never thought id say it but

[VA Transport EMT]

I'm burned out. Cct is no longer doing it for me and this is the first time I'm thinking about switching careers. Morale is :censored::censored::censored::censored:ty and its all low speed high drag. I try to motivate and instill some camaraderie within the company but all these whiners and crybabies are killing the mood. I know I don't wanna be a fireman and I def don't want to keep doing this. I can't start a family while working 15 hour days. I was thinking and getting into law enforcement. Can anyone help me get through this????

 

[STXmedic]

LE will be more low speed, high drag. My suggestions: get your P and see if that's any better; or find something that truly interests you outside of EMS and pursue that. I would imagine being a basic doing CCT would be quite boring. Then again, I hate any time I'm not calling the shots.

Morale is highly dependent on where you work, obviously. I have no clue what the VA scene is like, but try and set a goal for a nearby "premier" agency; you'll likely get better morale at a place where people actually want to work.

 

[VA Transport EMT]

I'm actually in LA and work in the only cct company in the area. This is "the" place to be. Idk, maybe I just some rest. I just need some soul searching

 

[SandpitMedic]

Are you an EMT?

 

[FiremanMike]

I'm burned out. Cct is no longer doing it for me and this is the first time I'm thinking about switching careers. Morale is :censored::censored::censored::censored:ty and its all low speed high drag. I try to motivate and instill some camaraderie within the company but all these whiners and crybabies are killing the mood. I know I don't wanna be a fireman and I def don't want to keep doing this. I can't start a family while working 15 hour days. I was thinking and getting into law enforcement. Can anyone help me get through this????

Coming from someone who went to the police academy after 10 years as a firefighter/paramedic, being a cop isn't as great as it sounds. The drama is the same and the backstabbing is exponentially higher. My personal feeling is this occurs because cops don't have to see each other all day long, they just randomly cruiser spoon and :censored::censored::censored::censored::censored: about each other, which eventually turns malicious.

It's got it's moments, and it can be fun, and it can be terrifying, but go into it knowing that you won't be getting away from the drama.

 

[Mainspring]

take a vacation, relax, then evaluate.

we all get burnt out time to time.

if you know you don't want to do this anymore, definitely switch careers as fast as you can. No need to stay around work that you don't like.

not good for you, not good for PT.

 

[MrJones]

I used to go through phases like that while I was in the military. Luckily for my retirement check, I was under contract and couldn't just up and quit. And, without fail, those feelings passed and I was back to my old self in short order.

That said, the absolute worst time to make a major decision such as a career change is when you're burned out, you don't like anything about your current situation and lack motivation.

 

[NomadicMedic]

I was there in 2008. I would go to my job in Seattle, go to my office, close the door and just browse on monster and career builder for hours. I remember thinking, "I hate my job so much maybe I should go be a ramp agent at Sea-Tac". I decided that I needed an exit strategy, so I got my ducks in a row and set myself up for medic school.

I knew I needed a change, but I did it systematically, rather than just jumping before I had my chute on. If you're fried, make a list of pros and cons of your job and a list if objectives to get where you want to be. Assign a timeframe and start working toward it. You may find that your current job isn't as bad as you think or you may find that you can transition to a new job sooner than you thought.

 

[VA Transport EMT]

Thanks everyone. I don't have attitudes towards pts or anything like that but maybe I'll feel better when I get back on Monday. I'm still searching my options.

 

[Drax]

It sounds to me like you're doing a great job, if you're instilling camaraderie and you maintain a professional attitude while around patients. Maybe you just need some feedback or some positive reinforcement.

I want you to know, wherever you are right now, that because you are taking care of the patient, putting them first, and encouraging professionalism and motivation (because sometimes encouraging others can drain you of your own), that I think you are doing a great job. I want to work and be around more health care professionals such as yourself. Thank you for your service.

 

[triemal04]

First and foremost, you need to check yourself and make sure it isn't just you. What I mean is, while you definetly may work in a caustic enironment and for a lousy company, when the issues of low moral and working with "whiners and crybabies" comes up, it's always best to do some self-evaluation and make sure you aren't the problem. This certainly may not apply to you and probably doesn't, it's just more of a general statement; I always love it when people complain non-stop about where they work, no matter what, or where they're working; because it's never their fault...

With that out of the way, take an honest look at what your options are.

Right now you are an EMT; with few exceptions, that's not a job to make a career out of. If you want to remain in EMS, you really need to be a paramedic. I don't know what your financial/living situation is like, but I'd strongly suggest you start looking into the local paramedic schools and starting down that path. If the local ones won't work, it leads to the next option:

Move. You've said you work in LA. That's a :censored::censored::censored::censored:ty area for EMS. Especially non-fire based EMS. So...move. Again, I don't know what your situation is outside work, but this would probably be the best fix; there are lot's and lot's of places that are well run and pay well (and aren't fire-based); they just aren't in your current location. And since the job won't be coming to you, if this is the career that you want, you better be willing to go to it. Of course, most of those places want paramedics, not EMT's, so you've got some work to do. Again, most people that complain non-stop about what they do and what they make are the ones who aren't willing to go to a better place, or don't have the ability to get hired by a better place. Don't let that be you.

You need to better understand what EMS is like; while there are true-tiered services out there, most aren't, so even as a paramedic you will be seeing plenty of "low speed high drag" patients. That is just an aspect of how EMS, and healthcare is run in the US. If you can't come to terms with that, or find some satisfaction in caring for and interacting with the non-emergent patients, this may not be something that is for you in the end. Even at the CCT level, even as a paramedic, and especially as an EMT, "critical care"...often isn't. As with 911, you'll still have patient's that will require all you skill and knowledge, but a lot won't; an intubated MI patient going to the cath lab is the same as what you'll have in the field. If you can find satisfaction in that and the times when more skill is needed, great, if not...well...

Working in EMS can be, and is a great career. But you'll only get out of it what you are willing to put in. If you are willing to learn what you need, advance as far as you can, and seek out a good department to work for, you'll be set. If not...the odds start to go against you.

 

[lwems]

I'm burned out. Cct is no longer doing it for me and this is the first time I'm thinking about switching careers. Morale is :censored::censored::censored::censored:ty and its all low speed high drag. I try to motivate and instill some camaraderie within the company but all these whiners and crybabies are killing the mood. I know I don't wanna be a fireman and I def don't want to keep doing this. I can't start a family while working 15 hour days. I was thinking and getting into law enforcement. Can anyone help me get through this????

Stay away from law enforcement. Most departments are driven by seniority, so as the newbie you'll spend years working nights in the worst parts of town.

Of course, if you're in it for the long haul, then you'll be sitting pretty after a 10-15 year march. And maybe you'll advance more quickly due to your patch. But I doubt it.

Have you looked in to the Coast Guard?

 

[firetender]

The reality of the little profession that never was is that burnout is so prevalent in it that it's pretty much an if not today then tomorrow thing.

Am I lying to say it's only a matter of time before the deficits outweigh the benefits? Typically, that takes the form of at a certain point you realize that you just don't get paid enough (and there's nowhere to go within the system) to justify the pain.

The earlier you recognize that it's a burnout for YOU and respond to that the better off you are. You don't have to look around you too long before you can find two or three people who burned out years ago but just didn't have enough gumption to make the change so that now, EVERYONE around them is miserable right along with them!

So figure out your threshold and then devise an exit strategy.

Sure, we want you to stay in the field, but I, for one, prefer to see you happy, no matter what you do. I think you're thinking that transferring into an even higher stress job might do the trick.

Please take a good look at that one.

 

[VA Transport EMT]

Thanks to all of you, I needed to vent and knew this wasn't the place to do it but y'all came through. I survived the weekend and even made it through this week. How am I enthusiastic? Well I'll tell you. I started working out and it has been helping me deal with the stress. Its undescribable but a few sit ups and push ups here and there and I'm feeling great! Im just going to keep working out and go with the flow. If you guys want my workout that is designed to ambulance work then let me know.