How Old is to OLD to stay an EMT?

[Woodstuck]

I have been in EMS since 1993 I believe my life is to be of service to all other's!
I am female and have found the only problem, I ever had in being female is the occasional horney partner! LOL Which is not a problem when I set them strait that I could be their mom! Now it seems that my age is the factor as I turn 45! I can still do the job and I excell at working with New EMT's! I enjoy watching them grow and love the work they do in EMS! I was wondering what people think of EMT's my age should I stay or go?
Please know I appreciate all your feedback! Be Safe all my brother's and sister's!

 

[Veneficus]

why tell people how old you are?

If you like your job just do it until you can't.

 

[Woodstuck]

45

Why not?

 

[Veneficus]

I was trying to illustrate that if you are capable, there is no reason to fret over chronologic age.

(and I always thought ladies forget how old they were )

 

[Melclin]

I think your age is irrelevant. It may be associated with other undesirable attributes like being burnt out, undereducated or injured, but it doesn't sound like that is the case with you.

Talented and enthusiastic teachers with a few runs on the board are incredibly valuable. So long as you have many years of experience and not one year of experience repeated many times. If you enjoy and excel at teaching and find the job in general to be rewarding, why on earth are you considering absconding on account of your age?

Plenty of people over 45 with in the job here (many with kids older than me) and I have the pleasure to call some of those medics my friends and mentors.

Addendum on the topic of gender: I prefer working with women. They tend to be less macho and more prone to discussion and team work. Conversely, the worst paramedic I've ever met or worked with was a woman. Value of these biased anecdotes? None. Gender is irrelevant to the job.

 

[Woodstuck]

45

Thank you for your feedback! I am going to stay in till I can't safely take care of my Pt. I like working with newbie's! I also prefer working with guy's! Women are catty and I have not had any good experiences on duty with women young or old!

 

[RocketMedic]

Punctuation...

 

[MrJones]

is...

 

[WolfmanHarris]

Most senior guy at my service has a seniority date in 1968. Started as an RN, switched to Ambulance and has worked through all the transitions from Hospital to Municipal, Ambulance Driver to Paramedic, etc. He's 66 could have taken his full pension years ago. He was planning to work until 70 but his long time partner retired and he's finally been looking at putting in his papers. Of course then he wants to go work Logistics casually.

 

[NomadicMedic]

We have several older folks at our service. We started in 1990, and many of the paramedics have been here since the very beginning. I believe our oldest medic is in his mid 60s, and he's got a few years left before he retires.

I would say, as long as you can do the job safely… Keep it up.

 

[Rialaigh]

Like N7lxi said, as long as you can do it safely then keep it up. In some medic jobs, in busier systems, where you may deal with violence or altered persons on a weekly basis, I would likely feel uncomfortable with a partner who is 65. I would prefer someone who is in decent shape and can do all the physical requirements of the job and then some. I have no problem with those that are older in an administrative role.

 

[Woodstuck]

45

Thanks for your feedback! To the Guy who spoke of punctuation don't you have a call? Kidding Sorry I am just to old to care!

 

[firecoins]

Anything above 18.

 

[RocketMedic]

Thanks for your feedback! To the Guy who spoke of punctuation don't you have a call? Kidding Sorry I am just to old to care!

I would simply say that proper punctuation is important to how you are perceived.

 

[Aidey]

To further expound on what rocketmedic said. When communicating via writing on the Internet, how you write is all we have to evaluate you on. So how you write strongly influences what other people assume and think, correct or not. The overuse of exclamation points gives a certain impression, and I'm not sure it is the one you want to give.

Also, you can't ask people to ignore your age and then turn around and claim you're too old to care about something. If you don't want people making an issue out of your age, your can't use it as an excuse. The last thing you want is people brushing you off as too old to learn something new.

 

[ExpatMedic0]

When I was working in the Portland area, I met another Paramedic on duty one day who was the first medic in our state. His Oregon Paramedic certification had number #00001 on it. Still working 911... that was in 2008 or so. I think his name was Frank.. Anyway that's another story.

One of my lab instructors in medic school was so old that when she first started EMS she drove a hurse ambulance and got paid commission "by the head" to whomever she brought in. She is still working 911 today

 

[mycrofft]

I'm going on sixty and doing sporadic event first aid.

I went into nursing at age 27 because I knew my body wouldn't go the distance swinging from ropes and climbing/hauling but I stayed with the Guard and did plenty of climbing/swinging/hauling, just not daily.

The point is, if it brings you pleasure and you are safe for yourself and others to do it, then try. If it's getting too much, pedal back a little.

I found that people started expecting me to either take more of a lead role or to just shut up and back away as I got older. (Now it's mostly the latter ). There may be some confusion in some people's minds. Just be tolerant of new language and styles, focus on the job and standards, and keep your education up.

 

[atexascattleman]

I'm 56 and I will start my EMS training this summer. I've already retired from one career and just wanted to do something to give back so to speak. So from my prospective, I have miles to go before I sleep. If I were you Woodstuck, I'd go until failure (safely).

 

[Akulahawk]

I would suggest that as long as you are younger than dead, and you can do the job safely, go for it!

 

[Woodstuck]

45

Texas Cattleman that is awesome good for U!