Sacrifices for EMS

MMiz

MMiz

I put the M in EMTLife
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What have you sacrificed for the job?

I've missed holidays, celebrations, given up sleep, money. What about you?
 
I've given up dates, holidays with families, birthdays, food, sleep, health... etc
 
I've given up 200+ miles a week of gas for class.


Does that count? ^_^
 
When I was an active volunteer... I sacrificed a bit... I would volunteer to provide staffing on Christmas Day (volunteer), leave during dinner, playtime with the kids, etc. And the volunteer duty time I pulled on-station before my station went to 24/7 paid staffing.
 
Linuss said:
I've given up 200+ miles a week of gas for class.


Does that count? ^_^
Click to expand...

I forgot all about that :P I'm still there too
 
Not too much for me. Class tuition, some sleep, some driving time.
 
I've sacrificed most of what's been posted above. I've sacrificed moving(twice) away from family for a better job opportunity. I've sacrificed working for 6 years in private/hosp based/third service EMS before starting my 25 years plus DROP where I'm at now. I could have potentially retired at 54 rather than 60 y.o. as I'm scheduled to do currently.

EMS - Every Marriage Suffers

PARAMEDIC - Practically All Relationships And Marriages End Disastriously In Court

These acronyms hold much truth given that we work odd hours, forced OT, weekends, holidays, vollie in our spare time, burn out and carry it over to our personal lives, etc.

Given that many of us make these sacrifices, we deserve(yes, "entitlement" for our selfless, thankless work) a pension with yearly COLA's so that we can be financially secure in our golden years.
 
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Oh yeah, some of us that need to work 15 jobs to make ends meet can miss seeing their children grow up.
 
I've sacrificed a normal life. I'd say money, however, I made that money back my first month on.
 
My sanity.
 
You're a college student--- we'd have no money any ways!
 
Holidays, family gatherings, 2 different relationships, time (and lots of it), sleep, and probably a thousand other things that I can't think of at the moment.
 
Things I've lost thanks to EMS:
-A universally positive outlook on life
-A good portion of my sanity
-My original plan for a career as a minister (see next point)
-My faith in a just and loving God (since gotten this back)
-My faith in humanity
-Probably a couple of years off my life
-Gray hairs present at age 21
-Several good relationships (in hindsight a very good thing or I would not be marrying the great woman I'm marrying in about 40 days)
-My tendency to vomit at the sight of blood

Things I've gained:
-Knowledge
-The ability to deal with pretty much anything throws at me while remaining coldly calculating
-The privilege of bearing in confidence things that I have no right to know
-The ability to say that a few people are alive because of me
-The ability to say that I'd delivered four babies including my godson.
-A sense of pride of belonging to a noble profession
-A sense of pride in helping to shape the future of that profession
 
Linuss said:
Uh oh... counting down the precise days.

Either you really love her, or she told you to love her :P
Click to expand...
I really love her, but at the same time I'm just helping with the planning and as such I am keeping track. I figure if I can plan and execute a mass casualty drill, then helping with a wedding isn't much of a stretch. A lot of the legwork has fallen to me because I have more time off during the day than Gina does.
 
Lost:

So many days of my life. Feeling like I should be running calls.
Lost priorities in my life that faith, family, friends and my health should had came first.
Lost my innocence. That there is really evil out there. People will hurt and kill, because they want to.
Two marriages
A great relationship with my daughter
Career opportunities
Financial security
Decades of sleep
First four years of Christmas with my daughter


Learned:
Nice people die
That those with titles (especially physicians) are sometimes idiots too.
Research can be either legit or phony and sometimes its difficult to know whom to believe
No matter what, we are just humans. That's it. We all poop and pee.
That one should never settle on being second best, but also recognize limitations as well
It does not matter what you do in some circumstances and sometimes "doing nothing" is the best treatment
Stop to smell the roses
The world keeps revolving without me, calls can and will be made if I am not on them
A healthier perspective of life and appreciate the little things more
Don't sweat the small stuff, you may not be here tomorrow
You get wiser with age :D


R/r 911
 
My fiance, she wanted me to get a job that doesnt take me from home at night!!! And I told her NO, I love my JOB and I am not leaving it for anyone!

Guess its alright, cause people in this profession have to have someone there at home that will Stand behind him/her.
 
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