I was in Boy Scouts from ages 11-18. During that time, I learned Basic First Aid, and fell in love with it. I even became our "first aid instructor" and tought all the guys the stuff they needed to get the merit badge.
After High school, I didnt know what I wanted to be. I had concidered a career in Nursing, among a million other things. When I decided to start taking some college classes, I needed to pick a major. So, the first thing that came into my mind was law enforcement. I have allways had a desire to work in the public sector/civil service. After a while of taking Pre Law enforcement, and basic undergrad stuff, I quit. School and I dont get along. When I stopped going, I had a 1.8GPA. :blink:
A while ago, I had the urge to get back into school. I knew that I wasnt cut out for police work, and while flipping through the college cataloge, I saw the EMT-B course. There was my answer. I dont know why I never thought of it before, EMS....That would be great. So I signed up with out a second thought. While in the class, I excelled. Perhaps it was my prior first aid/cpr knowledge, but I seemed to breeze through the class. I finished first in my class (of only 18), and I had a great time doing it. I knew after that first week of EMT class, that I had found my calling. This is what God put me here to do.
Now, that I am an EMT (with out a job), I am looking towards the next step. I know Paramedic is in my future. I am trying to heed the advice from so many, and work as a Basic for a while before getting my Paramedic. One thing that I have noticed is, while I have allways loved medicine, I NEVER wanted anything to do with the Fire Service. Around here 99% of all 911 EMS is ran through the FD, and nearly all of the Paramedics are FireFighters. This kind of bummed me out for a while, untill I started talking to people in the field, and hanging around boards like this one, and really started getting into this. Now, I am chomping at the bit to get my FF1. I am considering taking it on my own, rather then waiting to get hired by a FD.
So, that is way more then you wanted to know about me. Sorry its so long, I guess this is one of those things I am passionate about.
Thanks for asking, and reading,
Russ
EMT-B