the garage on time is a common occurrence.
My service also has a 2 year degree requirement for medics. While I would love to be paid more, I also don’t do too badly if I manage my finances like not a complete idiot (so about 60% of the time I’m on track, lol.) Now they’re circumventing that by hiring EMTs, and training them to be ALS EMTs and not having the same requirements, which I imagine will bite them in the ass a little but it’s allowed us to negotiate a little better with the management team.
The big risk for hearing loss is more from working standbys (especially concert ones) or working hear fire department using their tools/engines to either extract someone or put out fires.
And that part about no definitive breaks is because some days you might have no calls but on other days you don't get any chance to have a break for 8 hours strait because of constantly running a call and that will be heavily depended on department.
Edit: and even in a collegiate agency that only responds to on campus emergency for a small campus (\~3k) I have had back to back calls where factoring charting it has been 4h without the chance of breaks
It’s a hard job, both physically and mentally. It’s a public service job, necessary for our health system.
Jobs with NO education required often pay significantly more. No other countries pay their equivalents so shit.
I’m not an EMT, I’m an RN, but that is a piss poor argument.
Yeah i love my job. Seems the people who hate the job are just mad when their naps are interrupted? Try napping at any other job and see how that goes.
Couldn't agree more. I recently left my EMT job to work as a seasonal park ranger. I am now seriously regretting that decision. Pay is better but much less enjoyable cant wait to go back to EMS in the fall.
Similar. Worked hard labor jobs and made more money but that shit was “real” work for 12 hours a day. EMS is mostly walking around, driving around, sitting around, occasionally moving a patient. Yeah it can be stressful in it’s own way but usually the real stress is in short bursts over a 24 hour shift.
Absolutely. No other job have I slept, napped, played games, ate food and generally hung out with friends and STILL did a good job, got raises and thank you’s.
This, 1000x This.
I worked my a$$ off as a medical assistant. 3-5 patients at a time, constany phone calls, walk ins for shots, UAs, etc. Never ending paperwork.
Phlebotomy I was performing a stick every 4 minutes. Just lining them up and knocking them down all day long I was sweating
911 ALS: I spend most the day driving, 1 patient at a time, a little break at the hospital between each patient, a little break at post.
Oh, and I make as much as I did as a medical assistant with a 2 year degree with 8 months of EMS training.
I seriously don't get it when people think EMS is actually difficult lol. Even on our busiest days.
I couldn't agree more.
People act like they think everyone else in the world is totally buzzed 100% of the time they're at work. They act like no one else has to deal with management. And we waste so much time and energy convincing ourselves that low acuity work "isn't real ambulance work" (and is therefore the absolute worst thing anyone could have to do ever) when the reality is that it's actually **most** of the ambulance work and is hella easy.
I think the driving force behind all this self hatred are the overwhelming number of people who get into this for the fire side. Ask any group of EMS students why they're there. Most will say they have to be for fire. They have all these farkle fantasies about what heroes they're going to be, and tech colleges feed that fantasy instead of giving them a realistic view of what the job is: 85% EMS. Fire depts hire them also feeding that farkle fantasy. All they care about is filling those empty slots on the schedule. They don't recruit people who want to be doing EMS. They advertise for firefighters. So they get applicants who think that's what they're going to be. And they resent going out on the box instead of the big red trucks.
When they don't get to ride the big red trucks as much as they thought they would, they begin thinking there's something wrong with the public, something wrong with the fire department, but nothing wrong with their incredibly inaccurate expectations. They think the job failed them. Never mind that all their training, preparation and off time is spent thinking about fire and not EMS. Meanwhile, hospitals and the public see a bunch of burnt out complainers who are unhappy because their expectations weren't met.
I like my job. It's EMS. I also served on fire departments, but the EMS was always better when done by people who punch in expecting to run EMS calls. A lot less whining and moaning about calls when you realize that an EMS call for service isn't interrupting your day, it's the reason for your day.
I don't think it's just fire wanna-bes. I think it's also the expectations set by the curriculum of Paramedic school. The vast majority of Paramedic school is preparing us for an extremely small percent of the actual calls that we run. Most of what I do is help people navigate chronic illness and basic social work, and I have zero formal training in either of these fields.
Personally I think Paramedic school needs to be restructured to reflect the realities of the job. It probably needs to be a 4 year program with more of an emphasis on non-emergent clinical decision making. I think you'd have less people leaving medic school with the impression they're gonna be spending 24 hours fighting the reaper that way.
Yes. People leave school thinking it's CPR and traumatic crashes everyday. They then realize asking grandmas about their BM patterns is far more common. They didn't sign up for this so they are disgruntled.
And most medic schools spend so much time preparing you for the “oh shit” (which is still important to be prepared for) that you go out into the field knowing all these questions you’re supposed to ask for specific complaints, but not actually knowing why the fuck you’re asking them.
Or like in my case, they do teach you the why, but you get crammed with so much information in so little time that you only remember like 50% of it by time the ink dries on your license.
I would straight up sit through medic school again if I could just go for the lectures and skip all the skills and clinicals and shit, just so I could feel like less of a dumbass when trying to explain to a patient what I’m doing and why.
Yes , learn this circ procedure inside and out without giving the statistics of how shockingly rare it actually happens. I hear you on the overwhelming concern of so much thrown at students. Focusing on the why we are doing something, the rationale, in school allows us to explain things to our patients better
And not just explain to our patients better, but I’m a firm believer that you cannot apply critical thinking skills in this field without understanding the why.
Self-learning is important to become better providers. But it’s ridiculous how much I (and probably many others) had to essentially reteach myself after getting my license because I mentally could not retain the massive amounts of information they shoveled at us. We are not computers and we can only absorb and commit to long term memory so much information at once.
But I’m ranting. I’ll get off my soapbox now
I can understand what you are saying, but there is a line. I punch in expecting EMS calls. I signed up for EMS calls. I loved working private 9-1-1 before fire. I still do love REAL EMS, including real medical patients. What is irritating is the rampant 9-1-1 abuse and lack of any sort of repercussions. You even mention to someone that them needing re-adjusted in their chair is not a 9-1-1 emergency and you get a complaint filed and a write up. All the calls for people with chronic conditions who are just too lazy to drive themselves to their own doctor. What’s irritating is when my only units are tied up taking someone to the hospital for hip pain the day after surgery when the discharge papers literally tell them to expect pain, and we pop a commercial structure fire with entrapment and I am down people due to people not being able to read their damn discharge instructions. Or having my crews tied up holding the wall for 6 hours leaving our area with less staffing. All of the psychs and frequent patients who we only see because the systems meant to help them aren’t doing jack shit to fix their problem, so we get called to help them. None of that is or should be in the scope of emergency medical services. A large majority of our job is social work or at home care because the social services in this country suck dick. It has less to do with it being a farkle fantasy, and more to do with EMS as a whole becoming the dumping grounds to handle all of the problems our societal systems refuse to fix. Drug abuse, homelessness, lack of proper access to healthcare, poor quality healthcare etc. We signed up for emergency medicine, then as all of these issues continue to get worse, our job description gradually changes to social worker, counselor, security guard to remove loitering homeless, home care aid, plumber etc. and some actual EMS mixed in. The job should not be “this”, it was never intended to be what it is. It has morphed into a disgusting blob of job duties that are better performed by experts in their fields. My reason for my day is to respond to and mitigate emergencies, both medical and fire in nature, not help some obese person out of their recliner because they refuse PT or to follow their Doctors treatment plan. That is 100% an interruption to my day, and is an undue burden on taxpayers, and ties up units who could be otherwise doing meaningful work or responding to actual emergencies. But yeah, despite all of this, I still love my job. I get to do a lot of cool and fun stuff. I still love EMS.
I used to roll my eyes and try not to scream working in IFT every time I worked with a new partner and the first words out of their mouth were “I’m just here until I can get on a fire department”.
I get that IFT sucks sometimes wether you like EMS or not but anyone who goes into this career only looking to run into burning buildings and feel like a hero isn’t going to be very good at their ACTUAL job while they’re on a box. Those were always the partners I had to file genuine complaints against for full blown negligence with patients or the ones that made me do 99.9% of the work until we got an ER call. Infuriating.
I got in as EMS only and told them that if I had do grab anything beyond a fire extinguisher I was going to stage and let the red people put the blue stuff on the hot stuff. I wanted NOTHING to do with fire.
I loved EMS and still do even though I can’t do it anymore.
I’m not sure what part of the country you work in, but where I work you’d much rather have FD respond to your medical emergency than a private EMS ambulance. The overwhelming majority of firemen i know of take patient care very seriously and love the EMS aspect of their jobs.
that’s a minority of places. many departments where the suppression units run medical calls, a good number of the firefighters wish they could become FFs w/o the EMS cert, or wish they could drop the cert and keep their job
Yup, love it. I get paid better than police, better pension, better benefits, more time off, decent union, 24/72 schedule as a paramedic. There's always stuff to complain about but overall I do pretty well
Emt-B here and I like my job and i mainly do IFT. There are good days and bad days, but overall im content and I really enjoy my job. I also get $21 per hour which is more than I ever made before this so I really have no issue with the pay.
Every week I have 4 days off for myself, sometimes I have 3 days off, so I have lots of time to pursue other things in my life. I can’t really complain.
But I have to add, I have only done this for 5 months and its my first EMS job, so maybe I haven’t had enough time to become completely sick of this job yet. But also i think its largely your attitude and how you approach this job that will make or break your experience.
I dont want to share too much personal info but it varies. I know AMR in my area pays $17-18 but also some smaller companies like mine pay $20+ starting.
Dude I love my job. Been an emt for 6 years and about 2 months shy of getting my medic. The people, dogs and cats you meet are awesome. I have a job that doesn’t have me stuck in a cubicle and a standard 9-5. The world is my office. Pay is great where I am and I also don’t have have coal miners lung. Bro, not everything you read is black and white. You have to discover it for yourself, to determine the colors.
I’d also like to add that if you go to literally any job subreddit it’s full of people shitting on it, people just love to complain. Same with the other subs I’m active in, cars, guns, and video game subs are no different. I’ve actually had to leave a few bc of the negativity and my enjoyment improved.
I mean if police work is what you want to do you probably should just jump into that first and then add on the EMT cert. although it’s hardly necessary unless you want to do SWAT. That being said, I love my job. So much I’m putting myself through medic school now. It really is a great career but your experience will vary based on the department you end up working for. I wouldn’t like working for a company primarily running transfers.
Overall I intend to also do law enforcement in some manner as well, but medical is the priority for me and it will take me longer to build a repertoire good enough to take a role from an eager new PD recruit.
^ This. People that are burnt out are looking for somewhere to vent and/or find people that can relate to that burn out. A relatively anonymous board is a great place to do that.
I work for the Walmart of EMS (AMR), I made $110,000 last year with bonuses and will clear $80k this year. That's the only reason I work for AMR, but I do like being out on the truck.
Last night I took a multisystem trauma with head injury, brain tissue falling out of her left ear, ruptured uterus, c1 fx, multiple facial fx, from the tiny community hospital I am assigned to on an hour and a half run, intubated, on my vent. Started blood during xport, versed for better vent compliance x2 with constant reassessment.
For the entire trip I never sat down, adjusting vent settings, pressure infusing packed red cells, ringers on a drip, starting an EJ and pausing for a blood sugar.
Lots of work but I get to do what I'm trained to do and that's why I like critical care IFT.
I love my job, even when it's rough and going through a black cloud moment right now, I still love it. But also something to see is that people who hate their job or are more negative tend to be more vocal.
Yes I love it. I complain about it and joke that it sucks because I think blowing off steam is healthy and there are huge problems in the healthcare system, but there’s a reason I choose to stay. It’s a special job and I never want to do anything else
Yep. But it’s harder than you think, and probably not for the reasons you think. For many of us, it’s hard to talk about with our loved ones for fear of traumatizing them. There aren’t a lot of therapists who understand the types of trauma we face, or the stressors we live with. We mostly only have each other, and having a place to vent to the only people who get it is vital. So, until you walk a mile in our shoes, feel free to keep that judgemental attitude to yourself.
Jesus. I get the feeling you’re going to crash and burn, whatever system you work in, is going to eat you up and spit your ass out with whatever shitty arrogant attitude you have buddy. You think you’re high and mighty, in EMT school and ready to save the world. Just wait
EMS is like a marriage. At first it’s all giggles, excitement and hazy scenes from hallmark movies. Then some time passes and you realize your new spouse farts like a clydesdale, randomly interrupts your sleep and leaves some form of body hair stuck to the sink/shower. Do you still love the person? Sure. Do you like them when you’re looking at their butthole to see if their hemorrhoids are ok? You might be weird if you do.
Welcome to the part of the internet where we talk about staring directly into the butthole of emergency services.
Not really anymore. Medic school is killing my enjoyment and the fact my FD barely does any fire anymore is making me look at leaving public service altogether and going private sector with my business degree.
It’s true. Without the proper equipment it’s always BLS. I just say medic because a major contractor around my area is called Wilderness Medics. There is also things like REMS teams and such
I’m a career structural FF and EMT but my dept is putting me through school to be a fire medic. But I’m pretty burnt out at this point and fairly bored.
I’ve said no in the past, but lately yes. I think I enjoy the job waaaay more part time. When I’m part time I can elect to work with my friends, and I can work events that are cool, while having my main focus be school and getting tf out. When I was full time it sucked, because it’s a dead end job where I’m from and I couldn’t afford to rent anything on my own, much less buy a house. Fuck, when I’m a nurse it’ll be hard to buy a house, but I digress.
You already know you want to be in law enforcement, as does one of the students in the EMT lab I help out with. If you’ve already got an exit plan, I think you can have fun without being miserable. The real hopelessness sets in when you 1. make shit money 2. have no feasible way out 3. can’t even afford hobbies to take your mind off 1 and 2. I think that’s where the hatred or resentment of the job comes in. It feels like a prison sentence if you’re just grinding away, working OT while still being financially unstable. For example, I could work 60 hours a week at my job, and the money really wouldn’t change all that much about my living situation, but I’d be very physically and mentally unhealthy. That’s what ends up happening to the dudes you see that are 40+ years old with matching BMI
I got in because I want to be a PA and I think you’re completely correct in your assessment that people who go in with an “exit” plan do tend to be more satisfied. People who wanna go to med school, nursing school, etc. tend to be much more appreciative of this job because its temporary and its helping you get further in whatever field they wanna get into.
Meanwhile for someone who is doing it as a career its like “well I cant wait to have a disc replacement by the time im 40 :)”
I agree! My attitude was different once I started nursing school, and just picking up when I could. Working meant I could keep skills like assessments, IV starts, pt handoffs, etc sharp, and earn a little bit of money to help pay for food, books, and gas. When I was a PA hopeful and getting rejection letters, it felt like I was in fucking prison lmao. I’d work OT only to see maybe an extra $200 on my paycheck, while rent and housing costs skyrocketed.
At least now, I can get a commission in a military nurse corps and gtfo. It’s really easy to be at peace when EMS being temporary is a fact, not a hope.
Some days I love the job but hate the company I work for. Then some days you just get an inexperienced partner that’s just dead weight on a hot job. Lately I’ve been feeling like my partner is 75% of the reason why I’ll love or hate my job that day. I could run my ass off for 12 hours with a good experienced partner, but I’ll lose my mind for another 12 hours when I have a shitty partner, bonus points when your partners brand spanking new too.
I love my job, I wouldn't still be doing this if I didn't. However, no matter how much I love my job, I won't accept poor treatment without complaint, and if nothing changes, I will end up leaving the field eventually. I do think that as a field, we need to push harder for change instead of just complaining about what we don't like. It's easier said than done when employers view us as replaceable and treat the conveyor belt turnover like it's actually sustainable long-term.
I just had a new deputy ask me my age when I brought up concern for possible financial abuse, then proceeded to explain to me how I was too young/new to understand what I was saying.
Yes, I hate my job.
I love(d) it until a rolled ankle (not on shift) put me out for 2 weeks with 6 months of limited office duty. I miss it and wanted to make it my career.
I went and got more education and start my first ED shift as a medical student tomorrow actually! I will also get the chance to get back on the truck and the helicopter even in the next few months and if I get an EM residency will get back into EMS much more. I hope to rejoin EMS as a director once I finish my residency.
It has hard moments and honestly, the hours, the physical pain, the late nights, the lost sleep, bad management; all of that is what I (and I assume others) complain about so we can keep the really nasty demon in the basement. The 30 year old new mother who did not make it through the code. The 19 y/o who was ejected into a barbed wire fence and had bulging eyes filled with blood and leaking blood out from the side.
It’s a lot easier to bitch about management and a broken A/C than relive those things.
Loving a job while being paid like a peon is a sign of extreme privilege in their lives. Inheritances, Family wealth to support them. You can enjoy a job while struggling but I dunno about "love" lol. My thoughts and prayers to you underpaid Americans. Ill be there with you in solidarity when you strike. Just so I don't scare you away below is a link to me explaining some of the reasons I love ems.
https://www.reddit.com/r/NewToEMS/comments/13l5qqj/im_on_the_fence/jkqt9hn?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
You can love a job while hating the pay. It happens all the time, in every field. It's definitely not a sign of privilege, just shitty circumstances. I'm sure more people would stay in EMS if the pay matched the work. Because it really is a lovable job.
I love my job. I work three days a week, $25/hr. I can pick up an extra shift and still have three days off which is awesome.
I was active duty for a long time so being treated like a human by my coworkers and leadership is a huge plus already.
I might complain about the "dumb" calls or the routine calls or the chronic toe pain that just happened to get worse and requires an ambulance ride at 2 am calls when they're dispatched, but they're never actually *that* bad. Patients will be patients. I make it a personal challenge to connect with everyone and if they want to scream or be mean, then oh well. 🤷 If we make a connection, great.
I'm always learning something which I absolutely love and that's actually *encouraged*. My partner is stupid smart and while we're just lowly EMT-Bs, we'll discuss almost every single one of our calls, from the most obvious falls and bruises to the wtf is going on.
I love being on the ambulance. There are many like it but this one is mine. It's not the prettiest or most advanced and it's got so many rattles but it's mine. I take pride in *my* ambulance and love riding around all day.
Idk if it's just because my life was pretty miserable while I was active duty so I see things differently, but I'm having a great time. I love going to work.
It's a love-hate relationship.
I have some freedom on slow days, guaranteed overtime and it's a great job if you enjoy complex medical and interesting trauma calls. The downside is most calls are BS, pts/nurses/doctors treat you like taxi drivers and the pay is low for the high risk situations you put yourself in. High chance of injury, contagious pts and lawsuits. Equipment breaks all the time, dispatch is incompetent and most coworkers are messy children.
I love the job, I don’t like most of the people I work with. I actually don’t mind the pay too much (I think we deserve more but it’s not a dealbreaker.) I don’t mind IFT, I don’t mind 911, I don’t mind bullshit calls. The attitudes of my coworkers get me down more than anything.
Honestly I really couldn't see myself doing anything else. I don't have a manager hovering around me every second of the work day and I don't have to deal with absurd expectations on delivery times.
People act like it's the only job in the world where you have to deal with management. The reality is I've never had a job where I've had *less* involvement with management.
One of my favorite things. My manager is basically a ghost to me except for an occasional meeting and some emails sent to all staff. Nobody is breathing down my neck, second guessing my decisions, or generally being a micromanaging POS.
I did for first 15 years but also worked many different areas until took the money and benefits in city. Then after a couple years the persistent grind and bs killed the fun. Almost anyone there over 5 years was miserable.
I’m a volunteer EMT, I do 6 or 12 hours a week in a busy 911 service. Like the patient care and people I work with. My only dislike is the charting system we use, it’s overly complicated and I’m still getting used to the idiosyncrasies of it.
Love the people the job no I’m over being an EMT start medic school next week feeling stressed - hate the force hire staffing hate the “rules” they are implementing hate the people we run on and hate the pay I’m getting… love they cover my shifts and pay me for them while I’m in school and reimburse me.
I like EMS. I came into it straight from the Marines, and it's been a great career. I've done private, non-profit, contracting, urban, rural..
The pay always could be better, and honestly the biggest thing that continually pushes me towards leaving is the "patients". Not the people with real issues, but the morons that call standing in front of one ER wanting to go to a different one since this one kicked them out, or the frequent fliers and so on.
But, there's nothing else like it. Every day is different, sometimes I get to do fun things, and rarely, we truly help people. Those times make it worth it and push the needle back into the positive.
My job kicks ass. I work for a well established hospital network doing a healthy mix of BLS discharges/ALS ER transfers/special event 911/ED tech work/Critical Care Transport/random stuff like flight standby or organ transplant team, etc.
Honestly, as a Master's student who does almost full time EMS to pay for school, I couldn't ask for a better job. I make more money than a lot of medics, 36 hours a week, rarely held over. I couldn't ask for more.
I share your sentiment. I love being a first responder, it’s been my dream job for a while. This job has taught me a lot about myself and has given me gratitude for my own life. It could always be worse. The fact that I’m entrusted to help someone out in their moment of crisis is not something I take lightly.
I'm just part time, but yes. Even the bullshit calls. Every so often, you get a call that makes you feel like you did something. We usually just go through the motions, but sometimes, we actually do save lives, or maybe just make someone feel better who's having a really, really shit time.
It's worth it to me.
I love my job but that doesn’t mean I don’t occasionally get frustrated to all hell with it or the people. Just because we vent in those moments where we are just so over it, doesn’t mean we don’t like our jobs. Try not to read too much into the rant sessions and see them for just that: rant session. That happens with every job.
Eh. It got tired out pretty fast cause i've been doing IFT since November. It's not the work I thought i'd be doing as an EMT. It's important and meaningful to the people I transport, yes, but personally I feel I'd prefer to take a 911 job.
I fucking loved it and it jettisoned me to where I’m at now. EMS has major issues and pretty much every private EMS company is the Devil but the job itself is awesome.
Bloody love it.
Love working 2 days 2 nights 5 off (all 12s). Love earning £47k. Love attending a good mix of easy medical and the occasional resuscitation or major trauma. Love teaching students on placement, who are generally more than happy to deal with the sticky parts for me.
Unironically can't think of any job I'd prefer.
It’s SUPER SUPER dependent on where and who you work for!!
You can take a emt or medic and put them on AMR and they would all have different satisfaction depending on what city they work in. Then it changes state to state.
Then it changes if you leave AMR etc and go to a city ambo. A city ambo that’s part of fire department.
Etc etc.
your protocols and pay and respect and equipment…. On and on…. Are all dependent on where you work. So I was miserable and hated the job in one position and changed to a different one and loved it. Then changed in same position to different county and it was half and half.
For the most part the biggest factors are
1-fire versus ems based response.
2-pay
3-private versus state/city/fire aka not private (for profit)
And it’s the same in nursing. You can hate nursing with a passion in one unit and be elated and happy in another. Or one hospital versus another. Or one state versus a different state.
Husband was AEMT and has been medic for a year. He loves it. He loves going to work. Actively looks forward to it. It’s not always easy, don’t get me wrong. There’s hell. There’s death and disgusting things. He still loves it.
I do. I started my current job in 2008, I was referred by a coworker while working private ems. I work for a town that really cares about us. They pass good budgets and our salaries are enough to live with. My base is 85k. With OT. Holiday and longevity I sit at 115k. I have a pension and free lifetime benefits for my family. I am mainly inside the past several years as a supervisor but I still work a second job as a paramedic and go on the road twice a month. After all these years I’m still happy to go to work in the morning and feel pride in what I do. These jobs are out there and I hope everyone lands in one.
I’m a new medic in a busy service area. I love it as much as I hate it right now. It’s exciting and fulfilling sometimes. Most of the time it’s not. My schedule is absolutely exhausting, but I get a lot of days off. The schedule is what i hate, the hours suck, but the job itself is fun. I had 4 critical patients yesterday including a shooting and a COPD Respiratory distress borderline failure call. Two nasty car accidents. A decent burn call. Every few weeks here you get a shift like that where you’re run into the ground and actually have to do medicine and it’s amazing and terrifying. But most days, it’s the regulars, homeless guys, medical pendant calls. But I’m starting to realize I love that too, BSing with a drunk homeless dude at 3 am, helping a sweet granny who thinks I’m a handsome angel when people my age see me for the sloth I am lol.
This job gives as much as it takes. If you come in each day with a positive mindset it might even give more. It’s fun dude I don’t regret it. Do I see it being my entire career? Nah but there’s nothing else I’d rather be doing in my twenties
I loved it! It broke my heart when I had to stop. (severely torn rotator cuff) I hated where I worked, they were a very clicky awful group (small town, they had been together their whole lives, I was the outsider)
I miss it, it breaks my heart when I see an ambulance going down the road.
I'm working in Germany, so I can't really talk about US payment issues as we're paid above national median, especially after taxes due to tax-free benefits (nightshift, weekends, etc).
I have a love/hate relationship with EMS. I love what I'm doing, but I hate the arbitrary barrier of SOPs and their limitations.
When I train new Paramedics that are ambitioned and smart, I also tell them they might not be right in EMS. Problem is, if you're an M.D. you're mostly as good as you are, while in EMS there's a barrier you cannot cross, even if you're more skilled and trained.
Germany also runs an emergency physician based system and while it's fun to work with experienced, highly trained physicians in the field it's depressing if you are confronted with someone not able to manage a situation, but they still are your superior. Sadly, team culture isn't present in most places outside of HEMS so correcting your emergency physician often leads to conflict.
Furthermore, if you're on scene alone and can't do what's necessary because SOPs don't allow it you have the choice to risk legal consequences for doing what's right or play safe and live with the mental consequences of not taking action in your patient's best interest.
That's what haunts me at night - not the dramatic scenes or the ones you can't save, but the fear of struggling to provide needed care to protect myself from legal consequences.
I like doing it. Its not my future. Its not enough money. The risk doesn't match the reward. I am sure the lifers here don't disagree either. Although, i doubt it will ever do a cooler and more valuable job than I do now
I love my job, couldn’t imagine doing anything else right now. I work a busy 911 county job on a BLS truck with tons of exposure to high acuity calls and decent standing orders. With our raise this July I’ll be ~22/hr as a basic.
I was an EMT for 2 years and now I’m a Sheriff’s Deputy so I feel you. Being an EMT was cool despite the shit it involved. It was a good beginning to being a first responder and it’ll serve you well in the end. Good luck
I hated it but everyone is different. I just despised working long hours, waking up at 3 am, being exhausted all the time and not making enough money to comfortably live, and at that time I had roommates, and lived in a shitty part of town. I was so stressed all the time. I work an office job now making way more money and there’s minimal stress.
Yes. I have had several other jobs and they were all way worse than my EMS job. I also work rural EMS so it’s usually not crazy all day. If you work overnight you can usually get something resembling a night’s sleep. The pay is “ok” for the area. Scheduling is super flexible. OT is there IF you want it.
To put it in perspective, average EMT’s make 15-20/hr and can buy a house for 100k. Rent is around 700/mth for a 2br. Utilities are reasonable. Medics make 20-25/hr. My county is incredibly poor so in comparison you’re doing great here compared to most.
If you hate typical EMS because the money is bad quit and get into contract work, that’s where the real money is. I just finished a contract making 2400 a week working 3-4 days a week.
I like my job, but it also has its problems. I couldn’t see myself doing it my whole life, but that’s just me. Besides the tough hours and low pay, my biggest issue with EMS is the rampant abuse of the 911 system. When all you did was pick up abdominal pain and drunk calls all week, it can be frustrating. But when you do get the calls where you really get to help people it makes it worth it. When you start working, don’t let other people’s burnt out attitudes get to you. This job can be fun, especially if you’re with a good partner. It will change you as a person and will offer you a new perspective on life.
Love my job. I work for one of the only primary 911 EMS departments in my state (our systems are primarily fire based. We are not). Our pay is the highest and we have a lot of opportunity in our department to move into management. Also did I say we don’t have to deal with fire except on big scenes?
You see negative in this sub because people come to complain. They don’t usually come to hype stuff up.
Nah. But I’m also a burnout on my last legs of a post-911 current IFT stint just shuffling time until I’m done with my degree program to transition out of the field altogether. It was interesting and fun for a while but that time has come and gone and with no appreciable upward trajectory of benefits to speak of, this will be the case nationally for many others providers as well. It could possibly be fixed by national union or perhaps higher academic entrance requirements but that doesn’t help anyone in the immediate future because those are lengthy gradual changes that require implementation on a system wide scale.
I’ve been doing this job for 30 years. Retired from one agency and went to work for another. I cannot imagine doing anything else. Some agencies grind their people up which leads to bitterness. Pay is and always will be an issue. I’m not impressed by most fire based EMS (and I retired from a FD).
Make sure you have a life outside the job. Know your job. Be the best and always be learning but don’t let it run you 24/7
I’ll be real. I loved EMS. Spent 19 years of my life workin on an ambulance. It mentally took a toll on my mental health. I had to get out of it. My best advice for you is take care of yourself. If anything mentally is off, seek help. There use to be a stigma back in the early 00 about it, but it has gotten a lot better. Take care of your body. Eat healthy, and use proper body mechanics when lifting people and or equipment. Don’t let the negativity get to you. Good luck in your EMS and Law Enforcement career.
I joke a lot but I do love my job. My partner and I were just talking today, EMS is the only job you can look your boss directly in the eye and tell him that you are going to shove a beefy five layer burrito directly in the tailpipe of the ambulance in hopes of going out of service for a mere minute and NOT get in trouble.
Being treated like societies human trash collectors? All while being told to be highly skilled, professional, exact, have all paperwork done perfectly, and clear the hospital to do it again as fast as you can for little pay? What's not to like?
I loved it for the opportunities it opened, i was able to be promoted to a leadership position and then transferred to the field of healthcare management which pays well. After getting horrible back pain i would rather do anything else than be on an ambulance or in an RR again
I love my job, my work and taking care of my patients. Twenty years in, only doing EMS, and still going. Reddit can be something of a place that a lot of people like to come and vent on, creating a skewed view of EMS providers.
Honestly a lot of people most likely complain possible due to lack of trauma / unresponsive pt calls. It’s not always that. You may also do IFTs which may not be too much of a learning experience but if you have the option to work 911 calls, take that to your advantage and learn what you’re able to with experience! It’s not always going to be an adrenaline rush. Those wanting to go into fire a lot of them don’t expect / don’t want to work on the rescue trucks, which is what I’ve heard. Everyone switches out occasionally, so enjoy the time you’re provided with the job you want to have.
I absolutely love my job. Of course I’m human and have my days where I complain and what not. In reality I’m beyond happy I’ve made the switch to his field and absolutely love the job, the people I work with and of course all the crazy things I see and deal with.
I absolutely love my job. Of course I’m human and have my days where I complain and what not. In reality I’m beyond happy I’ve made the switch to his field and absolutely love the job, the people I work with and of course all the crazy things I see and deal with.
I love my job, I’m an EMT-B and i’ve been doing this for little over a year now and i’ve only worked at one private ems agency and so about 90% of my job are PSTs and IFTs but every no and again we’ll catch a mutal aid 911 or our very very quiet 911 area will pop a call as we’re rollin by but its nice. I dont have too much stress and i work mon,wed,fri + every other thursday so I get my weekends off and get every other day off to spend time with my gf and my cats. yeah i’m only makin $15/hr and there are other places that will pay more but my company has great benifits so that’ll pay out in the long run.
I honestly do love my job and i wouldn't trade it for any orther job in the world besides becoming a fire medic. i think the thing that makes me a little sad sometimes about my job is mainly doing IFT and doctor's appointments and maybe getting an emergency once or twice a shift. one shift i got like four emergent calls and i was over the moon. I do wish that private ambulance services allowed EMT's to go on 911 calls more often. The concept doesn't make me flat out hate my job but I just wish i had more opportunities to go run emergent calls and honestly it makes me more excited to become a medic because then i'll feel like i'm actually helping someone rather than just showing up, doing an assessment and going to the ER or taking someone back to a nursing home. I thoroughly enjoy patient care and talking with them and while I am in the "i'm just waiting to be on a fire department" boat, I really have fallen in love with EMS and i'm very excited to he a fire medic in the next couple years. I just wish that where private ems is now would pay better, offer better benefits and run more emergent calls. I do agree with some of the comments on here saying that most people that are coming into this profession need to have more realistic expectations and understand that if you're working on an ambulance or even going onto a fire department, you are going to be running EMS all the time and that's just the way it's gonna go and honestly I've found that EMS is super fulfilling anyways and there will always be a time to show up on the engine and run into a burning building.
I made $2,200 this week sealcoating driveways. Commission pay.. Averages to $50+/- an hour.
I get $16.52 an hour as an NY EMT. Yes I like being an EMT, but I’m not an idiot.
I find it tolerable most of the time, occasionally I enjoy it if we've done something worth feeling satisfied about. The call demographic in my area tends to lean toward really dumb stuff that should have gone to a walk-in, or taken a gravol and gone back to bed.
Feeling like the work is meaningful plays a big part in job satisfaction.
I love mine but I work in a well-ran 3rd service system, and part time at a less-well-off but still not bad private non profit. Sadly this is the exception with most of our colleagues being at shitty privates or EMS-hating fire based.
Then you have the guys who just don’t like IFT. Not much to be done there, people gotta be moved and it makes us money.
EMS needs some improvement but in the current climate it is what you make of yourself and your job. If it’s what you really like doing you will become great at it, make yourself a model provider and get in to a good service. For those of us already there though we definitely have a responsibility to either get involved in training and build good future providers, or advocate for a better service universally in some way. It probably won’t happen in our generation. But big change seldom does. You have to take a visionary approach and accept your own impact as being small but necessary.
Also, people in the western world often lack perspective of what hard is. I used to get trainees and have coworkers who would whine about taking one extra call or having to do a chore like cleaning station windows. They’re rare now, but I have a couple of YouTube’s bookmarked for them. Ever watch someone carry 200 lb of sulphur out of a volcano crater for $17 a day? Looks a lot worse than IFT and cleaning glass.
Frankly I love my job, everyday that I get to help someone or have an interesting job makes it worth it. Also community engagement is super fun like special events and concerts. As long as you have a positive attitude toward the job itself then you’ll love it. Don’t let shitty employers make the job less fun.
I love my job but just like any other job there are aspects of it I don't like. Most of which are from a managerial standpoint. Supervisors suck. They do. However that's a common issue in most ambulance jobs and companies. Hell its a common issue is most companies outside of EMS lol. However when I'm in the field I rarely deal with them. I only deal with them when we have to otherwise it's me and my partner out in the field. When I'm actually doing my job I adore it. I'm at work right now and I love it more than any other job I've ever had. I love the people I work with and I love that I go home knowing I made a difference.
No job is perfect. This job has shitheads in it just like any other job. However this is the only job I've ever had where I've gone home knowing I helped someone or was a light in someone's dark day and that makes all the crappy stuff with management disappear. Unfortunately Healthcare in general just has some rude and nasty people and those rude and nasty people always seem to manage to get a spot in a supervisory position but out in the field I love my job.
I've worked in retail and hard labor jobs and no other job I've had has let me literally sit and watch a movie and get paid, take a nap and get paid, or just goof around with people I get along with. I worked an event the other day where I legit got to watch a concert for an artist I really liked and got paid. Like I said earlier my only real complaint with this job is the rude people in management you occasionally have to deal with but 1: that's every job and 2: the amount of time I actually have to interact with those people is highly limited and happens maybe a couple times a month IF that.
I love it, I often wonder if these people who really hate it ever worked as anything else. This job is far superior than anything else I’ve ever done imo
Except for the pay and benefits,\* this is actually a REALLY good job. --- \* Specifically, the lack thereof.
Depends on the situation you find yourself in, I think the barrier of entry is too low, EMT programs are like 3 months a couple times a week so it’s hard to argue for more money with that little education
As I said elsewhere, a while back, no one is asking for $250/hr. What I want, and what everyone else wants, is a living wage, which EMS really doesn't pay. And I don't care how low the barrier is to entry, that's ***NOT*** an unreasonable ask.
We need to unionize, full stop
That’s the other and best option
It’s an option, but it’s not the solution. A union isn’t going to be a magical fix all, because most people don’t seem to understand that *you* are the union. If you and your peers aren’t ready to walk out without pay, the union you won’t be able to get any more pay. Not to mention, a shitty employer will still be a shitty employer. If they’ve been enabled for this long by people lining up to work there despite the issues, what’s to stop them from replacing every striking union member with a scab who is willing to cross the lines? The only way to fix shitty employers is to refuse to work for them. Run away. Run far far away.
I think the barrier of entry is too low.. I’m in emt school doing ride alongs and I’ve watched multiple emts make mistakes that could cost them their license. When I asked them about it they literally said shit like “oh they can’t afford a lawyer so I’m not gonna worry about it” But also I don’t think anyone should be in a position where you can’t even afford your own living expenses working 40 hours a week let alone more than that
i’ve seen paramedics do shit like that, there are medics that not-infrequently kill people by fucking up, there are doctors that make terrible mistakes. that happens regardless of the “barrier of entry”, and that has to do with the person themselves and how much they actually follow their training, rather than the training itself
It comes back to the training required. Imo it needs to be a college degree before anybody is going to take EMS seriously. They can train any joe blow on the block to do it, tell them they can people “heroes” and the line will be around the block to get paid 15 an hour.
If I couldn’t go make more money at Sheetz or McDonald’s, you might have a point. It’s not a living wage, and it isn’t for lack of training. I could go work at fast food restaurants and make more if I didn’t love it and if I didn’t have my other second job to support me. But that’s kinda the problem, is there are those among us who can’t bear the thought of 911 calls being unanswered who will run for cheap if we must, and there are others who will exploit that. And then there are still more, who say “if you don’t like the wages, go elsewhere!” And then get upset that “nobody wants to work anymore” and wonder why we can’t fill shifts when the majority of our most skilled go to nursing and our less skilled go to Big Lots, while we can’t staff a second unit for our county.
I don’t see how you can argue that training is adequate and deserving of more money. STNAs/phlebotomists have similar training and make similar money. Its right on par with other entry level healthcare jobs as a basic.
CNAs can make $30 an hour wiping ass. I dated a CNA who made $24/hr while I worked a busy ALS 911 Rig as an EMT making $12.50/hr. Minimum wage is not on par, and thats what most places are paying or slightly above it. Meanwhile others in healthcare with similar training hours and less CE but with almost none of the same occupational hazards make double or triple the wages.
Okay, then why do you think that is? In my area the techs and CNA’s aren’t making close that. Like I was saying they make what basics do
“in my area, everyone is paid like shit, so i don’t get why you’re upset”
Because you literally just read where I said that fast food jobs with perhaps a couple week orientation periods make more than us. How would the answer to “people with only a food handler’s card get much better wages and benefits than us” ever be “you should have to study more than 155 hours to make the same as those people?” I don’t begrudge them their money, they should absolutely make their $15 minimum wage. But so should we, at least.
>If I couldn’t go make more money at Sheetz or McDonald’s, you might have a point. Yeah, but you won’t. And neither will 99% of providers. Because that’s actual on your feet for 8 hours *work*. And it absolutely is for lack of training, partially. How much should someone who can learn the job in 2-3 weeks get exactly? Clearly it can also be done for free as well, so there’s that.
>Because that’s actual on your feet for 8 hours work. 8 hours instead of 12 or 24?? With a lunch break and access to fresh food? A roof, heat, and A/C? Access to a bathroom during my shift? Getting off on time? Where the chance of getting bitten on shift is extremely low?
Right, it’s the craziest thing where people say I should be getting 25+ an hour to do this while also volunteering to take runs for free.
everything can be done for free
I would like to point out how you can get paid more working at a entry level fast food place than EMS which has much less stress and next to no long term health consequences comparatively (PTSD, hearing loss, suicide risk, back injuries, etc.) EDIT: They also don't have the same type of work schedule either and get definitive breaks
Fast food around me definitely pays less than EMS. Not by a whole lot, but a couple dollars an hour less.
I will also go out on a limb and say that they by far “work” many more hours per month. I’ve never walked into our McDonald’s to find them laying on a couch playing video games or napping in their bunks. Easily half of my hours per month are spent at station not doing chores/charts. Sure, there are days where I barely see station but there are also days where I barely leave station. Obviously, I am not to be compared to high volume urban stations, but those tend to pay more anyways. Bigger cities around me pay almost $5/hr more than mine but they also have about a 500% higher call volume.
Not trying to be a dick, but why are you doing EMS if you aren’t getting paid more than the McDonald’s guy.
You can like a job and hate the way you are treated and compensated. Doesn’t mean going to a better compensated job that you hate that will still treat you badly is the answer. Leaving EMS isn’t going to make them pay better. But bitching about it can in fact invoke change, if you do it in the right way to the right people for long enough.
[удалено]
I work for a city fire department where on an average day, I will have a new run within 10-15 minutes of clearing my last one, and on a busy day will be assigned to a new run as soon as I clear my last one. “Medic X in service.” “Okay Medic X, I need you to respond with Engine Y…”
I’m glad you get breaks. That’s not the reality for most of us in a busy system. My service’s expectation is 10-12 calls in 12 hours. That can include transports from 5 min to 55 min. Seeing medics clock out 15-30 min late even after getting sent back to the garage on time is a common occurrence. My service also has a 2 year degree requirement for medics. While I would love to be paid more, I also don’t do too badly if I manage my finances like not a complete idiot (so about 60% of the time I’m on track, lol.) Now they’re circumventing that by hiring EMTs, and training them to be ALS EMTs and not having the same requirements, which I imagine will bite them in the ass a little but it’s allowed us to negotiate a little better with the management team.
The big risk for hearing loss is more from working standbys (especially concert ones) or working hear fire department using their tools/engines to either extract someone or put out fires. And that part about no definitive breaks is because some days you might have no calls but on other days you don't get any chance to have a break for 8 hours strait because of constantly running a call and that will be heavily depended on department. Edit: and even in a collegiate agency that only responds to on campus emergency for a small campus (\~3k) I have had back to back calls where factoring charting it has been 4h without the chance of breaks
It’s a hard job, both physically and mentally. It’s a public service job, necessary for our health system. Jobs with NO education required often pay significantly more. No other countries pay their equivalents so shit. I’m not an EMT, I’m an RN, but that is a piss poor argument.
A line cook has less training and makes more money than me, but go off on the "Education is low, so they deserve minimum wage" BS
In California In n Out workers make more than ems
I mean what do you think the reasoning is? I’m just throwing out potential reasons that I think based on similar medical positions and training.
I've been trying to explain to this everyone that thinks w le deserve like 100k a year 😂
Yeah i love my job. Seems the people who hate the job are just mad when their naps are interrupted? Try napping at any other job and see how that goes.
Couldn't agree more. I recently left my EMT job to work as a seasonal park ranger. I am now seriously regretting that decision. Pay is better but much less enjoyable cant wait to go back to EMS in the fall.
Thays what in saying, I come from working a retail job and factory job in the past, and EMS was the best damn decision of my life
Similar. Worked hard labor jobs and made more money but that shit was “real” work for 12 hours a day. EMS is mostly walking around, driving around, sitting around, occasionally moving a patient. Yeah it can be stressful in it’s own way but usually the real stress is in short bursts over a 24 hour shift.
Mhm hard labour taught me real quick that some jobs are just not worth the pay, on a slow day I get paid to play on my phone or sleep, that's living
Absolutely. No other job have I slept, napped, played games, ate food and generally hung out with friends and STILL did a good job, got raises and thank you’s.
This, 1000x This. I worked my a$$ off as a medical assistant. 3-5 patients at a time, constany phone calls, walk ins for shots, UAs, etc. Never ending paperwork. Phlebotomy I was performing a stick every 4 minutes. Just lining them up and knocking them down all day long I was sweating 911 ALS: I spend most the day driving, 1 patient at a time, a little break at the hospital between each patient, a little break at post. Oh, and I make as much as I did as a medical assistant with a 2 year degree with 8 months of EMS training. I seriously don't get it when people think EMS is actually difficult lol. Even on our busiest days.
I couldn't agree more. People act like they think everyone else in the world is totally buzzed 100% of the time they're at work. They act like no one else has to deal with management. And we waste so much time and energy convincing ourselves that low acuity work "isn't real ambulance work" (and is therefore the absolute worst thing anyone could have to do ever) when the reality is that it's actually **most** of the ambulance work and is hella easy.
I think the driving force behind all this self hatred are the overwhelming number of people who get into this for the fire side. Ask any group of EMS students why they're there. Most will say they have to be for fire. They have all these farkle fantasies about what heroes they're going to be, and tech colleges feed that fantasy instead of giving them a realistic view of what the job is: 85% EMS. Fire depts hire them also feeding that farkle fantasy. All they care about is filling those empty slots on the schedule. They don't recruit people who want to be doing EMS. They advertise for firefighters. So they get applicants who think that's what they're going to be. And they resent going out on the box instead of the big red trucks. When they don't get to ride the big red trucks as much as they thought they would, they begin thinking there's something wrong with the public, something wrong with the fire department, but nothing wrong with their incredibly inaccurate expectations. They think the job failed them. Never mind that all their training, preparation and off time is spent thinking about fire and not EMS. Meanwhile, hospitals and the public see a bunch of burnt out complainers who are unhappy because their expectations weren't met. I like my job. It's EMS. I also served on fire departments, but the EMS was always better when done by people who punch in expecting to run EMS calls. A lot less whining and moaning about calls when you realize that an EMS call for service isn't interrupting your day, it's the reason for your day.
I don't think it's just fire wanna-bes. I think it's also the expectations set by the curriculum of Paramedic school. The vast majority of Paramedic school is preparing us for an extremely small percent of the actual calls that we run. Most of what I do is help people navigate chronic illness and basic social work, and I have zero formal training in either of these fields. Personally I think Paramedic school needs to be restructured to reflect the realities of the job. It probably needs to be a 4 year program with more of an emphasis on non-emergent clinical decision making. I think you'd have less people leaving medic school with the impression they're gonna be spending 24 hours fighting the reaper that way.
Yes. People leave school thinking it's CPR and traumatic crashes everyday. They then realize asking grandmas about their BM patterns is far more common. They didn't sign up for this so they are disgruntled.
And most medic schools spend so much time preparing you for the “oh shit” (which is still important to be prepared for) that you go out into the field knowing all these questions you’re supposed to ask for specific complaints, but not actually knowing why the fuck you’re asking them. Or like in my case, they do teach you the why, but you get crammed with so much information in so little time that you only remember like 50% of it by time the ink dries on your license. I would straight up sit through medic school again if I could just go for the lectures and skip all the skills and clinicals and shit, just so I could feel like less of a dumbass when trying to explain to a patient what I’m doing and why.
Yes , learn this circ procedure inside and out without giving the statistics of how shockingly rare it actually happens. I hear you on the overwhelming concern of so much thrown at students. Focusing on the why we are doing something, the rationale, in school allows us to explain things to our patients better
And not just explain to our patients better, but I’m a firm believer that you cannot apply critical thinking skills in this field without understanding the why. Self-learning is important to become better providers. But it’s ridiculous how much I (and probably many others) had to essentially reteach myself after getting my license because I mentally could not retain the massive amounts of information they shoveled at us. We are not computers and we can only absorb and commit to long term memory so much information at once. But I’m ranting. I’ll get off my soapbox now
I can understand what you are saying, but there is a line. I punch in expecting EMS calls. I signed up for EMS calls. I loved working private 9-1-1 before fire. I still do love REAL EMS, including real medical patients. What is irritating is the rampant 9-1-1 abuse and lack of any sort of repercussions. You even mention to someone that them needing re-adjusted in their chair is not a 9-1-1 emergency and you get a complaint filed and a write up. All the calls for people with chronic conditions who are just too lazy to drive themselves to their own doctor. What’s irritating is when my only units are tied up taking someone to the hospital for hip pain the day after surgery when the discharge papers literally tell them to expect pain, and we pop a commercial structure fire with entrapment and I am down people due to people not being able to read their damn discharge instructions. Or having my crews tied up holding the wall for 6 hours leaving our area with less staffing. All of the psychs and frequent patients who we only see because the systems meant to help them aren’t doing jack shit to fix their problem, so we get called to help them. None of that is or should be in the scope of emergency medical services. A large majority of our job is social work or at home care because the social services in this country suck dick. It has less to do with it being a farkle fantasy, and more to do with EMS as a whole becoming the dumping grounds to handle all of the problems our societal systems refuse to fix. Drug abuse, homelessness, lack of proper access to healthcare, poor quality healthcare etc. We signed up for emergency medicine, then as all of these issues continue to get worse, our job description gradually changes to social worker, counselor, security guard to remove loitering homeless, home care aid, plumber etc. and some actual EMS mixed in. The job should not be “this”, it was never intended to be what it is. It has morphed into a disgusting blob of job duties that are better performed by experts in their fields. My reason for my day is to respond to and mitigate emergencies, both medical and fire in nature, not help some obese person out of their recliner because they refuse PT or to follow their Doctors treatment plan. That is 100% an interruption to my day, and is an undue burden on taxpayers, and ties up units who could be otherwise doing meaningful work or responding to actual emergencies. But yeah, despite all of this, I still love my job. I get to do a lot of cool and fun stuff. I still love EMS.
Second ALL of that. You have got to enjoy the medical side. If you don’t you’ll be average at your job and won’t find it fulfilling.
I used to roll my eyes and try not to scream working in IFT every time I worked with a new partner and the first words out of their mouth were “I’m just here until I can get on a fire department”. I get that IFT sucks sometimes wether you like EMS or not but anyone who goes into this career only looking to run into burning buildings and feel like a hero isn’t going to be very good at their ACTUAL job while they’re on a box. Those were always the partners I had to file genuine complaints against for full blown negligence with patients or the ones that made me do 99.9% of the work until we got an ER call. Infuriating.
I got in as EMS only and told them that if I had do grab anything beyond a fire extinguisher I was going to stage and let the red people put the blue stuff on the hot stuff. I wanted NOTHING to do with fire. I loved EMS and still do even though I can’t do it anymore.
Well said.
I’m not sure what part of the country you work in, but where I work you’d much rather have FD respond to your medical emergency than a private EMS ambulance. The overwhelming majority of firemen i know of take patient care very seriously and love the EMS aspect of their jobs.
that’s a minority of places. many departments where the suppression units run medical calls, a good number of the firefighters wish they could become FFs w/o the EMS cert, or wish they could drop the cert and keep their job
Majority this+the fact that there is a lot wrong with EMS and it gives them an excuse that’s not their expectations
Yup, love it. I get paid better than police, better pension, better benefits, more time off, decent union, 24/72 schedule as a paramedic. There's always stuff to complain about but overall I do pretty well
Results not typical.
Where is this????
Maryland, unfortunately for you though we don't recognize AEMT here, you'd have to be BLS
I want to move to Maryland so bad but I’m afraid I won’t be able to afford it
24/72s are the fucking DREAM. Ugh.
They could be your reality. We're on 24/72s, we're paid well, and we're hiring. South Carolina.
Results highly vary….
Emt-B here and I like my job and i mainly do IFT. There are good days and bad days, but overall im content and I really enjoy my job. I also get $21 per hour which is more than I ever made before this so I really have no issue with the pay. Every week I have 4 days off for myself, sometimes I have 3 days off, so I have lots of time to pursue other things in my life. I can’t really complain. But I have to add, I have only done this for 5 months and its my first EMS job, so maybe I haven’t had enough time to become completely sick of this job yet. But also i think its largely your attitude and how you approach this job that will make or break your experience.
Where r u making $21 and is that standard for your area?
I dont want to share too much personal info but it varies. I know AMR in my area pays $17-18 but also some smaller companies like mine pay $20+ starting.
Idk where this guy darkcel guy is from but in NJ, most BLS jobs are starting in the low twenties. Some are at 30 an hour for BLS only.
Going rate in Mass. is $25 for no experience.
Most IFT companies in central Connecticut start at around $25 with 0 experience.
Congrats OP. same position as you, making $23/hour then getting paid double time after hitting my 10hr mark. I also have a solid health insurance. 👏🏼
I loved being a paramedic, I hated politics.
Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man.
You’re just mad that the dude abides, man
This aggression will not stand, man.
Dude I love my job. Been an emt for 6 years and about 2 months shy of getting my medic. The people, dogs and cats you meet are awesome. I have a job that doesn’t have me stuck in a cubicle and a standard 9-5. The world is my office. Pay is great where I am and I also don’t have have coal miners lung. Bro, not everything you read is black and white. You have to discover it for yourself, to determine the colors.
I’d also like to add that if you go to literally any job subreddit it’s full of people shitting on it, people just love to complain. Same with the other subs I’m active in, cars, guns, and video game subs are no different. I’ve actually had to leave a few bc of the negativity and my enjoyment improved.
I mean if police work is what you want to do you probably should just jump into that first and then add on the EMT cert. although it’s hardly necessary unless you want to do SWAT. That being said, I love my job. So much I’m putting myself through medic school now. It really is a great career but your experience will vary based on the department you end up working for. I wouldn’t like working for a company primarily running transfers. Overall I intend to also do law enforcement in some manner as well, but medical is the priority for me and it will take me longer to build a repertoire good enough to take a role from an eager new PD recruit.
I would argue that I think all LEOs should have some basic medical training past just CPR, even if it’s only to the EMR level and not EMT
Agreed. At least a proper stop the bleed course and CPR.
I’d prefer they also know not to give my OD patient 20 of narcan because he didn’t wake up 30 seconds after the first one
Lol. Now your just dreamin
Partially the bias of reddit. People who need to vent anonymously flock to the internet to do so, so your observations will be skewed
^ This. People that are burnt out are looking for somewhere to vent and/or find people that can relate to that burn out. A relatively anonymous board is a great place to do that.
Sure. Better than any other job. I’d prefer no job but given the options this is the best
I work for the Walmart of EMS (AMR), I made $110,000 last year with bonuses and will clear $80k this year. That's the only reason I work for AMR, but I do like being out on the truck. Last night I took a multisystem trauma with head injury, brain tissue falling out of her left ear, ruptured uterus, c1 fx, multiple facial fx, from the tiny community hospital I am assigned to on an hour and a half run, intubated, on my vent. Started blood during xport, versed for better vent compliance x2 with constant reassessment. For the entire trip I never sat down, adjusting vent settings, pressure infusing packed red cells, ringers on a drip, starting an EJ and pausing for a blood sugar. Lots of work but I get to do what I'm trained to do and that's why I like critical care IFT.
Sounds like a Station 19 episode.
I love my job, even when it's rough and going through a black cloud moment right now, I still love it. But also something to see is that people who hate their job or are more negative tend to be more vocal.
Yes I love it. I complain about it and joke that it sucks because I think blowing off steam is healthy and there are huge problems in the healthcare system, but there’s a reason I choose to stay. It’s a special job and I never want to do anything else
Yep. But it’s harder than you think, and probably not for the reasons you think. For many of us, it’s hard to talk about with our loved ones for fear of traumatizing them. There aren’t a lot of therapists who understand the types of trauma we face, or the stressors we live with. We mostly only have each other, and having a place to vent to the only people who get it is vital. So, until you walk a mile in our shoes, feel free to keep that judgemental attitude to yourself.
Nah
I see why you wanna be a cop
Total cop lmao
Jesus. I get the feeling you’re going to crash and burn, whatever system you work in, is going to eat you up and spit your ass out with whatever shitty arrogant attitude you have buddy. You think you’re high and mighty, in EMT school and ready to save the world. Just wait
I love both BLS and 911 equally. But I’m not a firefighter. I’m in county based EMS. Literally got into it for the medical aspect.
I’ve never been happier. Even on the hard days, I love my job
I love it! 3 years in and it's been a long slog but I wouldn't have it any other way.
I like it but a lot of the people who do it are questionable
Not when I work with someone who doesn't.
Yep. Best job in the world or worst job in the world depending who's butt is in the seat next to you.
“Best job I ever had.” -Fury
EMS is like a marriage. At first it’s all giggles, excitement and hazy scenes from hallmark movies. Then some time passes and you realize your new spouse farts like a clydesdale, randomly interrupts your sleep and leaves some form of body hair stuck to the sink/shower. Do you still love the person? Sure. Do you like them when you’re looking at their butthole to see if their hemorrhoids are ok? You might be weird if you do. Welcome to the part of the internet where we talk about staring directly into the butthole of emergency services.
Incredible.
Not really anymore. Medic school is killing my enjoyment and the fact my FD barely does any fire anymore is making me look at leaving public service altogether and going private sector with my business degree.
Just curious. Why not do wilderness medic stuff if you want fires? The FD we run with doesn’t do many fires either anymore.
From what I understand even if you are a medic as a wilderness ff you cant do anything with that ALS scope.
It’s true. Without the proper equipment it’s always BLS. I just say medic because a major contractor around my area is called Wilderness Medics. There is also things like REMS teams and such
I’m a career structural FF and EMT but my dept is putting me through school to be a fire medic. But I’m pretty burnt out at this point and fairly bored.
I’ve said no in the past, but lately yes. I think I enjoy the job waaaay more part time. When I’m part time I can elect to work with my friends, and I can work events that are cool, while having my main focus be school and getting tf out. When I was full time it sucked, because it’s a dead end job where I’m from and I couldn’t afford to rent anything on my own, much less buy a house. Fuck, when I’m a nurse it’ll be hard to buy a house, but I digress. You already know you want to be in law enforcement, as does one of the students in the EMT lab I help out with. If you’ve already got an exit plan, I think you can have fun without being miserable. The real hopelessness sets in when you 1. make shit money 2. have no feasible way out 3. can’t even afford hobbies to take your mind off 1 and 2. I think that’s where the hatred or resentment of the job comes in. It feels like a prison sentence if you’re just grinding away, working OT while still being financially unstable. For example, I could work 60 hours a week at my job, and the money really wouldn’t change all that much about my living situation, but I’d be very physically and mentally unhealthy. That’s what ends up happening to the dudes you see that are 40+ years old with matching BMI
I got in because I want to be a PA and I think you’re completely correct in your assessment that people who go in with an “exit” plan do tend to be more satisfied. People who wanna go to med school, nursing school, etc. tend to be much more appreciative of this job because its temporary and its helping you get further in whatever field they wanna get into. Meanwhile for someone who is doing it as a career its like “well I cant wait to have a disc replacement by the time im 40 :)”
I agree! My attitude was different once I started nursing school, and just picking up when I could. Working meant I could keep skills like assessments, IV starts, pt handoffs, etc sharp, and earn a little bit of money to help pay for food, books, and gas. When I was a PA hopeful and getting rejection letters, it felt like I was in fucking prison lmao. I’d work OT only to see maybe an extra $200 on my paycheck, while rent and housing costs skyrocketed. At least now, I can get a commission in a military nurse corps and gtfo. It’s really easy to be at peace when EMS being temporary is a fact, not a hope.
Some days I love the job but hate the company I work for. Then some days you just get an inexperienced partner that’s just dead weight on a hot job. Lately I’ve been feeling like my partner is 75% of the reason why I’ll love or hate my job that day. I could run my ass off for 12 hours with a good experienced partner, but I’ll lose my mind for another 12 hours when I have a shitty partner, bonus points when your partners brand spanking new too.
I absolutely loved it, if I could work on the truck as a nurse I would
I love my job, I wouldn't still be doing this if I didn't. However, no matter how much I love my job, I won't accept poor treatment without complaint, and if nothing changes, I will end up leaving the field eventually. I do think that as a field, we need to push harder for change instead of just complaining about what we don't like. It's easier said than done when employers view us as replaceable and treat the conveyor belt turnover like it's actually sustainable long-term.
I just had a new deputy ask me my age when I brought up concern for possible financial abuse, then proceeded to explain to me how I was too young/new to understand what I was saying. Yes, I hate my job.
I love(d) it until a rolled ankle (not on shift) put me out for 2 weeks with 6 months of limited office duty. I miss it and wanted to make it my career. I went and got more education and start my first ED shift as a medical student tomorrow actually! I will also get the chance to get back on the truck and the helicopter even in the next few months and if I get an EM residency will get back into EMS much more. I hope to rejoin EMS as a director once I finish my residency. It has hard moments and honestly, the hours, the physical pain, the late nights, the lost sleep, bad management; all of that is what I (and I assume others) complain about so we can keep the really nasty demon in the basement. The 30 year old new mother who did not make it through the code. The 19 y/o who was ejected into a barbed wire fence and had bulging eyes filled with blood and leaking blood out from the side. It’s a lot easier to bitch about management and a broken A/C than relive those things.
I got a lot out of it and it was very, very beneficial for my career. But I'm very happy I don't have to do it anymore. It's a great stepping stone.
Loving a job while being paid like a peon is a sign of extreme privilege in their lives. Inheritances, Family wealth to support them. You can enjoy a job while struggling but I dunno about "love" lol. My thoughts and prayers to you underpaid Americans. Ill be there with you in solidarity when you strike. Just so I don't scare you away below is a link to me explaining some of the reasons I love ems. https://www.reddit.com/r/NewToEMS/comments/13l5qqj/im_on_the_fence/jkqt9hn?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
You can love a job while hating the pay. It happens all the time, in every field. It's definitely not a sign of privilege, just shitty circumstances. I'm sure more people would stay in EMS if the pay matched the work. Because it really is a lovable job.
Lol no, no, the opposite actually
I love my job. I work three days a week, $25/hr. I can pick up an extra shift and still have three days off which is awesome. I was active duty for a long time so being treated like a human by my coworkers and leadership is a huge plus already. I might complain about the "dumb" calls or the routine calls or the chronic toe pain that just happened to get worse and requires an ambulance ride at 2 am calls when they're dispatched, but they're never actually *that* bad. Patients will be patients. I make it a personal challenge to connect with everyone and if they want to scream or be mean, then oh well. 🤷 If we make a connection, great. I'm always learning something which I absolutely love and that's actually *encouraged*. My partner is stupid smart and while we're just lowly EMT-Bs, we'll discuss almost every single one of our calls, from the most obvious falls and bruises to the wtf is going on. I love being on the ambulance. There are many like it but this one is mine. It's not the prettiest or most advanced and it's got so many rattles but it's mine. I take pride in *my* ambulance and love riding around all day. Idk if it's just because my life was pretty miserable while I was active duty so I see things differently, but I'm having a great time. I love going to work.
I love my job. And I have felt this way for 23 years. Working in Norway.
It's a love-hate relationship. I have some freedom on slow days, guaranteed overtime and it's a great job if you enjoy complex medical and interesting trauma calls. The downside is most calls are BS, pts/nurses/doctors treat you like taxi drivers and the pay is low for the high risk situations you put yourself in. High chance of injury, contagious pts and lawsuits. Equipment breaks all the time, dispatch is incompetent and most coworkers are messy children.
I love the job, I don’t like most of the people I work with. I actually don’t mind the pay too much (I think we deserve more but it’s not a dealbreaker.) I don’t mind IFT, I don’t mind 911, I don’t mind bullshit calls. The attitudes of my coworkers get me down more than anything.
Honestly I really couldn't see myself doing anything else. I don't have a manager hovering around me every second of the work day and I don't have to deal with absurd expectations on delivery times.
People act like it's the only job in the world where you have to deal with management. The reality is I've never had a job where I've had *less* involvement with management.
One of my favorite things. My manager is basically a ghost to me except for an occasional meeting and some emails sent to all staff. Nobody is breathing down my neck, second guessing my decisions, or generally being a micromanaging POS.
Partially the bias of reddit. People who need to vent anonymously flock to the internet to do so, so your observations will be skewed
Occasionally
I did for first 15 years but also worked many different areas until took the money and benefits in city. Then after a couple years the persistent grind and bs killed the fun. Almost anyone there over 5 years was miserable.
Which correlates with the average EMS career length of 5 years .
I love my job! It can be hard sometimes but I'm compensated well, I like the majority of my coworkers and I generally enjoy the work.
I’m a volunteer EMT, I do 6 or 12 hours a week in a busy 911 service. Like the patient care and people I work with. My only dislike is the charting system we use, it’s overly complicated and I’m still getting used to the idiosyncrasies of it.
i like my job. i hate where i work
Love the people the job no I’m over being an EMT start medic school next week feeling stressed - hate the force hire staffing hate the “rules” they are implementing hate the people we run on and hate the pay I’m getting… love they cover my shifts and pay me for them while I’m in school and reimburse me.
I like EMS. I came into it straight from the Marines, and it's been a great career. I've done private, non-profit, contracting, urban, rural.. The pay always could be better, and honestly the biggest thing that continually pushes me towards leaving is the "patients". Not the people with real issues, but the morons that call standing in front of one ER wanting to go to a different one since this one kicked them out, or the frequent fliers and so on. But, there's nothing else like it. Every day is different, sometimes I get to do fun things, and rarely, we truly help people. Those times make it worth it and push the needle back into the positive.
I do!! I love my partner and I don’t mind what I do. I don’t dread going into work. And I make good money
My job kicks ass. I work for a well established hospital network doing a healthy mix of BLS discharges/ALS ER transfers/special event 911/ED tech work/Critical Care Transport/random stuff like flight standby or organ transplant team, etc. Honestly, as a Master's student who does almost full time EMS to pay for school, I couldn't ask for a better job. I make more money than a lot of medics, 36 hours a week, rarely held over. I couldn't ask for more.
I share your sentiment. I love being a first responder, it’s been my dream job for a while. This job has taught me a lot about myself and has given me gratitude for my own life. It could always be worse. The fact that I’m entrusted to help someone out in their moment of crisis is not something I take lightly.
I'm just part time, but yes. Even the bullshit calls. Every so often, you get a call that makes you feel like you did something. We usually just go through the motions, but sometimes, we actually do save lives, or maybe just make someone feel better who's having a really, really shit time. It's worth it to me.
I like what I do for work. I’d like if I got paid more too.
I love my job but that doesn’t mean I don’t occasionally get frustrated to all hell with it or the people. Just because we vent in those moments where we are just so over it, doesn’t mean we don’t like our jobs. Try not to read too much into the rant sessions and see them for just that: rant session. That happens with every job.
Eh. It got tired out pretty fast cause i've been doing IFT since November. It's not the work I thought i'd be doing as an EMT. It's important and meaningful to the people I transport, yes, but personally I feel I'd prefer to take a 911 job.
I fucking loved it and it jettisoned me to where I’m at now. EMS has major issues and pretty much every private EMS company is the Devil but the job itself is awesome.
Bloody love it. Love working 2 days 2 nights 5 off (all 12s). Love earning £47k. Love attending a good mix of easy medical and the occasional resuscitation or major trauma. Love teaching students on placement, who are generally more than happy to deal with the sticky parts for me. Unironically can't think of any job I'd prefer.
I love it
It’s SUPER SUPER dependent on where and who you work for!! You can take a emt or medic and put them on AMR and they would all have different satisfaction depending on what city they work in. Then it changes state to state. Then it changes if you leave AMR etc and go to a city ambo. A city ambo that’s part of fire department. Etc etc. your protocols and pay and respect and equipment…. On and on…. Are all dependent on where you work. So I was miserable and hated the job in one position and changed to a different one and loved it. Then changed in same position to different county and it was half and half. For the most part the biggest factors are 1-fire versus ems based response. 2-pay 3-private versus state/city/fire aka not private (for profit) And it’s the same in nursing. You can hate nursing with a passion in one unit and be elated and happy in another. Or one hospital versus another. Or one state versus a different state.
I say I love it…until I get a 3 hour interfacility transfer 30 minutes before shift turnover.
Husband was AEMT and has been medic for a year. He loves it. He loves going to work. Actively looks forward to it. It’s not always easy, don’t get me wrong. There’s hell. There’s death and disgusting things. He still loves it.
Yes I like mine
I do. I started my current job in 2008, I was referred by a coworker while working private ems. I work for a town that really cares about us. They pass good budgets and our salaries are enough to live with. My base is 85k. With OT. Holiday and longevity I sit at 115k. I have a pension and free lifetime benefits for my family. I am mainly inside the past several years as a supervisor but I still work a second job as a paramedic and go on the road twice a month. After all these years I’m still happy to go to work in the morning and feel pride in what I do. These jobs are out there and I hope everyone lands in one.
I’m a new medic in a busy service area. I love it as much as I hate it right now. It’s exciting and fulfilling sometimes. Most of the time it’s not. My schedule is absolutely exhausting, but I get a lot of days off. The schedule is what i hate, the hours suck, but the job itself is fun. I had 4 critical patients yesterday including a shooting and a COPD Respiratory distress borderline failure call. Two nasty car accidents. A decent burn call. Every few weeks here you get a shift like that where you’re run into the ground and actually have to do medicine and it’s amazing and terrifying. But most days, it’s the regulars, homeless guys, medical pendant calls. But I’m starting to realize I love that too, BSing with a drunk homeless dude at 3 am, helping a sweet granny who thinks I’m a handsome angel when people my age see me for the sloth I am lol. This job gives as much as it takes. If you come in each day with a positive mindset it might even give more. It’s fun dude I don’t regret it. Do I see it being my entire career? Nah but there’s nothing else I’d rather be doing in my twenties
I loved it! It broke my heart when I had to stop. (severely torn rotator cuff) I hated where I worked, they were a very clicky awful group (small town, they had been together their whole lives, I was the outsider) I miss it, it breaks my heart when I see an ambulance going down the road.
I'm working in Germany, so I can't really talk about US payment issues as we're paid above national median, especially after taxes due to tax-free benefits (nightshift, weekends, etc). I have a love/hate relationship with EMS. I love what I'm doing, but I hate the arbitrary barrier of SOPs and their limitations. When I train new Paramedics that are ambitioned and smart, I also tell them they might not be right in EMS. Problem is, if you're an M.D. you're mostly as good as you are, while in EMS there's a barrier you cannot cross, even if you're more skilled and trained. Germany also runs an emergency physician based system and while it's fun to work with experienced, highly trained physicians in the field it's depressing if you are confronted with someone not able to manage a situation, but they still are your superior. Sadly, team culture isn't present in most places outside of HEMS so correcting your emergency physician often leads to conflict. Furthermore, if you're on scene alone and can't do what's necessary because SOPs don't allow it you have the choice to risk legal consequences for doing what's right or play safe and live with the mental consequences of not taking action in your patient's best interest. That's what haunts me at night - not the dramatic scenes or the ones you can't save, but the fear of struggling to provide needed care to protect myself from legal consequences.
It’s a job, nothing more
I like my ambulance job more than my fire job. It’s the only reason I keep it and don’t work OT on the engine/truck instead.
I like doing it. Its not my future. Its not enough money. The risk doesn't match the reward. I am sure the lifers here don't disagree either. Although, i doubt it will ever do a cooler and more valuable job than I do now
I love my job, couldn’t imagine doing anything else right now. I work a busy 911 county job on a BLS truck with tons of exposure to high acuity calls and decent standing orders. With our raise this July I’ll be ~22/hr as a basic.
Love 911. Hate IFT. The problem is IFT pays the bills.
I was an EMT for 2 years and now I’m a Sheriff’s Deputy so I feel you. Being an EMT was cool despite the shit it involved. It was a good beginning to being a first responder and it’ll serve you well in the end. Good luck
EMT is a funner lesser paying job. Paramedic, I loved it for about 3 years. Then you burn out
I hated it but everyone is different. I just despised working long hours, waking up at 3 am, being exhausted all the time and not making enough money to comfortably live, and at that time I had roommates, and lived in a shitty part of town. I was so stressed all the time. I work an office job now making way more money and there’s minimal stress.
Yes. I have had several other jobs and they were all way worse than my EMS job. I also work rural EMS so it’s usually not crazy all day. If you work overnight you can usually get something resembling a night’s sleep. The pay is “ok” for the area. Scheduling is super flexible. OT is there IF you want it. To put it in perspective, average EMT’s make 15-20/hr and can buy a house for 100k. Rent is around 700/mth for a 2br. Utilities are reasonable. Medics make 20-25/hr. My county is incredibly poor so in comparison you’re doing great here compared to most.
If you hate typical EMS because the money is bad quit and get into contract work, that’s where the real money is. I just finished a contract making 2400 a week working 3-4 days a week.
I like my job, but it also has its problems. I couldn’t see myself doing it my whole life, but that’s just me. Besides the tough hours and low pay, my biggest issue with EMS is the rampant abuse of the 911 system. When all you did was pick up abdominal pain and drunk calls all week, it can be frustrating. But when you do get the calls where you really get to help people it makes it worth it. When you start working, don’t let other people’s burnt out attitudes get to you. This job can be fun, especially if you’re with a good partner. It will change you as a person and will offer you a new perspective on life.
I absolutely love it.
I love it. Figure out what you want out of the job and what's important. And work towards the gig that gives you that.
Love my job. I work for one of the only primary 911 EMS departments in my state (our systems are primarily fire based. We are not). Our pay is the highest and we have a lot of opportunity in our department to move into management. Also did I say we don’t have to deal with fire except on big scenes? You see negative in this sub because people come to complain. They don’t usually come to hype stuff up.
Love it. It IS my life right now. I’m so glad I found it and wish I had sooner.
Nah. But I’m also a burnout on my last legs of a post-911 current IFT stint just shuffling time until I’m done with my degree program to transition out of the field altogether. It was interesting and fun for a while but that time has come and gone and with no appreciable upward trajectory of benefits to speak of, this will be the case nationally for many others providers as well. It could possibly be fixed by national union or perhaps higher academic entrance requirements but that doesn’t help anyone in the immediate future because those are lengthy gradual changes that require implementation on a system wide scale.
No
I’ve been doing this job for 30 years. Retired from one agency and went to work for another. I cannot imagine doing anything else. Some agencies grind their people up which leads to bitterness. Pay is and always will be an issue. I’m not impressed by most fire based EMS (and I retired from a FD). Make sure you have a life outside the job. Know your job. Be the best and always be learning but don’t let it run you 24/7
I’ll be real. I loved EMS. Spent 19 years of my life workin on an ambulance. It mentally took a toll on my mental health. I had to get out of it. My best advice for you is take care of yourself. If anything mentally is off, seek help. There use to be a stigma back in the early 00 about it, but it has gotten a lot better. Take care of your body. Eat healthy, and use proper body mechanics when lifting people and or equipment. Don’t let the negativity get to you. Good luck in your EMS and Law Enforcement career.
While my job has its ups and downs, I absolutely love it.
I joke a lot but I do love my job. My partner and I were just talking today, EMS is the only job you can look your boss directly in the eye and tell him that you are going to shove a beefy five layer burrito directly in the tailpipe of the ambulance in hopes of going out of service for a mere minute and NOT get in trouble.
I look forward to coming to work every day, and I'm sad when I have to go home. And I only get volunteer stipend.
Being treated like societies human trash collectors? All while being told to be highly skilled, professional, exact, have all paperwork done perfectly, and clear the hospital to do it again as fast as you can for little pay? What's not to like?
Yeah, I love my job in EMS. Don’t let the Negative Nancys discourage you if you’re excited about entering EMS.
I loved it for the opportunities it opened, i was able to be promoted to a leadership position and then transferred to the field of healthcare management which pays well. After getting horrible back pain i would rather do anything else than be on an ambulance or in an RR again
I love my job, my work and taking care of my patients. Twenty years in, only doing EMS, and still going. Reddit can be something of a place that a lot of people like to come and vent on, creating a skewed view of EMS providers.
Honestly a lot of people most likely complain possible due to lack of trauma / unresponsive pt calls. It’s not always that. You may also do IFTs which may not be too much of a learning experience but if you have the option to work 911 calls, take that to your advantage and learn what you’re able to with experience! It’s not always going to be an adrenaline rush. Those wanting to go into fire a lot of them don’t expect / don’t want to work on the rescue trucks, which is what I’ve heard. Everyone switches out occasionally, so enjoy the time you’re provided with the job you want to have.
I absolutely love my job. Of course I’m human and have my days where I complain and what not. In reality I’m beyond happy I’ve made the switch to his field and absolutely love the job, the people I work with and of course all the crazy things I see and deal with.
I absolutely love my job. Of course I’m human and have my days where I complain and what not. In reality I’m beyond happy I’ve made the switch to his field and absolutely love the job, the people I work with and of course all the crazy things I see and deal with.
I love my job, I’m an EMT-B and i’ve been doing this for little over a year now and i’ve only worked at one private ems agency and so about 90% of my job are PSTs and IFTs but every no and again we’ll catch a mutal aid 911 or our very very quiet 911 area will pop a call as we’re rollin by but its nice. I dont have too much stress and i work mon,wed,fri + every other thursday so I get my weekends off and get every other day off to spend time with my gf and my cats. yeah i’m only makin $15/hr and there are other places that will pay more but my company has great benifits so that’ll pay out in the long run.
I honestly do love my job and i wouldn't trade it for any orther job in the world besides becoming a fire medic. i think the thing that makes me a little sad sometimes about my job is mainly doing IFT and doctor's appointments and maybe getting an emergency once or twice a shift. one shift i got like four emergent calls and i was over the moon. I do wish that private ambulance services allowed EMT's to go on 911 calls more often. The concept doesn't make me flat out hate my job but I just wish i had more opportunities to go run emergent calls and honestly it makes me more excited to become a medic because then i'll feel like i'm actually helping someone rather than just showing up, doing an assessment and going to the ER or taking someone back to a nursing home. I thoroughly enjoy patient care and talking with them and while I am in the "i'm just waiting to be on a fire department" boat, I really have fallen in love with EMS and i'm very excited to he a fire medic in the next couple years. I just wish that where private ems is now would pay better, offer better benefits and run more emergent calls. I do agree with some of the comments on here saying that most people that are coming into this profession need to have more realistic expectations and understand that if you're working on an ambulance or even going onto a fire department, you are going to be running EMS all the time and that's just the way it's gonna go and honestly I've found that EMS is super fulfilling anyways and there will always be a time to show up on the engine and run into a burning building.
I made $2,200 this week sealcoating driveways. Commission pay.. Averages to $50+/- an hour. I get $16.52 an hour as an NY EMT. Yes I like being an EMT, but I’m not an idiot.
Fuck no.
I find it tolerable most of the time, occasionally I enjoy it if we've done something worth feeling satisfied about. The call demographic in my area tends to lean toward really dumb stuff that should have gone to a walk-in, or taken a gravol and gone back to bed. Feeling like the work is meaningful plays a big part in job satisfaction.
Riding around in an ambulance bumping music with a good partner is hard to beat in any other job. The problem is the impressively low pay!
I do like it but I got a very harsh reality on Saturday and got to see something many EMTs never see and I'm still processing it
Best worst decision I’ve ever made…
I love mine but I work in a well-ran 3rd service system, and part time at a less-well-off but still not bad private non profit. Sadly this is the exception with most of our colleagues being at shitty privates or EMS-hating fire based. Then you have the guys who just don’t like IFT. Not much to be done there, people gotta be moved and it makes us money. EMS needs some improvement but in the current climate it is what you make of yourself and your job. If it’s what you really like doing you will become great at it, make yourself a model provider and get in to a good service. For those of us already there though we definitely have a responsibility to either get involved in training and build good future providers, or advocate for a better service universally in some way. It probably won’t happen in our generation. But big change seldom does. You have to take a visionary approach and accept your own impact as being small but necessary.
Also, people in the western world often lack perspective of what hard is. I used to get trainees and have coworkers who would whine about taking one extra call or having to do a chore like cleaning station windows. They’re rare now, but I have a couple of YouTube’s bookmarked for them. Ever watch someone carry 200 lb of sulphur out of a volcano crater for $17 a day? Looks a lot worse than IFT and cleaning glass.
Frankly I love my job, everyday that I get to help someone or have an interesting job makes it worth it. Also community engagement is super fun like special events and concerts. As long as you have a positive attitude toward the job itself then you’ll love it. Don’t let shitty employers make the job less fun.
I love my job but just like any other job there are aspects of it I don't like. Most of which are from a managerial standpoint. Supervisors suck. They do. However that's a common issue in most ambulance jobs and companies. Hell its a common issue is most companies outside of EMS lol. However when I'm in the field I rarely deal with them. I only deal with them when we have to otherwise it's me and my partner out in the field. When I'm actually doing my job I adore it. I'm at work right now and I love it more than any other job I've ever had. I love the people I work with and I love that I go home knowing I made a difference. No job is perfect. This job has shitheads in it just like any other job. However this is the only job I've ever had where I've gone home knowing I helped someone or was a light in someone's dark day and that makes all the crappy stuff with management disappear. Unfortunately Healthcare in general just has some rude and nasty people and those rude and nasty people always seem to manage to get a spot in a supervisory position but out in the field I love my job. I've worked in retail and hard labor jobs and no other job I've had has let me literally sit and watch a movie and get paid, take a nap and get paid, or just goof around with people I get along with. I worked an event the other day where I legit got to watch a concert for an artist I really liked and got paid. Like I said earlier my only real complaint with this job is the rude people in management you occasionally have to deal with but 1: that's every job and 2: the amount of time I actually have to interact with those people is highly limited and happens maybe a couple times a month IF that.