Anyone took a break from EMS?

NightHealer865

NightHealer865

Nationally Registered Paramedic
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Am I the only one who needed a much needed break from being a Paramedic? Took a year off to go back to aircraft mechanic and recover. 911 SSM burned me out, I couldn’t stand being on an ambulance and helping patients wasn’t fun anymore. Now I’m getting back into EMS and am super excited and refreshed.
 
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Nope. But you are lucky you have the skills and knowledge to take a break. I'm stuck.
 
PotatoMedic said:
Nope. But you are lucky you have the skills and knowledge to take a break. I'm stuck.
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Unfortunately, too many of our brethren ignore the signs that they need a break, or if they are aware, are either unwilling or unable to make the change.
 
I'd planned a three-month break but was back in two because I missed it. Bad decision. It was like tearing sutures after surgery, then having to get stitched up all over again.
 
I left for a few years after accepting a management position in my previous industry, radio broadcasting. It was a horrible mistake. I missed the freedom and opportunities that EMS presented. I also gave up a great position at a fantastic agency.

Oh well, live and learn.
 
NomadicMedic said:
I left for a few years after accepting a management position in my previous industry, radio broadcasting. It was a horrible mistake. I missed the freedom and opportunities that EMS presented. I also gave up a great position at a fantastic agency.

Oh well, live and learn.
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Glad you came back.
 
PotatoMedic said:
Nope. But you are lucky you have the skills and knowledge to take a break. I'm stuck.
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Same, I feel the same way. I can’t remember the last time I was this disinterested in even EBM—if I’m being honest.

The whole Corona thing sucks worse, just waiting for my turn. Thank God for a happy, structured family though.
 
The only thing keeping me engaged is that I get to develop and run my own projects. I hurt my back 10 days ago, not at work, and the mere idea of carrying a person down a flight of stairs is making me nauseous.
 
mgr22 said:
Hope you can take some time to let that heal. I can't believe how ignorant I was about back injuries.
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I'm on vacation until. Tuesday. It's gotten a lot better, but it's still nowhere near okay. I can mostly walk upright. But there are times when it's unbearable.
 
NomadicMedic said:
I'm on vacation until. Tuesday. It's gotten a lot better, but it's still nowhere near okay. I can mostly walk upright. But there are times when it's unbearable.
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There are so many variables, but I found standing more and sitting less helped me. (I made an elevated platform I could use in place of my desk.) Also, I alternated heat and cold packs, and used a back brace as needed.
 
I just found out yesterday that I did not get the Admin/Training job I was a candidate for. I was planning on using that job as a bridge to transplant if you will while I figured out what I want to be when I grow up. So I guess you could say that I’m currently on such a break, having no desire and I’m not even sure the ability to go back to a truck in the foreseeable future.

I also an unskilled in any other trade, so this should be interesting.
 
mgr22 said:
There are so many variables, but I found standing more and sitting less helped me. (I made an elevated platform I could use in place of my desk.) Also, I alternated heat and cold packs, and used a back brace as needed.
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All the same things I’m doing. I also got a TENS service and it’s amazing. I am trying to wean off the NSAIDs and Flexaril.
 
hometownmedic5 said:
I just found out yesterday that I did not get the Admin/Training job I was a candidate for. I was planning on using that job as a bridge to transplant if you will while I figured out what I want to be when I grow up. So I guess you could say that I’m currently on such a break, having no desire and I’m not even sure the ability to go back to a truck in the foreseeable future.

I also an unskilled in any other trade, so this should be interesting.
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im guessing you don’t want to move. If you’re looking for a job in that domain, use indeed. Lots of trading/supe/admin jobs out there.
 
NomadicMedic said:
Lots of trading/supe/admin jobs out there.
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yes, but realistically, how many would hire an outsider for one of those jobs? don't they usually prefer to promote from within, to provide their personnel with some type of a career path?

I guess you can say I'm on a break... started around June 2015, and to be perfectly honest, I don't miss the ambulance one bit. I still ride the BRT a few times a month and was teaching pre-COVID, but the whole working 9-5 without having to do any OT, sleeping in my own bed, and having weekends off so I can have a life outside of public safety, has made me seriously reconsider my career path, so I don't foresee me having a full-time EMS job ever again.
NightHealer865 said:
911 SSM burned me out, I couldn’t stand being on an ambulance and helping patients wasn’t fun anymore.
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911 SSM is one of the biggest morale killers to ever hit EMS; in fact, I'm so against it, that I would never work for a system that utilized it. I love the patient care / helping people aspect, but the stepping foot on an ambulance just doesn't appeal to me anymore.
NightHealer865 said:
Now I’m getting back into EMS and am super excited and refreshed.
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That's awesome. I don't know much about the aircraft mechanic world, but doesn't it pay more than EMS? would it be worth it to be a mechanic as your full-time job, have a semi-normal life, and work part-time on the ambulance as a medic just a couple of times a month?
 
DrParasite said:
yes, but realistically, how many would hire an outsider for one of those jobs? don't they usually prefer to promote from within, to provide their personnel with some type of a career path?

I guess you can say I'm on a break... started around June 2015, and to be perfectly honest, I don't miss the ambulance one bit. I still ride the BRT a few times a month and was teaching pre-COVID, but the whole working 9-5 without having to do any OT, sleeping in my own bed, and having weekends off so I can have a life outside of public safety, has made me seriously reconsider my career path, so I don't foresee me having a full-time EMS job ever again.
911 SSM is one of the biggest morale killers to ever hit EMS; in fact, I'm so against it, that I would never work for a system that utilized it. I love the patient care / helping people aspect, but the stepping foot on an ambulance just doesn't appeal to me anymore.That's awesome. I don't know much about the aircraft mechanic world, but doesn't it pay more than EMS? would it be worth it to be a mechanic as your full-time job, have a semi-normal life, and work part-time on the ambulance as a medic just a couple of times a month?
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what is SSM?
 
DrParasite said:
yes, but realistically, how many would hire an outsider for one of those jobs? don't they usually prefer to promote from within, to provide their personnel with some type of a career path?
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Many. Every agency around me has hired command staff from outside. I’ve been headhunted by several agencies across the country that are looking for ops, education, professional standards/quality management ... My wife is dead set against moving, but encourages me to interview, because maybe that unicorn job will appear.

More and more agencies are discovering that finding good, results positive professionals is difficult. Lots of people in EMS talk a good game. Few can deliver. Those than can are able to write their own ticket.
in full disclosure, I missed out on a director’s job that I was sure I had, lack of an MPH was the deciding factor. That’s next for me.
 
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