Why they call us ambulance drivers.

[46Young]

To have any chance at longevity in this line of work, you need to be at peace with the way things are. The job is thankless, the vast majority of calls do not actually require an ambulance, the majority of the public has little to no idea as to our capabilities, most of your calls are just holding someone's hand and making them comfortable. Chances are you'll retire poor as well.

Occasionally you'll get a thank you letter from a pt/pt's family. This will typically be from a routine txp (in your eyes, anyway), and not some hero Third Watch stuff. That's about it.

The job is far from glamorous. some deal with it well, some get disappointed, frustrated, and will eventually burn out/drop out/get sued for pt care errors.

 

[MrBrown]

I dont think the ambulance service has had much to done to it to make it an attractive career move; combine the low pay with low training (hence: somebody who is easily replaced) and add in a lot of media hype (and that what, like, 1% of calls are anywhere near what the dribble on the telly shows?) and there is your problem!

 

[46Young]

I dont think the ambulance service has had much to done to it to make it an attractive career move; combine the low pay with low training (hence: somebody who is easily replaced) and add in a lot of media hype (and that what, like, 1% of calls are anywhere near what the dribble on the telly shows?) and there is your problem!

In some areas (here in the states) it's the quickest way to make decent money without actually having to go to college. It's fairly easy to find side work as well. Sad but true. It's a major reason why I chose to do medic school first rather than nursing.

 

[Luno]

Because that's what you do

As much as people try to redefine it, doing your job is not HEROIC, and we are not HEROS for doing what we accepted as our responsibility, it's what we said we'd do. The plumber gets it, the sanitation engineer gets it, accountants get it, apparently as a profession, we still don't "get it." But then again, it's the same as money and respect, hahaha, we just don't "get it."