Too old for EMS?

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Dumbname

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Hello all.

I am 35 years old and got into an EMT-B program with hopes of eventually moving over to paramedic. I felt a little strange when I got to my first class and the other students were so young and clean-cut that they looked fetal to me.

Am I too old to get into this? I am functionally fit and mostly sane.

Thanks for any advice you might have.

-D.
 
Nope, not too old. Some of the best students have been adults who have lived life and switched careers.

You will bring a balance to the care you give as life experience is extremely valuable in the delivery of medical care.

I am NOTHING like the paramedic I was when I was 19...he and I are two different people. You are already way ahead of those neophytes, so consider it an advantage.
 
My partner had a midlife crisis a couple of years ago and he became an EMT. He's 48.
 
The other students were clean cut? :glare:

It may actually work in your favor. Your age may give the patients the impression that you are more experienced and may make them a little more comfortable. As long as your body can take it (and I work with people in their 60's that can handle it) I wouldn't worry about a thing.
 
age is just a number

I am forty-four.

Thank god in EMS, so long as a person can carry out the job duties, age does not matter.

There are some LEO jobs which have age limits, ludicrous to me. There are ones that do not, yet, those people still had to pass all the test(s).

You are thirty-five, if I was that age I would join the US Army Reserve and apply for the medic training. They raised the age limit to 41. Six weeks before I turned 42, I had a hernia. No way to repair it in time.

I regret not joining the military earlier.

In your situation, study the material, eay healthy and work out. In part, becoming an EMT is one of my motivations to not become overweight and lazy.....

Best wishes to you.
 
Dumbname said:
I'm just saying, it looked like the 1950s in there.
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Haha well that's good to hear. My EMT class looked like everyone stumbled off the streets from the night before. Most were covered in tattoos. One even had bright blue hair.
 
You only as old as you feel....

Dumbname said:
Hello all.

I am 35 years old and got into an EMT-B program with hopes of eventually moving over to paramedic. I felt a little strange when I got to my first class and the other students were so young and clean-cut that they looked fetal to me.

Am I too old to get into this? I am functionally fit and mostly sane.

Thanks for any advice you might have.

-D.
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I started Paramedic School at age 42.
 
gicts said:
Haha well that's good to hear. My EMT class looked like everyone stumbled off the streets from the night before. Most were covered in tattoos. One even had bright blue hair.
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In my EMT-b class they had to call ems for one guy who had puss coming out of one of his piercings and was hyperventalating over it.....

He never came back.
 
No you are not too old. We have plenty of guys in my class that were in their mid 30's, and early 40's. Of course, their goal was not just to be a basic, but a paramedic, and/or working in a higher position within an EMT company. But you are not too old.
 
Dumbname said:
Am I too old to get into this? I am functionally fit and mostly sane.
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Fitness helps; sanity is an accessory today,and will become vestigial later.
 
firetender said:
Fitness helps; sanity is an accessory today,and will become vestigial later.
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LMAO! :D

I started the EMT-B at 46 years old and will be 48 by the time I finish the Paramedic course. Age is just a state of mind.

(Ok ... not really, cuz i started falling apart once I quit working out regularly. But still ... :sad: )
 
HELL NO!!! I'm 39 and just passed my NREMT a few months ago. I've already landed a paid on-call gig and I ride another for nothing day(just for the experience) . I was the "old guy" in class and ran circles around most of my classmates
The tough part is working full-time and pursuing a new career. It sucks, but it will pay off. If I were you, I'd get into great physical shape as well. There's enough fatso's in this biz to begin with, you don't older and out of shape because it will bite you. Good luck!!!!!
 
Go for it! I was 32 when I started Paramedic school and I was "preggo's" (LOL). Went to a parttime evening class, and the average age was mid to late 30's. That was OMG! 20 years ago. I think being "older" makes for better understanding and YOU want to learn. Go For It!! It will be the best decision you have ever made. It was for me. :wacko:
 
From one old person to another... ( and I have passed 35 yeaaaarrs ago. ). At your age, you will learn quickly if it is for you or not. There will be no mickey mouse games with it.... wasting your time in class when you already knew the answer ( amazing how many young folks do that ). You should be secure enough to keep moving on.

Us elders should have study techniques that youngins just have not grasped yet. We UNDERSTAND what most pts go thru.... cause we were most likely in their shoes, we apply what we have learned in our life.
Us elders tend to be less "eat up" and not so impressed by bells and whistles, blinky lights and shiny things..... uuuuUUUuuu shiny metal stuff. B)
Us elders tend to work smarter, and more efficiently... and less time talking about "Guess what I did last night on my date" and blahh blaahh blahh.. bad hair day blahh blahhh.
Us elders tend to be looked up to by younger folks, no matter how green you may be. Maybe its respect, maybe its because we look smart, maybe because we just don't get excited as much over stuff ( not a viagra joke.. ).

So if you carry yourself as an adult professional at the right times, and keep on the up and up with technology, you will excel very nice... and with great success.

Now... on the other hand... if you start getting lazy, leaning over and staring at the equipment or getting short with folks on scene wondering what you should do next while crickets start getting louder and your Depends begin to buldge and show while one hand is over your lower lumbar while trying to lift the stretcher.... you may need to think about going to the auxiliary. But really... you still have years and years before that should ever happen.

I regularly have to wait for the young bucks to catch up.... face it.. some old folks got skills, yo. :ph34r:
 
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I was in a NY program and took the class that was 7.5 weeks and it was brutal. I must say we have two guys who were over 40 and they both passed and we just go our licenses and everyone passed. I don't think anyone is ever too old. It's a great job and you will bring a lot of experience into the field and won't the 20 something year old who doesn't know how to properly act on the job which I've seen happen numerous times.
 
Age is not the important part, but your ability to do the skills required. There are many people of older age that can still perform the duties of the job. In fact, one of my instructors was a 62 year old woman who is still an active member in a rescue squad.
 
firetender said:
Fitness helps; sanity is an accessory today,and will become vestigial later.
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Two thumbs up on the fitness. I started out with fire at 36 then started up the EMT ladder. The one thing that helped me the most both physically and mentally was always being able to keep up with the guys who were 10-20 years younger than me. I started as a volunteer with a combination paid/volunteer department at 42 and was only seconds behind the guys in their early twenties when we did our PAT and this was no watered down CPAT but somthing more in line with the biddle. That was a big thing and brought me respect from the crew. It was very important to me know that when I was on the engine that I was equal to my paid counterparts both in skills and physical ability.

If you don't have a regular work out regiment get one started as soon as you can. Make cardio your number one priority followed by a good strength training program. Keeping in tip top shape will not only keep you competitive but will greatly help reduce your risk of injury. Of course if you have kept in shape good deal but its always a good review for the older guys who may see this thread.
 
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