The Difference about Being an EMT

[Tiberius]

It is important to find the happy medium between work and your personal life. When I'm not at work, I generally don't talk about the job too much. I focus on other things like my family, hobbies, etc.

I've been in this field on and off for about 10 years. I returned to EMS this year after an almost 2 year absence because my other full-time job kept me too busy. Now I have decided that I will have less stress picking up the town drunk 5 times in one day than deal with office politics, so I'm back. I love this field, and I enjoy being able to make a positive impact on someone's life in a time of need. When I am off, then I'm off. I devote my time to my family and I'm able to keep a good balance.

 

[firetender]

You've signed up for a crash-course in being human. Look at the responses: some included regret, others resolve; pain; fear; surprise; self-protection...

You've entered a world that most people outside of the industry (and remember, it IS an industry of which you are a cog in the wheel) do not understand because your role is to provide care for the injured, ill and dying so they don't have to.

The role you now play in the greater society is both witness and intercessor in human tragedy. You are entering an alternate reality that runs counter to how the mainstream experiences life.

Once, the responsibility for attending to illness and injury were relatively evenly dispersed throughout the community. That time has passed, and now, we pay you to do it, and not much at that!

So, I'm telling you that it is perfectly natural (and in my book, expected, if you allow yourself) to discover parts of yourself that you will abhor along with discovering parts of yourself that are stellar.

Do not be tricked into thinking that there's only one way to be in this profession. If you are you'll drive yourself nuts attempting to be more stable than you really are.

What I'm saying is that some days, and in some moments, you will feel cold as steel toward your patients. Other days, you'll understand what love means. Some days you will see zero justice in the world; other days you will see an order that truly seeks balance.

Rather than declare yourself an Adrenaline Junkie, get to understand that there is a part of you, living inside that IS an Adrenaline Junkie.

There is a part living inside of you that IS Mother Teresa, too.

My point is that you have chosen to place yourself in a position where you're very likely to meet parts of yourself that you never knew existed. That's what happens when you step into a pressure cooker.

The degree you resist those parts in you the more likely will they get power over you. Parts, like emotions and moments, come and go. The more they go unexpressed the stronger and more difficult to handle they become.

That's what I love about this forum. There's room for honest reflection, Often, there's challenging feedback, but at all times people are willing to reveal their own doubts and challenges as well.

Keep on doing what you're doing for the honesty you share encourages others to do the same. Everyone here benefits by that.

Thank you!

 

[upstateemt]

If you allow a job, any job to consume your life you are headed down a difficult path that ends in sure burnout. I have been in the healthcare field as a Critical Care RN and EMT CC for over 25 years and while there have been moments in time that either role has become all consuming those moments are rare.

I love what I do but I also love the parts of my life that are not connected to death and dying, my partner and children, my hobbies and other charitable causes as well as a wide interest in the world in general. It makes me a better nurse and a better EMT.

My experience with any person in the health care professions, whether Dr or EMT, that becomes all consumed withtheir job is that they stop seeing people as human beings and only see them as the most recent "trauma" or "illness".

 

[rmellish]

You've signed up for a crash-course in being human.

I don't think I've ever seen it put that way. I'll have to remember that.