purpledriver38

My most memorable dream about work came when my fiance & I started living together. I had a dream on night about Med-Flight and their paralytic drug succacoline and while talking in my sleep said something about "the bird".... and "sucks"... Needless to say, I had to explain myself in the morning!

Here in Eastern Central NY we work 24 hr shifts and get paid for 24 hrs. The nature of our business is unpredictable so you sleep when you can and eat when you can. We now have an outpost we are required to staff 24/7 and it is great! You can almost guarantee a minimum of 5 hrs sleep a night while there & generally you are there every other shift. We only work 8 days a month - that's full time! You take the down time when it's there and deal with it - again, it's the nature of our business. Sleep when you get home!

Western Central NY EMT-B make from $7.00/hr, CC's make around $10.00/hr & Paramedics around $12.00/hr. The further east you go towards Albany, the pay increases. I currently am with an agency about 40 miles west of Albany & we started at $8.50/hr for Basic's and after 4 yrs & no raises (agency wide) I'm at $9.27; Medics make from $11.00 to $20 /hr. Municipalities close to Albany, an EMT-B can make $15/hr to start!

During a difficulty breathing call, we arrive to find the patient sitting on the toilet, unresponsive, with a pulse but shallow respiration's that were decreasing as the call progressed. Due to the small size of the bathroom, the best extrication method was going to be a backboard. My medic, 3 yrs into his medic career, stated "you take the back legs & I'll grab the front legs"!!! Of course, he meant the arms but we haven't let him live it down. Today he is a supervisor & we remind him often of his 'statement'!!!