mindenmedic

our emt-b make starting 6/hr but we work 48/72 cycle so that comes to $33k per year.

we run an ave of 3 calls / day (very rural)

i have brought a beer to work before to cook with, brotworst is awesome cooked in beer. of course i can't drink on the job but i guess in louisiana bringing a beer to work to cook with is acceptable.

but don't feel

i put it

our company put in gps to manage speed. i have found that because i have slowed down it got me out of the nascar mind frame and i simply drive safer.

i kinda had to laugh after reading your post and seeing your avatar. no offense.

i got a pen light at Bass pro that has a green led in it and man WOW the pupil will glow while the iris is dull. awesome to quickly asses eyes. got tired of the standard pen light makes the whole eye look the same. other colors that work well are blue and red although i think they quit selling the red one. made by streamlight. you will be amazed at the difference. negative: it costs $30 so when you loose it you will not be happy, i'm on my second.

our company's protocol states we carey trauma box and o2 bag on trauma calls. i got my box right there with me so all i need is in it. on me i carry my narcs, 2 pens and my eye light. never had a problem.

i work for a private comp that services 911 to 6 parishes(counties outside louisiana),, 2 to 4 trucks per parish .

The plus sides: a new truck every 3 yrs. i got my brand new e350 type I 2months ago.

lp12, equipment in good condition, good benifits w/ retirement, family owned environment (they will do anything for you. training is good. we are rural with some response times have to be 30 min because of tiny communities in the middle of no where but because of this our company helicopter will launch at the same time we get enroute to bad calls like rollovers or MIs and if we get there and don't need them just turn them around. sometimes they beat us there. the company owner doesn't mind burning gas. my station is 20 miles from a small hospital and 50 from level one trauma so i fly out all cva's and MIs as well as trauma. i love it. we rely on the volunteers in some middle of nowhere places. its cool because on mva i will show up and they are packaged and ready to go. very liberal protocals, no call needed for morphine on chest pains or trauma w/o abd injury

negatives: "you call we haul". nursing home to dr office wait and returns. supplies can sometimes get low. management is sometimes the good ol boy system. we only have 1 drug that is not state mandated, glucagon. only have 2 narcs valium and MS

all in all i'm not leaving until i get RN

I work for a private service and our EMTB are paid a little above min wage (we work 48/72 and average 4 maybe 5 calls in 24hr) so when the min wage goes up by about 2 dollars that increase goes all the way up to paramedic and it is about 10k per year. I work with my wife so we really benefit. Score 1 for private ems pay. Anyone else affected by this?

ASYSIN2LEADS - i don't give the glove to them, that is what the Beanie Babies are for

Man for me I feel closer to God because of EMS. It can be easy to see Gods path for you, just listen for the tone page. Every time you hear thank you from a pt discharged after you have helped them from a bad mva, or making a sick child smile with a latex glove turned into a rooster you will know that you are still on the right path. God will put you and your ambulance where he needs you. There will be low times without these things and you might feel burnout for a little bit but give it time and when you are at the grocery store with your family a strange lady you do not remember will hung your neck thanking you because husband survived his MI after you hauled him in.

One that i think about every now and then. 12y/o boy atv rollover. basiler skull fracture. 6 months in a coma most of that was on a vent. After worked his 911 call and then did so many transfers while he was in his coma. Then one day me and my wife (wife=EMTB and partner) were almost ready to quit and go to another company when that kid showed up to the station with his mom and hugged my neck .... no words for that feeling. Extra note on that call he got meningitis as a baby and it left his deaf. the accident restarted his hearing, by the time he came to the station he already knew what his name sounded like, just awesome.

Finally: Luke 10 33-34 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him.

Jesus was a carpenter by day but i herd he first responded on the weekends