Advice for aspiring medic at 35

[buckeyen8ive]

Hi, I'm 35 yrs old and want to become a Paramedic.
I live in Southern CA and I'm currently enroled in EMT school.
I'm in pretty good shape, I eat healthy, don't smoke, and
most importantly - I'm dedicated.

Is there anyone else here that started around my age?
If so, what was your experience like, and what kind of advice
can you give me? Feel free to PM me offline if you prefer.

To the best of my knowledge, there aren't maximum age limitations
on medics. But one of the things I am concerned about is - a lot of EMS services
are provided via Fire Departments and I'm pretty sure they do have maximum
age restrictions.

Anyway, I look forward to your replies.

Thanks,

 

[Aidey]

I would have one major concern about starting in EMS at 35, especially in CA. Retirement. EMS is not often a high paying field, and CA is well know to be short in jobs. The high paying jobs with good retirement tend to be in fire department. As you noted, those are the jobs that often have age restrictions. If you are prepared to deal with the income and retirement issues, have at it.

 

[ExpatMedic0]

I am 30 years old and went back to college last year to complete a bachelors. Better late than never, right? I completed Paramedic school in 2006, over half the class was your age or older. I can't comment on every Paramedic class, but ours had people from all walks of life making a career change or having a midlife crisis. You will do fine as long as you study hard and have the will.

Do you have a degree in another field currently? Whats your previous line of work? What kind of money do you want/expect to make in EMS?
PS: Yes California has a bad reputation for EMS, be prepared to possible consider relocating. That is what I hear on the forum anyway...

 

[MrJones]

Hi, I'm 35 yrs old and want to become a Paramedic.
I live in Southern CA and I'm currently enroled in EMT school.
I'm in pretty good shape, I eat healthy, don't smoke, and
most importantly - I'm dedicated.

Is there anyone else here that started around my age?
If so, what was your experience like, and what kind of advice
can you give me? Feel free to PM me offline if you prefer.

To the best of my knowledge, there aren't maximum age limitations
on medics. But one of the things I am concerned about is - a lot of EMS services
are provided via Fire Departments and I'm pretty sure they do have maximum
age restrictions.

Anyway, I look forward to your replies.

Thanks,

Around your age? Try, significantly past your age.

Don't view your age or fire department age restrictions as roadblocks - if this is something you truly want, you'll find a way to make it work.

 

[terrible one]

Best advice? Move out of CA.

The vast majority of FDs in CA do not have an upper age maximum, however, they are extremely competetitive.

 

[teedubbyaw]

Have guys/girls in their 40's in my program and a good friend/class mate in his 50's. The older students do very well compared to the younger ones who either aren't taking things seriously and/or have little dedication.

 

[Ecgg]

Finish your EMT school first and obtain a job preferably working along side a medic. That is much better gauge of what is what especially when you still at that saving lives and rescuing the world stage. Plus this way you didn't "go all in" all the way toward medic to realize what the circumstances are.

Age is only a factor if you let it be a factor.

 

[mgr22]

I started in EMS at 39 -- 21 years ago. I think that extra life experience helped me deal with patients, partners and employers, and kept me from over-reacting to the highs and lows that come with the job.

 

[Ewok Jerky]

in the interest of your retirement, i would seriously look at hospital based medicine careers like RN or PA, or get into management asap. CA is particularly hard, but EMT/medic jobs are not very well paying most places. I would use your EMT experience to get exposure to other jobs and get good healthcare experience to further your education.

 

[Wildsky]

You're 10 years younger than I am, I just passed my NREMT a month ago!

 

[medicrd]

Study study study and stay up to date!

 

[buckeyen8ive]

Thanks for all of the replies.
Seems that the general consensus is that my age is fine,
CA isn't the best place to be,
and that I will basically be living out of my truck with the money I will
be making.

But seriously, I know it's cliche but I'm really not in it for the money.
I make good money now and hate my job. Life is too short to do
something you hate.

I do, however, have mouths to feed and I'll admit that it does make
me a little nervous. The ideal situation for me would be to work part
time or as a volunteer while I go to Paramedic school and slowly
get some experience but we'll see how it goes.

 

[terrible one]

It is cliche and its said a lot around here, but honestly think about your retirement and your family. You're willing to take a job that pays $35-40k a year and is unsecure (as in your company may be bought, lose contracts, at will employee employee) to do something you love? How about the fact that less than 10% of field paramedics retire as such?
I'd recommend doing a lot of homework on the area your interested in, the pay, retirement, hiring process, contract length, etc before just leaving your current field. Like I said earlier if you want to make EMS your career get out of CA.
Good luck

 

[ExpatMedic0]

I do, however, have mouths to feed and I'll admit that it does make
me a little nervous. The ideal situation for me would be to work part
time or as a volunteer while I go to Paramedic school and slowly
get some experience but we'll see how it goes.

As a newer Paramedic at a decent private ambulance company be prepared to make around $40,000 k a year with no OT. Obviously this is not true in every state and every agency, its just an approximate average of what I have seen across the nation. Should you weasel your way into municipal agency of some kind you can make around one third to double that in some areas...

 

[All Ryle Dup]

As a newer Paramedic at a decent private ambulance company be prepared to make around $40,000 k a year with no OT. Obviously this is not true in every state and every agency, its just an approximate average of what I have seen across the nation. Should you weasel your way into municipal agency of some kind you can make around one third to double that in some areas...

This.

Also Buck,
There are also numerous non-traditional roles for experienced paramedics popping up all over lately. Some require additional skill sets or classes such as dive medic, OSHA training for occupational medicine, military background for military contracts, firefighter, etc.
Some do not such as sea-going medics, ER Techs, international medicine, third party hospital services, etc.

There are many avenues to take that pay far greater than your average private transport agency. You just have to be, as you said, dedicated.

Ps. Your age will not inhibit you in most cases. Although, in a busy system paramedics age like cheese, not like wine.