The Difference about Being an EMT

[wwrescueEMT]

A wise person once told me, "If you're meant to be in this field, doing this work, it will consume you. It will take over your life. It's all you'll think about and it's all you're ever going to want to talk about. If you're not meant to be here, you will leave. You either will leave the moment something really bad happens, or you will stick it through and leave at the end, broken and beaten."
I'm noticing this more and more these days. All I ever think about, all I ever want to do is be in the back of the ambulance running full-tilt at 3am. It's like an addiction, once you get a taste, you want more. I work for a volunteer department in the city where i'm going to college, and if i'm not in class, i'm probably on call. Then, as if that and studying weren't enough, I decided to join a full-time department as a part-time EMT on the weekends.

The wierdest thing i've noticed so far is how distant i'm getting from the things that used to seem to matter. When you're beginning in EMS, sometimes it feels like you're living two lives. One as a "normal" person, you go home to your friends and famililes and you act how you always have (maybe you're the goofball whom nobody ever takes seriously), and the other you live in a world filled with excitement that requires quick minds and lots of logical problem solving. The longer I live in the second, the more I notice that the first is getting smaller and smaller. I don't really have anything to talk about with my old friends, because they don't understand what it is we go through (for example, after my very first death, nobody understood how I could be crying over someone I didn't even know existed 15 minutes before I was kneeling at his side) and ...I don't really have anything else to talk about. ...and there's only so many times that you can listen to your friend complain about how much she likes so-and-so but can't tell him for such-and-such a reason.
Relationships are tough for us I think, or maybe it's because I don't have enough practice with it yet, but the relationships that we share with our fellow EMTs are essential. I'm incredibly grateful for my friends who are EMTs, firefighters and police officers...I don't know how I would have made it through some of the tougher calls had they not been there. The difference is, you know that no matter what goes down, even if you say the wrong thing, or do the wrong thing, in the end you know that they've got your back...whether they like you or not, they're there.

P.S. I like to ramble on about subjects.

Has anyone else ever noticed anything like this?

 

[Twix623]

As for what your saying I believe that its all true really. I'm not yet a EMT, but I'm sure its something you can either do or not do. Not everyone can do it, but to those who can, it does consume them at times. When I become an EMT, I hope for that not to happen to me.

I have a huge normal life with my friends that I can't even think about losing. I've been on a few ride-alongs already and I can say that I agree with your urge of wanting more. Its all just exciting, I actually got my first death on my second ride along. But with EMT work I will try really hard to balance the both 'normal' and 'not normal' life, I just have to.

 

[Ridryder911]

Please listen to the advice of an old medic..."One may love EMS, but EMS will never you".... : meaning, that consumption that you describe is alike a bad relationship, only one way, soon someone is going to be be hurt.

Please, know there is a happy medium, I myself did not find that out until too late and a lot of grief in my personal and those associated with me lives. Please, please remember it is just a job.. something that is hard for many us to accept, but it is true...

R/r 911

 

[rhan101277]

I feel a calling to work at a EMT. But I have a regular full-time job, hoping to do EMT part-time. Hopefully my regular job will keep me from thinking about it to much. I haven't start EMT class yet, let alone on my first ride-along. Its exciting and something I am looking forward to. If it is not for me, then I have this full-time job that supports me and my family now to fall back on. I hope that I enjoy it though.

 

[MMiz]

Welcome to EMTLife!

When I first started studying EMS, I wanted to belong to something. I wanted to have some knowledge that would allow me to have some sort of control over most situations. I wanted to be great at what I did, and to be full of knowledge. I bought all the EMT-B textbooks I could, I bought the Galls BLS kit, and got a cervical collar, and a BVM for dramatics.

The more I worked in EMS, and the more I work in general, I realize that it's critical that one find a balance between one's career and personal life. After working in EMS for a few years, I realize that I may have used my job as a tool to avoid personal obligations. Working in EMS made me feel like I belonged to something, but I've found that it also alienated me from some friends and family.

I hope that you're able to one day find the balance between work and fun, and that you continue to enjoy working in EMS.

 

[wwrescueEMT]

I do enjoy it, and Twix, that was not meant to be a shot at you at all. I was merely describing something I had been contemplating lately, don't jump to conclusions, please. I hope one day that I am able to find the "happy balance" between my work and my personal life, but hey, if there was any time to throw myself into doing something that I love, and try to make as much of a difference as I can, it's now right? Before I have a family, before I have so many other things going on that I can justify not going big. Jumping into EMS and working as much as I can is, well, right now, mainly a means to an end, I love it, but I never lose sight of that. By running as much as I possibly can, I get tons of experience to do what I want to do...if I really want to be a doctor someday, I need to work as hard as I can at it. At least I found something that I love doing to get that experience. I know a lot of people who aren't as lucky as I am in that field and end up doing something that they wouldn't ever want to do, except that it gives them a small taste of what the medical field can offer.

 

[mikeylikesit]

you will settle down when you start doing 3-4 24 hours shifts in a row and getting night where all your call either suck or you feel like your messing up. I was the same way but after a while i just kind of plateaued in it. that is why i alway continue my education and move higher up, so that i don't get bored with the profession ever. now by no way is emergency medicine boring, but i find that if you do something long enough to get so good with the same skills that it's like you don;t even have to try anymore...then you burn out...thats just me though. you may always be excited but don't let the EMT goggle make your friends and family disappear.

 

[el Murpharino]

Also, be sure to take at least one or two days a week and make them "me" days, meaning you spend them on yourself, friends, family....pretty much away from EMS. It's tough to do at first, trust me. I found that if I play golf, turn off my cell phone, company pager, etc., I leave feeling refreshed and recharged.

 

[IrishMedic]

ya know wwrescueEMT i feel the same as you do, i can remember the first death and well the girl i was with then well, it was hard to talk bout things cos she never understood...in ireland people dont really know what we do and they call us ambulance drivers at times and it gets to me cos i know a lot more than to just drive...but i found comfort that at work i had a family or bros and sis's and well in the service i wrk with we nickname are Training officers as mom and dad, so its like family. i found my girlfriend get jealous cos i talked so much with my crew. now dont get me wrong my days off were my days off and we would do the couply stuff and i wouldnt bring up work and it just got to that relationship cos she felt i was getting too attached.... i guess ive learned a lot now and well i started in EMS three years ago and ive been single since pretty the start of it (story above) until this year. i'm with a great person who loves that ive passion for my work but i tell a few stories and keep her in touch with my job n she knows my crew but i dont swamp her in stories, she wants to be a LEO so that helps as well, she understands the job...but its a constant learning thing....ive learned that when i have the choice between family/friends/girlfriend and my job its good to choose my family and girlfriend and friends....but i do have a jump bag in my car just incase i come across anything serious and they understand, i think ive found the happy medium....it suits our lives....we are a rare breed to have the passion we do and the compassion even with the BS runs we can get....we still manage to keep that love and passion to what we do, 24/7. there will be days you need to just come home switch off and have a hug and have a laugh and forget bout it all, but never lose that passion

 

[mdkemt]

I love EMS! Does it consume my life...NO! But I do look forward to work..I do love being in the back..I do love the interaction and I love taking control of situations. With that being said, my days off are my days off to relax and spend with my family.

MDKEMT

 

[BEorP]

I feel a calling to work at a EMT.

This isn't a religious thing, it is a job.

 

[Jon]

Careful. Some people seem to worship certain stethoscopes or Ambulance manufacturers... or even some Fire Departments.... 10-4? K.

 

[rhan101277]

This isn't a religious thing, it is a job.

You mis-understand, I have always wanted to help people and learn medicine. Thats what I meant by I feel a calling.

 

[rmellish]

Everyone starts out this way. I know I did. I cannot stress enough, that once you run a certain number of calls things will not seem as new and exciting as they once were. Eventually believe it or not running lights and sirens will become less exciting. At some point every call will stop being a "good" call. At this point, one of two things will happen. One, you will simply relax, settle into a routine, and continue working, or two, you will lose interest or burn out. What happens purely depends on your attitude, and why you enjoy being an EMT. Is it the adrenaline rush,or is it something else?You'll have to decide that for yourself.

So take a break every once in awhile. Give yourself some time away from the shifts. It will make the transition from "new and exciting" to "routine" that much easier, and hopefully you'll come out the other end with the same commitment you began with.

Oh, and some calls will always be exciting, don't worry.

 

[Pittsburgh Proud]

Please listen to the advice of an old medic..."One may love EMS, but EMS will never you".... : meaning, that consumption that you describe is alike a bad relationship, only one way, soon someone is going to be be hurt.

Please, know there is a happy medium, I myself did not find that out until too late and a lot of grief in my personal and those associated with me lives. Please, please remember it is just a job.. something that is hard for many us to accept, but it is true...

R/r 911

Once again such great advise but sometime some have to do it first hand to learn it. It can be said so many times and never heard.
Once your in EMS you will never escape it. It is who you are, but It also can and will destroy you. Learn when to let go of it...

 

[BossyCow]

Some of this is physiological. New in EMS that shot of adrenaline that happens when the tones go off can be addictive. I do wonder about the person that told you EMS is an either/or kind of thing. There is a way to find balance without fluctuating wildly between extremes. Most of the really good EMS people I know have found that balance.

It's good that you noticed your old world getting smaller because it means you have time to save it, nurture it and keep it from shrinking further. If you can't let go of your last call, or cool trauma, or big MVA and enjoy talking with your old buddies about what used to keep you connected, then you lose something important about yourself. It's not that they don't or can't understand, its that you need to be able to let go of EMS and enjoy something else for the time you are with them.

Be aware, the path you describe leads to burn out, emotional exhaustion and social deprivation. Re-read the chapter in your EMT text book on Self Care, and this time, really pay attention. Your friends, relationships and family are what will see you through the rough times. Don't let the initial rush put you in isolation from your safety net.

 

[Lyss]

I agree wholeheartedly with BossyCow. I found this out the hard way, and lost many close relationships and put many more in jeopardy. I'll never get those years back, and while I figured out everything (for the most part) now on how to balance my life and my career, I'm still learning.

I thought that they just "didn't understand" but the problem was I had lost touch with the real world and with myself. I became so consumed by EMS I wore only BDUs and t-shirts for about two years and forgot I was a woman, my college classes suffered because I dismissed my classes as being meaningless in the greater vastness of life because it could end so quickly -- this after seeing a year of very bad traumas one after another. My GPA fell, not due to partying or anything else, I had actually not gone to parties or anything in about two years, and I lived at the ambulance building.

Now after I got everything figured out, I'm the happiest I've ever been and can leave work, for the most part, at work. I don't have EMS emblems all over my house or truck, and for the most part don't tell people what I do since they always inquire about your worst call, etc. when I'd rather talk about something else, like my other hobbies.

Don't let go of yourself, don't let yourself drown in it. Keep up with your friends and other hobbies.

 

[rhan101277]

I have always wanted to work in the medical field, helping people. Not for a adrenaline rush. I figure the excitement will not always be there, but your patient will and they are looking to you then for your help and that will always be the case. Unless its someone who wants to die, or a combative person etc. etc.

 

[2serveothers]

New to the forum here, I have spent a couple of days reviewing the myriad of topics. During my highschool years and the first few years of college, I spent a tremendous amount of time working as volunteer as a EMT on my hometown Ambulance, Fire and Search and Rescue teams. I must add that it was pretty self-consuming. While my peers were partying and adressing other interests, I was participating in sustaining life. Did I love the adrenaline rush, you bet. Did I love to get called out when most were sleeping peacefully and donn a large amount of equipment and squirt water on flames that burn, Yes again. Did I enjoy the 1st great snowfall during the winters of Wyoming crunching under my tires as a green revolving light, ponders the insurrection of a lost hunter in 0 degree weather, Yes infinately. I loved to serve those who werent able to help themselves or needed assistance to sustain life.
My point... The glory of helping others can be very, very, consuming. But as been pointed out, there is "Life after the Call". When all goes Well, it's Great. When all goes Bad, it can be a multitude of expressive emotions and nomenclature. Patients don't always live, and if you serve in a small enough community you are bound to package and transport a friend, or loved one. Then the glory meets the pavement and you are left to reflect. Train to give the best care you can possibly give, smile with those you sustain, and hug those who are in need. I am a bit old fashioned for my young age, but serving others should be a lifestyle as well as a job. After you hold the hand of a man in his 30's who tried to end his life with a large caliber rifle and didn't "Get er' Done" as he speaks to you from a mutilated face. And you crushed the ribs of an elderly lady while performing CPR, only to find she will remain in a vegetative state til she has met fate. And have the remains of a friend scooped up into a body bag, Then and only then will time be your best friend.
I served faithfully in EMS for 4 short years in the early 90's. I felt the pressure of many of the same things discussed in the forum. Low Pay, No Respect, Filthy Conditions, Long Hours and when you have hauled the "Home-town Drunk for the 5th time during a 60 hour shift" you will be ready to find a friend, spouse or someone to lean on.
Now nearly 13 years later, I have the same desire to assist and serve in a larger capacity. Not for the money, Not for the Glory, Not for Recognition, but to make a difference when a difference is needed. Bless all who serve in whatever the capacity.

 

[wwrescueEMT]

I loved to serve those who werent able to help themselves or needed assistance to sustain life.

...serving others should be a lifestyle as well as a job.

Now nearly 13 years later, I have the same desire to assist and serve in a larger capacity. Not for the money, Not for the Glory, Not for Recognition, but to make a difference when a difference is needed.

Heck yes, I totally agree with you 110% It's an honor to be able to help people in their time of need, to be an advocate when they can't help themselves. I like the part where you talk about how serving others should be a lifestyle, because its completely true...that's what it seems like we were made for. You can help others even outside of work, just by saying "hi" or stopping and having a conversation with a stranger that you meet on the street can have a huge impact on their life as well as yours, though it may not not be obvious at the time...it could brighten their whole day.