I got started in EMS later in life as well... as a mom too. I was simply looking for an interesting class during the summer and well, I got "hooked" on it since day one of class. I am now a Paramedic with a major 9-1-1 service, with eight years of experience in various other services, including private and volunteer. In my neck of the woods, the cost of living is a bit lower than the national average; entry-level Paramedics with this 9-1-1 service make $17.00/hr with an average of 8 calls per 12 hour shift on a mixed truck (one EMT and one Paramedic crew). Paramedics with the local large private service fare about $ 11.00/hr, and take on more calls actually.
It is scary to start... I've been in your shoes. Just go into class with a willingness to learn, and that attitude will be your best tool. If you are practical, determined, gifted with common sense, don't mind developing a twisted sense of humor (which really saves your butt when you see some of that stuff that just simply cannot be explained in polite ways
), and you don't mind building up a few muscles, you should do just fine. Remember to treat the patient as you would your own family.
Don't forget that the EMT class will be more than just classroom time. You will have to set aside a lot of time for scheduled rotations at the hospital and on the ambulance itself, outside of the classroom hours. Be aware of that before you sign up for class in case you need to arrange for child care or ???
If you do take the class, I strongly suggest right from the start that you picture in your mind why certain things are done to the patient (or Mr. Mannikin), or why the textbook is stressing certain points that otherwise seem unimportant. Understand the mechanics, understand how and *why* the body is going to react to what you do to it; don't just accept that you do a certain procedure because the book says so.
Understand what is going on. When you work in the field, you'll then become a "thinking 'medic" rather than a "protocol monkey", which will become your strongest asset in caring for that patient. In EMS and with our aggressive protocols here, that is a much-desired trait when it comes to considering new-hires. We have EMT students on our trucks all the time, and I'll quiz the heck out of them to make sure they understand the reasons and implications of their treatments. We have to, really. We have a lot of freedom in our patient care here, which is great, but can also get those folks who can't think their way through a patient's medical problem into a lot of trouble. They are not kept for long, and their reputation follows them forever.
There's my golden apple to you. ;-) Even if you do decide to go on to nursing, the EMT education will give you a head start on the rest of the nursing students in your class, and will also help tremendously while working on your hospital clinicals.
