Are you a paramedic? I have a few questions for you, if you don't mind.

[leeksoldier]

Hi, I have a careers project due on the 15th. Part of that project is to interview a person in the career field I am interested in. So, if there is a paramedic out there, willing to take a few minutes to fill out this section of questions, it would be very much appreciated. Or...if there is somebody in Houston, TX who is willing to meet up with me for an interview, that would be great. Thank you.

1. describe your responsibilities
2. how long did it take you to become a paramedic (or EMT)?
3. why did you choose to be a paramedic(or EMT)?
4. what type of personality traits are needed?
5. what are the biggest challenges you face on the job?
6. what is your opinion of the future of this career?
7. are there many opportunities availabe?
8. what advice can you offer me to become a paramedic also?
9. what are your likes and dislikes of the job?
10. what steps do i need to take to fullfill this career?
11. was it hard and stressfull in the beginning of your career?

 

[EMT11KDL]

1. describe your responsibilities: Provide the best medical care to the citizens that live within my county. Clean the station. Wash Ambulance. Stock Supplies. Write lots of charts.

2. how long did it take you to become a paramedic (or EMT)? year.

3. why did you choose to be a paramedic(or EMT)? Personal experience, Had an injury and it got me interested in this career

4. what type of personality traits are needed? Have to have an open mind. Willing to learn and listen. Patience is a big plus! The General Public is not always the easiest to deal with. Being able to stay calm under pressure, Best thing my FTO told me "Its not your emergency"

5. what are the biggest challenges you face on the job? General Public and family members while on scene.

6. what is your opinion of the future of this career? 911 EMS and Fire will always be needed. I dont see much pay increase other than the slight increases due to cost of living.

7. are there many opportunities availabe? It is a very competitive field to get into. But yes there is opportunities available all across the united states. You might have to drive an hour to work, but if it is something you truly want than it is worth it.

8. what advice can you offer me to become a paramedic also? Master your BLS skills, Yes as a medic you have IV's, Advanced Air ways, and many other tools in your tool box, but sometimes those fail or not available right away. Being able to go back to your BLS skills can save your patient life.
Get experience, and the only way to do that is by running calls. The patients you see, the more comfortable you get with your skills.

9. what are your likes and dislikes of the job? I love the hours I work (24hrs x2 week). Being able to help someone in there time of need. Dislikes, the added stress it can add to me and my family. There is times i come home and i bring my work home with me. Try your best to leave work at work, and home at home.

10. what steps do i need to take to fullfill this career? Get your EMT basic, Volunteer or get on a paid department. Get comfortable with your skills. Make sure this is what you want to do with your life. Get into a Paramedic Class, Study Study Study. Listen ask questions.

11. was it hard and stressfull in the beginning of your career? It is still hard and stressful, that will never go away. We deal with sick, injured and death every shift. We might not see all 3 of those but we see at least one of them. Just remember, there are people you can talk to, and if you need time off to regroup and get you head back into the job than take the time off.

if you have other questions or need additional information PM me.

 

[leeksoldier]

Thank you very much!!!!

 

[Shishkabob]

1. describe your responsibilities
2. how long did it take you to become a paramedic (or EMT)?
3. why did you choose to be a paramedic(or EMT)?
4. what type of personality traits are needed?
5. what are the biggest challenges you face on the job?
6. what is your opinion of the future of this career?
7. are there many opportunities availabe?
8. what advice can you offer me to become a paramedic also?
9. what are your likes and dislikes of the job?
10. what steps do i need to take to fullfill this career?
11. was it hard and stressfull in the beginning of your career?

1. My responsibilities as a Paramedic directing a team of healthcare providers on a scene of an emergency, to wellness checks, and providing the highest level of medical care to patients outside of the hospital setting. This care can range from starting an IV to give anywhere between 30-60+ medications, to emergent surgical techniques such as sticking a needle in someones chest or throat, to providing the same exact care someone would get from a doctor in the case of a medical cardiac arrest, to just holding someones hand and comforting them, and everything in between.

2. Took me one semester to get my EMT, and another year to get my Paramedic. From 'zero-to-hero', expect around 2 years, depending on your location.

3. Kind of fell in to it. Always wanted to be a cop, so I took an EMT class to look better on applications. One ride on an ambulance during EMT class and I was hooked. Haven't looked back since.

4. The one and only personality trait that is needed is compassion. Everything else comes with time.

5. It's a dangerous job. I've wrestled people high on PCP, I've been on scenes where someone was stabbed, and I've worked accidents on the side of a snowy highway while cars still zip by lanes away.

6. The future of this career shows a more clinician role than of a technician role. As time advances, more education will be required, and the people that are attracted to this job will shift a bit.

7. Yes, there are many opportunities available, depending on what you want to do. You can work for a private service, you can work for a slow rural service with long transport times, you can work for a busy urban service, you can work for the fire department, you can work for security contractors overseas in combat zones, you can work on oil rigs, you can work at amusement parts... the list goes on.

8. The advice I'd offer is take an EMT class, see if you like it. If you don't, oh well, it's just a single semester. However, if you DO like it, you'll be hooked. Just keep working on your education, learn what you can, and make your OWN decisions on how you'll practice your patient care.

9. Likes- Diverse days... never the same thing twice
The feeling of helping someone, be it saving a life (rare) or taking away their pain (not rare)
I get to play with flashy lights and sirens!

Dislikes- Pay.
Pay.
Pay.
You see the worst of mankind.


10. Go to school for your EMT, take the national certification exam, and see if you like it. If you do, continue right on to your Paramedic, get more education, and never stop learning.

11. It's hard and stressful at times, regardless of the fact that it's the beginning, middle, or end of your career. Dealing with humans is not an easy thing in any fashion... dealing with humans on one of their worst days is even harder. However, as stressful as it can be, it is infinitely more rewarding.

 

[MrBrown]

1. Cruising around in the big white van with tinted windows that makes noises which attract children and sometimes dragging people into the back of it strapped to a gurney to give them drugs

2. Technician is one year, Paramedic is four, Intensive Care Paramedic is six

3. Keeps Brown out of trouble

4. Complete mental insanity

5. People

6. In AU, Canada, NZ, the UK etc looks very good

7. Yes

8. Don't do it in the US perhaps?

9. Brown both likes and dislikes the people he meets and works with and the things he gets to do

11. Still is!

 

[46Young]

!. Treatment and transport of the sick and injured. I work in three main roles. I'm the driver of a double medic unit, with the Lt. riding lead. Some like to swap calls with me, some prefer to run the show 100%. I occasionally ride as the lead medic on a "one and one" medic/EMT bus. This is on OT or detail, usually. I also ride as an engine medic in a first responder role, approx 40-50% of the time.

2. EMT - 4 1/2 months of night school, twice weekly, for three hours each night. I worked as an EMT for two years, then went to medic school. 13 months, two eight hour days weeky, and an average of 17.25 hours of clinicals a week as well.

3.My cousins were both ex FDNY EMS medics, and then went to hospital based EMS. The job appealed to me, and I had a hook into a good hospital after school. It's also the quickest way to make good money without having gone to college.

4. A high level of tolerance for abusive individuals. The ability to hadle exposure to human suffering on a daily basis. Compassion without getting emotionally involved (very important).

5.Scene safety, be it on the side of a highway, cornered in an apartment, in the middle of a melee, whatever. Being able to handle frequent disruptions to your sleep patterns.

6. Everyone needs to hold degrees to enable the field to move forward. It's in the best interests of many employers to have access to plentiful labor. So long as EMS employers across the board continue to hire those without dergrees, the situation will largely remain unchanged. The fire service and a handful of good municipal third service agencies are the only viable options for a sustainable career.

7. The opportunities are dependent on the region. It's fairly easy to be hired by a municipal employer in the Southeast. In Ohio or CA, not so much. For fire based, VA, MD, and DC are wide open for medics. Not the case in FL. Having said that, there's always turnover and burnout in EMS, so there's always spots opening up somewhere.

8. GET A DEGREE! At least an EMS AAS, so that you can build off of it. Emergency Management, Public Admin, nursing, etc can be beneficial as well. Many in EMS end up trapped there after some time. The degree will enable you to better yourself, advance in the field, or leave it altogether if burnout is evident. Always have an out, a second option. I can't stress that enough.

9.I like pt care. I like seeing the creatures of the night, all the stuff that most people don't see. I like the schedule. I dislike the disruptions to my sleep patterns. I dislike writing reports. I dislike being called for non acute cases that have no legitimate need for a 911 ambulance to help them. I dislike the lack of career advancement, pay, working conditions, and retirement that's typical outside of fire based EMS. I dislike perforated colostomy bags. I disliked the eight pediatric arrests I've worked, and I also dislike seeing severe child abuse cases, which I've lost count of.

10. EMS AAS. Then, a four year healthcare degree. It can be a BS in EMS, BSN, whatever. Most of the job opportunites in admin ask for a four year healthcare degree. The BS in EMS is so rare, you have people in other fields scooping up these lucrative jobs. I'll say it again: Always have an out. Have a way to get off the road other than light duty due to an injury.

11. Not particularly. I took to it well. NYC 911 EMS was like crack to me. I couldn't get enough of it. I have a good level of compassion, and also a high tolerance for abuse from pts. The trick is to care 10%. No more, no less. Any less and you'll treat your pts like crap. Any more, and the job will eat away at you emotionally, like a cancer. I worked for five years in NYC. three as an EMT, and two as a medic. I loved the 911 with a passion. I had the time of my life. IFT at the hospital was okay when we got good jobs, but I could do without the mundane cardiology x-fers, home/NH discharges, etc. I need stimulation. I bore easily. It's just the way it is.

 

[leeksoldier]

Thank you, so much everyone! These replys have all beeen so helpful!

 

[EMT11KDL]

Thank you, so much everyone! These replys have all beeen so helpful!

From what I can tell you have gotten answers from all across the United States now. Is there any other questions or things you would like to be clarified..

 

[leeksoldier]

Well...I'm going to a community college right now for my basics. I have seen signs advertising "Become an EMT in X amount of months!" but, I chose to go through it with my community college. I am still taking my first two classes, not related to being an EMT. But I am wondering...should I just get certified at one of those quick places real quick, that way I can start working and gaining experience? Or should I just go through with doing it through the community college? I still want to go to college and get a good education. I just want to start working, I am excited! I guess my question is... what is the best way to get myslef into the game already? Also, what way is most beneficial to me?

 

[EMTinNEPA]

1. Function as an advanced life support provider responsible for the rapid assessment, field diagnosis, and treatment of the sick and/or injured within my service district.
2. Year and a half.
3. Just kinda fell into it. The most flippant decision I ever made turned into a career I love.
4. Decisiveness. Attentiveness. The ability to remain calm under stress. The ability to think outside the box and improvise.
5. Providing the best care under the limitations of the current situation or the limitations of my scope of practice.
6. The future of this career is solely in the hands of those who practice it every single day... act like a technician, be treated like a technician, act like a clinician, be treated like a clinician.
7. Depends on the area you're looking in.
8. Pay attention to everything people tell you. Then confirm it via your own research. Never take anybody's word on anything. Always remain a patient advocate.
9. I like being able to make a difference, impacting somebody's life in a positive way. I dislike the current EMS system and wish it would receive a drastic overhaul.
10. Get an Associate's degree in EMS if possible and as much clinical internship time as humanly possible.
11. Still is, and probably always will be.