# What got you into EMS



## shiroun (Jul 28, 2012)

What got you into EMS?

Personally, I was hit by a car at the age of 13, left me with no sensory nerves on the inside of my rt knee, and two years later my girlfriend (at the time) was killed in a MVA involving a drunk driver. She died because of a mistake with a medic, and I made a promise to try and help as many people as I could. 

Wanted to take a class at 16, wasn't able to. Finally got to at 17.

So, share your stories. Good, bad, gruesome or not.


----------



## TB 3541 (Jul 28, 2012)

I have always had a passion to help people in need, but the thing that finally made me decide to pursue a career in EMS was this: nearly two years ago, my best friend was almost killed when he fall while working construction. The opportunity to provide the critical care that people need in situations like that became my calling. Unfortunately, I live in the most overly saturated market for EMT's in the country, but I have not given up hope yet!


----------



## Epi-do (Jul 28, 2012)

For me, it was a guy I was dating.  I can't complain though, 13 years later, I am doing a job that I absolutely love, and I have been married to the guy for almost 11 years.


----------



## MexDefender (Jul 28, 2012)

I tried to slam a basketball like Michael Jordan and the hoop came down as my head hit the pavement the hooks on the rim scalped half my head. An RN who lived next door knew exactly what to do and acted swiftly. I was rushed to ER and my parents were arguing with doctors because they wanted everything to be fixed at once and not multiple surgeries and they didn't feel the doctor who said he would attempt it was competent so they stabilized and transported 100 miles to the best trauma center this side of the state. En route the paramedic was doing routine things but at the time being a little kid I thought he was performing miracles and somehow kept me from crying.

Years later I met the doctor who put me back together with almost no visible remnants of my accident and I realized I wanted to be like the paramedic who was there making sure I made it. I am proud to be a part of this line of work.


----------



## bahnrokt (Jul 28, 2012)

I was at a company gathering with 300 of my closest co workers from across the country.  One of our VPs was on stage giving a speech when his eyes rolled back and he collapsed.  He worked out of my office and he was a mentor to all of us. He was also the one that hired me and gave me a shot.  Out of 300 well educated managers, executives and businessmen nobody knew what to do.  Finally the confrence center manager came in with an AED, looking back he had no idea what he was doing.  Now that I have a little knowledge on cardiac symptoms, I remember a few signs from earlier in the evening that he may have been in distress.  

I was embarrassed and shocked that out of that many people nobody even had cpr training.  The next week I joined my towns Vol ambulance corps and get my emt cert and got sucked in.  I like my day job and earn far too much to consider a carear in ems.  Im not the RA RA save the world type, but I love riding on the rig and getting to experience things I never would outside of EMS.  

We now have AEDs and real first aid kits in all of our offices and pay for cpr training for any employee that wishes to learn it....its a nice gesture but sorta useless.  I made the pitch to our HR director that we would make a real difference in putting in a program that helped employees get into exercise and proper nutrition so we wouldnt be 5'7", 375lbs and code at 58 like our VP.


----------



## firetender (Jul 29, 2012)

Just the other day I ran into a photo of me with my Cub Scout Pack back in the (sheeesh!) 1950's. One of the kids was John Ahern. He died that year. Choked on a chicken bone. 

John was the epitome of "only the good die young". In fact, the day I knocked him down and tried to grab his bike for a joy ride (I swear, the only time I EVER attacked someone else in my life!) he said something like, "Go ahead, take it, I still love you!"

When I first started taking Red Cross courses (6 and 8 hr. kine) very few people knew how to intervene in an emergency. All of a sudden, I was learning all this really logical, basic stuff that could actually save lives that were dying for no goddam reason...like John.

I can't honestly say John got me into EMS, but he traveled with me in my career and informs me still!

...and I'm really appreciating your stories!


----------



## atropine (Jul 29, 2012)

I wanted a decent salary, great benifits with a pension, and a super duper schedule.


----------



## DesertMedic66 (Jul 29, 2012)

I was raised in the out doors. Cub scouts, boy scouts, all the camping trips, merit badges, and made it up to Eagle Scout. I knew I was going to have to have a non office job where work was different everyday. 

9/11/2001 happened when I was in I think 4th grade. I remember sitting in class and watching all the stuff happen on the TV. I saw the firefighters running in the buildings and other people were running out and I pretty much fell in love. 

At the age of 13 I started going to the fire department and bugging the fire explorer advisor to let me join. A couple days after my 14th birthday (the minimum age for explorers in my area) I joined the fire department. 

The advisor was a firefighter paramedic engineer. After spending 5 years of training and working alongside of him he got me really interested in the medical aspect of firefighting. Joined the EMT program right after I graduated high school. Got hired as an EMT 3 months after finishing the EMT program. And 2-3 months after that got hired as a primary skills instructor at the college I went to (talk about the class paying for itself). 

About 1-2 years from now is medic school, followed by probably a fire academy, followed by hopefully getting hired as a firefighter paramedic. 

None of my family is involved in Fire, EMS, or police. Aunt is a RN but that's all. Im just an odd ball who sets high goals and makes sure to achieve them.


----------



## CritterNurse (Jul 29, 2012)

I was unemployed and was told I should find some volunteer work to put on my resume. So I walked up to the fire chief and offered myself as a volunteer to help treat pets affected by house fires. He told me they didn't see many pets at fires, but they could use more females on the EMS side, and mentioned that even a chaperon could make a difference. So I said I'd be fine with that, went through the process to join up. I found the EMS side interesting, and eventually became a basic.


----------



## chillybreeze (Jul 29, 2012)

When I was 15 and my best friend was 16 we were having a sleep over at her house.  There were a couple of other friends there as well and we ended up at a party with some older kids drinking.

My friend had only had her license a couple of months and was still really learning how to drive.  We decided to leave and pick up the brother of one of the girls with us and bring him to the party to so we made the bad decision to drive the 8 miles to go pick him up.

We only made it about 3 miles down the road.  We were speeding, drinking and driving and she went off the right side of the road and overcorrected.  We fllipped 4 times and she was ejected from the vehicle.  When I came to I found the other girls running down the road to call 911 and I found my best friend crumbled up in a soy bean field bleeding from her mouth (she had multiple trauma but I had no idea about any of that at the time).  I know I felt helpless and had no clue what I could do to help her.

EMS came and long story short we made it to the hospital but she didnt make it.  That was one of the hardest things my little 15 year old self had ever had to deal with.  I vowed right then that I would never feel that helpless again!!

Her mother was a nurse and was a leader in Medical Explorers.  My friend and I were both already members but I started looking more and more into the emergency medical part of it.  Her mother (who was like another mother to me) ended up helping me get in an emt class when I was a senior in high school and it was the best decision I ever made.

I have now been in emergency medicine most of my life and still carry her with me at every MVC I go to!


----------



## Handsome Robb (Jul 29, 2012)

Got a stable cervical fracture along with a grade 3 concussion playing football. All I remember is boxing with the paramedics in the ambulance...apparently I was a grumpy panda according to my mom. Next day one of the medics came to visit me in the hospital and it stuck with me.


----------



## EMT91 (Jul 29, 2012)

I have always found medical things to be interesting and so I knew I wanted to do something in the medical field. Throughout middle/high school, I was a big brother figure to a lot of gals and guys and helped a few through some really bad situations and even one from suicide. That feeling of helping another person, be it because they had acne and felt ugly or wanted to kill themselves, really made me feel great; I enjoy helping people. I knew I wanted something that had a lot of different things going on and I did not want to spend years and years in school before I was able to get into a job, so EMT fit perfectly.


----------



## Monkadelic (Jul 29, 2012)

for me my father passed away 4 years ago having a grand mal seizure and bit his tongue off and choked on his blood the day i was supposed go over there for visitation, but i chose not to because of the state of inebriation i always find him in.  2 fifths jim beam a day user he was; and i felt so helpless to save him; especially after the knock on the door occurred;  after that; i swore upon my own life i'd never let that happen to another family again if i was able to prevent it.


----------



## JDub (Jul 29, 2012)

I realized in my (what I thought was) final semester of college I realized I didn't want to work with computers anymore. I decided I wanted to be a cop, but I wasn't 21 yet so that was out of the option. Then I wanted to be a firefighter, but I wasn't in good enough shape. Finally I became friends with a guy that is a paramedic and he let go on a ride along with him and I really liked it, so I decided I would take an EMT class and just fell in love with it.

I would still like to be both a cop and firefighter some day though.


----------



## heatherabel3 (Jul 29, 2012)

When I was 18 I was the ejected front seat passenger in a 1 vehicle rollover. When I came to i was freaking out and there was a medic there who was trying to call me down. At one point he reached up and put his hand on my forehead and told me i was gonna be ok. I believed him and calmed down. I knew right then that I wanted to be that for someone else.


----------



## usalsfyre (Jul 29, 2012)

heatherabel3 said:


> When I was 18 I was the ejected front seat passenger in a 1 vehicle rollover. When I came to i was freaking out and there was a medic there who was trying to call me down. At one point he reached up and put his hand on my forehead and told me i was gonna be ok. I believed him and calmed down. I knew right then that I wanted to be that for someone else.



Weird experience isn't it? I didn't get that one till after I had been in EMS a while. It's nice to see someone else who's been there.


----------



## shiroun (Jul 29, 2012)

EMT91 said:


> Throughout middle/high school, I was a big brother figure to a lot of gals and guys and helped a few through some really bad situations and even one from suicide.



I did that aswell. Ironically I had my own version of "frequent flyers" in highschool, with kids who would text me saying they were going to kill themselves. One of them said he was going to jump off the roof of his house, and I knew his house only was 1 story. Told him to send me a photo, and of course I was right. Verbatim told him "enjoy the trip down. It won't kill you, but maybe it'll knock some sense into you to start enjoying life." He jumped off, broke his femur, and had a bilateral fracture of the shin. 

A few weeks later he came over to my house and thanked me up and down for telling him to do that. It's the only time I've played into it, and it worked.

My point is, it feels good to help people. I completely understand.


----------



## lightsandsirens5 (Jul 29, 2012)

I was swindled into taking a class I didn't want to take, to enter a field I didn't want to enter, to take care of people leaking blood and vomit (mostly the latter). I hate(ed) blood and vomit. But I did it all because I wanted to keep my chief happy and possibly serve my fellow firefighters better.

True story.

Now I am stinking hooked.


----------



## Tigger (Jul 30, 2012)

I grew up doing the Boy Scout thing and spent a lot of family time outside. As a kid I skied with pockets full of survival stuff and a first aid kit (whacker! :rofl. Whenever someone got hurt be it a sprained ankle or motorcycle MVC at age 16 I always seemed to be the only one that had any clue so I figured I could hack EMS if I took the class.

I always wanted to work on an ambulance and be a ski patroller, so when my town's police gave me 1000 dollars in grant money when I graduated, I decided to put it towards an EMT class so I could give back to the same town. The Fire Chief had other plans and that never worked out, but I find myself still loving EMS and hopefully acquiring some knowledge to further a healthcare career that also hopefully includes Emergency Medicine in some capacity.


----------



## flacosplace (Aug 1, 2012)

*What got yu into EMS?*

I was working half time as a social worker in a busy ER so knew a lot of medical stuff. The other half of my life I was living in a little fishing village in Mexico with great waves. My neighbors found out  I worked in an ER and the next thing you know, I'm the town medical consultant. Thought I better go back and get my EMT so I would be a little better prepared.
Retired now after 30 years in the ER. And the town finally got a clinic...


----------



## EisforEffort (Aug 1, 2012)

I've always been interested in it! I have a very special learning disability and have to learn in a hands on classroom.  I tried nursing and couldn't grasp it because it was too much book work and not enough clinical time. With EMT school, honestly we learned it hands on first then applied it with text and writing. Almost BACKWARDS but it worked for me! Getting into this field I am still really new but I'm absolutely addicted to my job!


----------



## FrostbiteMedic (Aug 1, 2012)

atropine said:


> I wanted a decent salary, great benifits with a pension, and a super duper schedule.



So.....how did that work for ya??? :rofl:

Seriously though, I got into EMS because of some weird interest in Emergency Services.....just found I liked it after joining CAP years ago and doing SAR.


----------



## Achilles (Aug 1, 2012)

I wanted to be a firefighter ever since I was six years old. I always rushed to the window to see an ambulance or fire truck rush by. I used to go see some of our city's fires also. And then I learned ems was a big part of what we do everyday.

However I was asked this by a department that I was doing my clinical at, and they told me my answer was bad because it was so typical.


----------



## TB 3541 (Aug 1, 2012)

Achilles said:


> I always rushed to the window to see an ambulance or fire truck rush by.



Haha, I still do that.


----------



## shiroun (Aug 3, 2012)

Achilles said:


> I wanted to be a firefighter ever since I was six years old. I always rushed to the window to see an ambulance or fire truck rush by. I used to go see some of our city's fires also. And then I learned ems was a big part of what we do everyday.
> 
> However I was asked this by a department that I was doing my clinical at, and they told me my answer was bad because it was so typical.





TB 3541 said:


> Haha, I still do that.



Guilty too :\.


----------



## O2andDogs (Aug 12, 2012)

The short answer is William Shatner and my wife.

When I was a young tot (about 4 or 5 I think), I was lucky enough to be in that special zone where they were still showing reruns of Emergency! and there was this new show called Rescue 911. Yes, I realize I am dating myself here...

Anyway, after being absolutely glued to those shows, I remember telling a family friend "I'm gonna be a paramedic when I grow up!" Having NO clue what a paramedic actually did, except look really cool and save people. Mainly I just wanted to play with the defibrillator 

Fast forward about 25 years or so... I was 30 years old and had a new wife, who really believed in me. We were going through a very fortunate time in our lives and she looked at me and asked me if there was anything in the world I could do, what would it be? I told her I had wanted to go to EMT school since I was a child, but had become an expert in making excuses as to why I couldn't. Her answer? Then do it. I will support you.

After 3 months of the most challenging classwork of my life (I always took the  easy classes in college), I passed my class with one of the highest grades, and passed the National Registry on the first try.

I am in a fairly unrelated career that I love, and I will probably not do EMS full-time, but I have my application for a local volunteer department ready to go.

It's not as glamorous a story as some I have seen in this thread, but it is what it is. Whatever the motivation to serve, the fact that one has it is the important part!


----------



## Obstructions (Aug 12, 2012)

...It sounded fun. I dunno. The Adrenaline rush is nice for me! Plus it's relatively easy to find jobs or volunteer around places. Good volunteerism that makes me feel like I'm doing something important.


----------



## NYMedic828 (Aug 12, 2012)

To be a firefighter...


----------



## titmouse (Aug 12, 2012)

What has got me into EMS was a conversation that I had with my friend about work in general. And  the reality is the following. Any type of work sucks, everyone wishes they coukd get paid for being cool. So i decided to look into ems as a result.  As far as money i know that i will earn more than i do now working at a warehouse  and will bet more personal satisfaction out of my work. Plus i enjoy the medical side as well. I am looking forward to studying


----------



## lateralligator (Aug 12, 2012)

*Well, I'm considering paramedic training because..*

of the mind-numbing boredom and lack of challenge of the career I've had for almost 20 years + a sense that Im just on a conveyor belt to the Great Beyond + awareness that I have strengths and skills that aren't being utilized x Colorado shooting = It just feels right.

I •would• also like to earn more and have better (or some!) medical benefits. Seems the jury's still out on that one. :unsure:


----------



## jamesbond05 (Aug 14, 2012)

I was trying to make some money while in college


----------



## taylor24 (Aug 17, 2012)

O2andDogs said:


> When I was a young tot (about 4 or 5 I think), I was lucky enough to be in that special zone where they were still showing reruns of Emergency! and there was this new show called Rescue 911. Yes, I realize I am dating myself here...


I remember Rescue 911! I was also young when it was on, maybe 5 or so? I loved that show!!

Suffice to say that I've had a lot of medical experiences! Both real and simulated....

I was born 4 months premature (24 weeks gestation, 1lb 12oz at birth), and I have Hydrocephalus and very mild Cerebral Palsy. My first several years of life were filled with various health issues, but the Hydrocephalus is under control with a VP shunt, and the CP is mild enough that I wear a small AFO brace and walk with a slight limp; other than that I am fine and function normally.

I'm the daughter of a former police officer, and have grown up around law enforcement and medical personnel. Since June 2007, I've put my medical knowledge to use as a moulage (realistic injury makeup) artist and civilian role player for my local first responders - I've played everything from a hostage at gunpoint, to a trapped and injured earthquake victim, to a paranoid psychiatric patient! I'm also a member of CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) and am trained in small fire suppression, search and rescue, and basic trauma first aid. 

I love the medical portions of our CERT practicals, and have really enjoyed getting to learn from medical staff in some of my role-playing experiences.

And that's how it started!


----------

