Sweetheart, anyone and everyone can edit wikipedia, it's generally not viewed as a credible source. I could go edit that article and put that my mommy is public safety because she threw things at me when I tried to stick forks in electrical outlets, thus keeping me safe in public (Tried it at a restaurant once!)
What Sasha did last week is irrelevant. EMS can be viewed as Public
Service, just like Fire, LE, garbage men, and postal workers. Public Safety? Using a very liberal view of the term... you can make the argument that we might, in the course of our jobs, keep the public safe ( through community education events and such primarily), but unlike Fire, LE, and Security, we do not spend a good portion of our time preventing crime or fires and ensuring public safety.
As far as Fire Medic vs. Ambulance Medic, I know good and bad folk in both areas. However, usually the Medics who work Ambulance have chosen (for better or worse) do devote their skills completely to patient care. They are responsible for that care long after the fire medic has handed the patient off. Fire Medics have to split their time. They work fires, hazmat, ropes rescue, water rescue, PSAs, and EMS. While I do not doubt that there are many good Fire Medics out there, I have found that they are primarily Firefighters who realized that they get paid more for wearing both hats. Like I said there are some good ones out there, but I haven't had any great experiences with Fire running EMS calls period in my area. Difference between them? Scope is largely the same (might be differences in some places), but the medics don't transport or have to worry about "long term" (relative) care. If you want to work fires, rescue, medical, etc... then become a firefighter/EMT or Medic. If you want to be solely a medical professional, then go EMT, Medic, and ? (whatever makes you happy in the medial field). But DO NOT become a firefighter and then a medic unless you really want to be in the medical field and believe that you can be a great medic. Medicine should not be about money or prestige, it should be about wanting to and be able to provide the best care for our patients... because we want to, and not because Wiki tells us that no matter what you do you get those nice flashing lights. ^_^
