I am from Georgia and we don't really have basics. as an EMT-I i am considered as basic but allowed to do a few more things than the basic scope of practice allows,which is nice i feel it gets me closer to some of the stuff a paramedic gets to do and i can help him do more things.
the pay sucks starting around 25K a year around here. i do it more for the satisfaction than anything i work many hours to help pay the bills. some of them are great and some of them are long. really don't have many dislikes except the time away from my wife and son.
Keep up at it if you have a passion for it it will be worth it if you don't find something else. there is a better way to make a living than ems but i am not sure there is on that i would enjoy more