rbooker

whit72 that is a very good point

so what started as one person asking about the pay turns into nurses against Medics. My apologies if i started the fight but all i was doing was comparing and as usual some people got their feelings hurt and wouldn't you know it, they were nurses, go figure. Yes you are right about the protocols but my point was this, they don't have to ask each and every time they do something. We go out in the field and do what needs to be done, within protocols of course, no mother my I needed here. I sit in the ER and watch the nurses ask the Doctors if it's alright to give something for a headache all the time. We get along great with the ER nurses here and they admit to us there are a lot they can't do that the medics can. I've known some really bad nurses and I've known some really bad medics. real life is each group gets trained and educated and then after that it's up to each person to stay current. Nurses have been around way longer than EMTs and have progressed just as the EMTs are trying to do now, pay wise i mean. Am i to understand you believe the market is flooded with medics? I see by all the neat little letters after your name that you carry the CCEMTP, guess what, so do our medics. The only thing that gets you your larger salary is the RN that you carry, not the Paramedic. :shock: I'm not here to upset your world so cool your jets. You have your view, i have mine. Mine is right of course

Here in Oregon you are now required to get an associates degree before becoming a paramedic. they go to school for at least 2 years. Paramedics can do more than an RN and can work off standing orders. All the nurses i know have to ask before doing anything. Nurses work in very controlled environments and have multiple resources for back up, not the medic. paramedics work in very bizarre and dangerous places at times. The pay is like night and day. Paramedics and EMTs do get a lot of training so that statement don't fly. Now before the nurses of this group jump all over me i'll add this. Our medics are all critical care flight medics. they fly with an RN when one is able to go, otherwise they do it on their own with another medic or EMT. They fly all the time and still make a fraction of what the nurse does. I'm not bashing the nurses, it's the system that has it screwed up. Gone are the days of the "Ambulance Driver" another two cents worth

here in the great northwest i work for a private company. I'm a EMT I and i make 8.70 an hour after 4 years It really does suck that goes without saying. I think i have it ok as far as the shift i work, I work 10 days a month 24/48 with more OT if i want it so lot's of time at home. I made a little over 36000 last year. I'd have to earn 18-19 bucks an hour at a 40 hour job to make the same but you can't find those jobs around here. It would be nice if we made as much as an RN or a FF but most of us don't so you either deal with it or beat your head against a wall. Maybe someday we'll make the big bucks, but it isn't all about the money. my two cents