Anyone on Sup Forums work in EMS?
I'm hoping to start an EMT B course this spring. Just wanted some insight and some stories of working in EMS if anyone can contribute. Maybe share where you work, how long you've been working, how much you like or dislike it, or any other relevant information you'd like to share.
bump
Have a brother doing work as a paramedic, if you are going into ambulatory medicine you probably should do that, EMTs earn terrible money for the amount of work they do and they can't even carry on the job (where he lives there's ambulances getting called and robbed for drugs, even though there isn't much at fucking all in terms of what can get someone high)
EMTs are a good way to get your foot in the door but it's not a career
>EMTs are a good way to get your foot in the door but it's not a career
That's basically what I'm doing it for.
I want to further a career in healthcare, but I want an actual job in the field whilst I earn a degree in healthcare just so I can have the actual field experience and possibly network some things if I can.
The 10th percentile hourly wage where I live in MO is $13 approximately which is pretty decent. Not to mention all the overtime potential you get out of the job.
The main draw, apart from the healthcare experience is the flexibility when it comes to scheduling.
Can you speak anything on how scheduling and hours work for your brother? Perhaps what kind shifts he does, how many days on/off, length of shifts, etc.
In canada ems is a viable career... 100k+ year where I work. Flexibility is almost non existant thought. Work calls you get your bitch ass off the couch and go to work. Alot of night shifts weekends and holidays. Overall 7/10 would bang again.
>earn a degree in healthcare
wat
He used to work night shift from 7-5 when doing his EMT work and was on call almost 24/7 because the company he worked for were assholes who couldn't fathom why retention was like 5% given the bullshit.
You need to have really good scheduling skills to balance EMT and school if you are doing both at the same time.
As a paramedic he's been with the company for a couple years so his schedule is still night shift from 7-3ish but they only call him if there's a massive pile up or something and they pay good overtime, think he earns like 24 bucks an hour. Which is okay money given where we are but he likes his work and likes the fact the schedule allows him to spend time with his kids.
Well, working towards some certification or degree that would enable to work in healthcare in some capacity.
My long term goal once I finish my gen ed courses at my local CC is to go onto a 4 year university and ideally do an undergrad in pre-med. Pre-med degree allows you to do all sorts of shit, namely working as a Physician's Assistant which make a lot of bank.
But if I could somehow manage to keep an amazing GPA I'd like to take a shot at the MCAT and see what I place on that and try to get into med school. I would hope that my field experience as an EMT, in addition to any sort of volunteer or shadowing work I will hopefully do, would give me an edge during med school interviews.
Worked EMS for a few years before going into nursing. The pay was OK and I spent a shitload of time at work, but I loved what I got to do and the town I lived in and I really enjoyed the people I worked with. But not everyone has that same experience. You might just end up as a driver for some EMS company that only does in-town transfers to nursing homes. A lot depends on where you are and what you want to do vs what you'll actually be doing.
Hmm, I'm hoping any job I get would offer a good degree of flexibility if I were to work full time and also go to school.
Where does your brother work, if you don't mind me asking?
Can you speak anything on how hiring works for EMTs? You mentioned you might end up as a transfer driver to a nursing home or what have you.
I've heard that you might start out as sort of a stand by attendant at sports games or what have you for a little bit before a proper ambulance or EMS company will hire you on.
Did the fact that you had worked EMS prior to nursing help you with your interviews/getting hired?
You don't want to be an MD unless you want to get into surgery or something specific that you absolutely know you want to do for the rest of eternity. PA and Nurse Practitioner allow you to do MUCH more. As an MD you will specialize in something, and then do that until you retire. NP (and RNs) can bounce from specialty to specialty as their interests change.
Good luck broseff I hope u like piss and shit and ungrateful junkie fucks.. also it's cool when u save a kids life
Vermont, cost of living is pretty low notwithstanding taxes but the wages follow.
Just talk to the teachers to see if they can help you, he went to a really shitty school that was pretty much a degree mill and took the first job he found. If you can look around, do so.
I actually do want to get into surgery, if I could be so fortunate as to get into med school. As for what specialty, who knows, they say you figure that out during your rotations. But that's way a head of myself.
Surgeon is the absolute god tier goal, but PA is my fall back. And depending on how I enjoy EMS, I might further a career as a Paramedic if works out for me, although I hear it's a terrible career as far as retirement goes.
From what I hear, there's little in way of trauma you actually do in EMS, especially as an EMT-B which is the lowest tier of EMS that I'll become since you're not certified to do that many things apart from BLS.
I am based out of St. Louis, not east side where all the violence and shooting is.
Yeah, I'll definitely look into it. The school I'll be going to do is the #1 EMS location in MO and they're supposed to work with you in finding a job, internships and all that jazz.
Thanks for your input. Appreciate it a lot, man
Nurses are starting to get locked in too from what I hear.
Too many graduates and now hospitals can afford to pick and choose, might just be my state though.
Disagree with doctors needing to specialize, the trend is moving towards general practice because there's not enough people willing to do basic checkups. Healthcare is getting nuts right now because of Obamacare crashing and burning like literaly everyone said it would so who knows what will happen 4 years from now.
I jumped into EMS after the industry I used to work in went down the shitter. I thought it was something I would like, so I took a class with no job prospects whatsoever and without researching EMS jobs in the town I lived in. I just lucked out that they were a hospital-based "paid volunteer" service that was always looking for warm bodies. I had to drive on interfacility transfers (the hospital shipped a lot of people to higher care) for a month or so before I got a proper 911 shift, and even then it was only one shift a week. I made ends meet by taking any and all transfers that needed to go out no matter when or where, which sucked from a personal life aspect, but I loved doing it.
Eventually I got a few more shifts a week, and ultimately the hospital went to a new staffing model and I was hired full-time.
I think my situation was unique because there was such a demand, and I was able to basically work as much as I wanted. I'm not sure as many bigger companies would offer that same opportunity.
13 years now as a paramedic.
Tbh I'm pretty apathetic with it now. Most jobs are a compete waste of time with maybe 1 in 10 actually needing medical treatment and one in fifty seriously ill or injured.
Money is ok but most people have to do overtime to afford toys.
I'd recommend it as it's safe job but there's serious down sides. Long shifts, night shifts - lots of lifting fat bastards around in chairs so back and shoulder injuries are very common.
It becomes difficult to stay motivated when dealing with so much crap on a daily basis. Then there's the weekend night shifts when nearly every job is a drunk.
All in all I'd say go for it. It's a job for life unless you monumentally fuck up or get injured. Just don't expect it to be like the TV shows
I've done 6 years in EMS. /b is not really the place to find people who would giving you good advice about it. But it sounds like you're on the right track man. I would definitely do it.
The field experience will seriously help you down the road if you want to get into healthcare. Being book smart isn't everything. There's nothing more frustrating than an RN or MD that freaks out in an emergency situation.
I disagree with your disagreement. GP MDs will work in a clinic or private practice. If they wanted to say, branch into cardiac or trauma or GI or ENT or ER after 10 years of looking at weird rashes and prescribing blood pressure meds it would be nearly impossible. They don't spend four years doing residency in one specific area just to then be able to work in any area they choose.
Appreciate your take on it.
A lot of people I've spoken to about EMS have similar sentiments. Mainly about it being a glorified lifting job.
Can you speak anything on the physical requirements for the job? From what I gather, there's no official or explicitly stated physical standard you're supposed to be held to, but I feel it's implied to be in pretty decent shape as an EMT if you're to be lifting and hauling fatasses around 90% of your time.
I'm currently a hungry skeleton and I just had foot surgery a few weeks ago to fix a flexibility issue that kept me from working out and getting in shape in the first place, so I'm working on the physical aspect of the job.
Did you work with very many EMS colleagues that were out of shape or weak in any way?
Appreciate your words. I hope it will pay off for me down the line. If anything, I'll have worked a semi-interesting job and have gained some life experience from it.
I know I'm saying there needs to be more career GPs because there aren't enough people who are looking at weird rashes. With elder care getting more and more important the field is set to boom soon enough.
The money won't be as good and the work not as intellectually rigorous but if they can get a good customer base in private practice it can get a lot more profitable.
You don't *have* to be in shape just like you don't *have* to be good at CPR, but it make you better at your job if you are.
Also, a lot of schools have "patient contact hours" requirements before they will accept you, meaning you've worked in healthcare in some capacity and know some of the ins and outs of the healthcare system. People will get these hours by either working in EMS or as a CNA at a hospital. The longer you've worked, the better it looks on your application.
That's all true, but its still specialization. If an MD gets bored of weird rashes they will have a much harder time switching to something else than a PA or NP, that's all I was saying.
Oh, I thought you were talking about GPs not being in demand or not a viable career. It would be hard to break out of it but then again it is hard to break out of any of the specializations though it probably would be easier to become a GP after being a specialist for semi retirement.
>MFW work as an EMT
>Get a call about a child
>Right away paramedics and fire tells us to expect the worst
>Cops everywhere
>Get to some house and theres this Hispanic guy on the floor all bloody and theres like 7 people in hand cuffs
>Detectives escort us inside
>See blood running down a little girls leg
>Put her on the stretcher
>Whole ride to the hospital its just a mother crying
>Shes about 9
>Little girl asks me why are do pigeons look cartoony
>Tell her probably because they like to shake their head to the music
>She laughs and her mother laughs
>Get to the hospital
>Her mother requests I stay since I made her laugh since the incident
>Come to find out the little girl is 2 months pregnant and is having a miscarriage
>Mother hits the hospital floor like a brick and breaks open her eye brow leaking
>MFW That was my 3rd day on the job
3 weeks later the family invited me and the detective to a quiencerra
Can anyone talk about how your training went? What to expect from the NREMT and what have you?
Can anyone talk specifically about the patient assessment test?
That sounds crazy. Where did this all happen? And did you find out what exactly happened at that scene?
Happened in the glorious shithole of San Fransisco.
Apperently the guy who was all bloody was the molester he was like the 3rd cousin immigrant from Honduras or some shit like that. And the people all arrested were her brothers uncles and her dad who tried to kill the guy.