Is anyone a paramedic?

Question

how long did it take to prepare for it? I already have an undergraduate degree, so I won't need to take anything but the paramedic classes. About how long should that take? What is the job market and pay like? What are the good and bad points about the job?

Answer 1

Paramedic classes vary from one to two years, even if you have a bachelor's. Since you already have a degree, you don't need the two year course (that results in an associate's degree). The one year "certificate" course will do just fine. My paramedic training took about one year, including the EMT-Basic prerequisite class, but exclusive of the three month internship. At the school I went to, classes were full time (M-F 6pm to 11pm) for two months, and part time (W-F 6pm to 11pm + one Saturday a month) for the rest of school. We were also required to do clinical rotations (16 hours a week throughout school) and then, of course, there's the internship at the end (riding along as third crew member on an ambulance for three months). Expect it to take about a year and a half, including the prerequisite class and the internship.

The job market is good; there's always someone hiring. The pay leaves much to be desired, unless you can get on with a fire department as a firefighter/paramedic. From what I've seen, the industry average is from 10-20 an hour, depending on where you work. Private ambulance services pay less (AMR, Rural/Metro), and the fire departments pay the most (of course, you have to be a firefighter to get those jobs). Hospital based or municipality based services pay somewhere in between.

Good points: You get to drive fast, and save lives! It's a blast, really. The other day, I got to intubate a person who's heart had stopped beating, perform CPR, start an IV line, and give medications in the hopes of restarting his heart. How cool is that? Unfortunately, most days are pretty mundane. Nursing home transfers, people calling 911 for a cut toe (no kidding) and that kind of stuff makes up most of the average day.

Other good points: The schedule, which can either suck or be wonderful, depending on your point of view. I work one 24 hour shift, and then I get 48 hours off. I love it; it gives me a two day weekend every third day, but some people just can't get used to being woken up at all hours of the night for emergency calls. If you can't, you can usually find services that offer 8 hour or 12 hour shifts, too.

Bad points: There's really no future in this job. Once you get to be a paramedic, you can either move up into management, or teach paramedicine, but that's about it. There's other jobs that you can get with your paramedic qualifications (blood bank technician, medical assistant, ER technician, flight paramedic) but they really don't pay much more, if they pay more at all. Out of the 20 or so paramedics I know, at least 5 are pursuing other education, such as nurse, nurse practitioner, physician assistant, etc. It's a wonderful job, but the backbreaking work can get to you after awhile, and most paramedics move on to other areas of medicine. The average paramedic works in the field for 7 years before they move on. The burnout rate is pretty high, and it's just a lot of stress to put up with day in, and day out.

That brings me to the other bad point: Backbreaking work. Patients are heavy, and the stretcher itself weighs about 100 lbs. Usually it's just you and your partner, too. If the patient is exceptionally heavy (over 300 lbs) you can call another ambulance for lift assistance, but otherwise, you're on your own. In the service I work with, we are fortunate enough to have the fire department come out on every emergency call, so the lifting divided among all of us. Most services aren't that lucky. I know many paramedics who had to leave the field due to debilitating back injuries. You can minimize the risk by staying in shape and learning proper lifting technique, but the risk is still very much there.

One other bad point, which I aready sort of covered: The stress. It gets to you after awhile. I've had nightmares of intubations I was unable to get, of patients I could not save. You learn to deal with it, and you learn to function well under stress, but I'd be lying if I said it doesn't affect my life. I'm still well adjusted and happy, but the stress of my job is still very real. I cope with it by taking up hobbies. My boyfriend who is also a paramedic, plays tabletop war games, and I spend lots of time training my dog and helping my friend with her dream of starting a dog rescue. I've seen a few relationships crumble because of the job, and quite a few spouses who aren't in EMS just don't understand. It takes a very understanding spouse to put up with a paramedic!

Wait...one more bad point: Respect. A lot of nurses don't respect paramedics (they tend to think of them as "stretcher jockeys"). Your average person doesn't understand the difference between a firefighter, EMT, and paramedic. It's not a big deal, but for those who become medics for the ego boost, it's very disappointing.

Despite all the negative aspects, I love my job, and wouldn't trade it for anything. Most of the medics I work with feel the same way, too.

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

My suggestion is don't do it. I can say that with confidence after 16 years in the field as a paramedic. I've seen changes both good and bad, but it still doesn't pay the bills. I have 2 sons one 10 and one 2. I've been married for 13 years(unreal for this field). I will never reccomend that they become medics. I've seen things that noone should see. Some of the scenes that you see as a longtime medic will change you personally. You can't see dismembered people and be the same. Delivering premature, dead infants and scraping up dead teenagers from the highway changes your way of thinking. It tends to make life a bit dreary at times. CNN has nothing on the life of a paramedic. You learn the in's and out's of the health care system in this country and you won't be happy. When you see how most physicians could really care less about their patients and the medics work their butts off to stay current with every new continuing education course out there and comfort those patients you can physically get ill. You're better off not knowing.

Answer 3

I'm not a paramedic but a close friend took a class.
It took them about a year and a half to take the class. They also have to do er practicals I think 100 hours maybe more. This was just the class too. It's very intense, usually 3 times a week for 3 hours.

The job market is pretty good. Most places are looking for paramedics since there are not many out there. The pay is good but probably not enough to make a great living on. My friend is a paramedic on nights and weekend and he makes out well. It also depends on where you live. Many small towns emergency services are strickyl volunteer only. Only bigger towns and cities have paying emergency services. Some of the cons to this job are the hours. You work odd hours: weekends, nights etc. My father who is a captain of the fire deparment in my city says that paramedics have a tougher job than er docs but just get paid less. It's very gory and you work with alll types of people. Plus there is a risk of pesonal danger due to some people with mental illnesses etc.

Hope I helped!

Answer 4

I've been a paramedic for 28 years. One of the best and worse jobs you can have for all the reasons already listed above.
If you live in the USA I recommend you find something else to do and do an EMT-B course and volunteer.
If you're in the UK do the same with St John or Red Cross.

Answer 5

1