Going to start school in fall for EMT-1 couple questions

[clandest]

Hey everyone, I just have a couple questions. I am going to be going to school for my EMT1 in the fall and hopefully after that I will be able to land some type of job. This is what I am hoping for so maybe some of you could fill me in on some things.

Right now I just turned 23, and I am making 60k a year at frito-lay. The pay is pretty good, but this is not what I want to be doing for the rest of my life. I need a job that is constantly different and fast paced or I get bored easily and I cannot see myself doing this job the rest of my life. So I am willing to take around the 30k pay cut to become an EMT. Now I was wondering, I currently live in CA and I want to move somewhere that is cheaper to live, I was thinking texas. Would it be better to finish school, get an EMT job for experience and then relocate? Or shortly after finishing school, relocate, get a temp job while looking for a EMT job. I also am wanting to become a Paramedic. So what do you guys think the best scenario would be for when I finish EMT school. I really do want to move somewhere cheaper, because my who life change I am working on right now is to work hard now so that I can retire happily and not have to worry about money the rest of my years. So living cheap on the journey to retirement is a big plus. How is finding an EMT job? I know schools are popping out EMT's left and right, but how many actually pursue it?

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

[Dustdevil]

I need a job that is constantly different and fast paced or I get bored easily and I cannot see myself doing this job the rest of my life.

I can assure you that you will feel exactly the same way about EMS within a year of becoming a paramedic, even if you somehow manage to land a real EMS job. It ain't what you see on Turd Watch. The real world is completely different, and frankly every bit as boring as driving a delivery truck. In fact, driving a delivery truck is pretty much all we do.

So I am willing to take around the 30k pay cut to become an EMT.

Are you also willing to give up any kind of social life, hott girlfriends, or life's little luxuries (decent car, cable TV, vacations, money for dates) to become an EMT? Forever? Seriously, there is NOTHING about this job that makes it even worth considering making that kind of change. You'll kick yourself for the rest of your life.

Now I was wondering, I currently live in CA and I want to move somewhere that is cheaper to live, I was thinking texas. Would it be better to finish school, get an EMT job for experience and then relocate? Or shortly after finishing school, relocate, get a temp job while looking for a EMT job. I also am wanting to become a Paramedic. So what do you guys think the best scenario would be for when I finish EMT school.

Best scenario is generally to move to your destination and then attend school. That way you get insight into the local culture, job outlook, and how things work there. Trust me, going to EMT or Paramedic school in LA and coming to Dallas will set you up for serious culture shock and FAIL. Not to mention that both the cost of living and the cost of schools in Texas is MUCH better than anywhere in Calif.

Problem is, how are you going to support yourself through three years of school if you drop your $60k job and move out to Texas? Are you sitting on a trust fund? If so, go for it. If not, then I seriously suggest you spend a lot more time at this forum, as well as riding in some ambulances as an observer, before you make any career move because again, this field is quite honestly NOT what you seem to think it is. Job prospects are extremely low, nationwide. Salaries are at the poverty level nationwide. It's not exciting. It's not fast paced. It's just monotonous, repetitive, abusive, and exhausting, and does not bring you the slightest bit of appreciation or satisfaction.

If you want to be a half-way competent practitioner, you need a year of college courses before you even attend EMT school. That means you're looking at a year before you even have entry level credentials. Those with entry level credentials are a dime a dozen, and most of them are so horny to be a hero that they'll do the job for free. That means that there are no positions, and those positions that do exist pay very little whatsoever, and usually have nothing to even do with EMS. They're just horizontal taxi driver jobs for minimum wage. The schedule at one of those jobs is usually so overwhelming that you simply don't have time to attend school full-time, so it will take you much more than another two years to become a paramedic, if you ever get there at all. Less than 10 percent of all EMTs ever become a paramedic. And while there is a greater job market for Paramedics than for EMTs, they are still seriously underpaid because of the glut of whackers who don't think their job is worth much and work for peanuts. Not to mention that they also share the problem of the EMTs, which is that most of their jobs have NOTHING to do with EMS.

Bottom line is, the chances of anyone going from zero to full-employed Paramedic in less than four years is extremely low in most of this country, unless they intend to be a firemonkey. And even then, the competition is so great that you still have a hard time finding that job.

I know schools are popping out EMT's left and right, but how many actually pursue it?

Too many. Way too many. My advice is that, unless your sole motivation for choosing EMS is that you simply cannot think of any cooler exercise for your mind than the scientific challenge of the practice of medicine, you should simply forget it. If you just think this would be "cool" or "fun" or "exciting", you are beyond delusional and should move along. If you are looking for something easy or fast to get into, this isn't it. And even if you do, once you realise it isn't for you, you're fucked, because there is nowhere else you can go with it, and you've just wasted several years of your life figuring it out, just like the over fifty percent of all medics who leave EMS within the first ten years.

Don't be a statistic. If medicine is really your calling, then the best advice you can get is to go to nursing school, and then move into EMS from there. It works very well. The opposite direction, it hardly works at all. Start at the bottom and you're trapped at the bottom forever.

If the scientific and intellectual challenges of medicine are not your real calling, then neither is EMS, so again, move along. Wanna be a hero? Be a fireman.

Whatever you do, good luck.

[paramedicmike]

Dust pretty much nailed it.

If you're looking for excitement take up skydiving, not EMS.

Good luck to you.

-be safe

[Dustdevil]

If you're looking for excitement take up skydiving, not EMS.

Or join the Air Force and combine the two!

http://www.pararescue.com/recruiting.aspx

[clandest]

Thanks for all the feedback guys.

My goal is to actually become a firefighter. I wanted to become an EMT to get some experience under my belt. And instead of going to school for Firetech since they teach you all that stuff in the academy I was going to work towards becoming a paramedic. And supporting myself with the pay cut its very possible. I am using my current job and building a savings and I will have no debt by the time I leave. I will have my car paid off by the end of the year and I have no credit cards. So all I am going to be paying is living expenses.

But my ultimate goal is to become a firefighter. I want to have it before I am 30, but with my current job and how the hours and how demanding it is. It is kind of hard to pursue it full foce.

Thanks again for the in dept reply very informative.

[paramedicmike]

So you really have no interest in EMS other than what you think it'll get you in regards to getting hired by a FD?

If you want to be a firefighter then pursue that. If you want to be in EMS then pursue that. You will do yourself, your patients and this profession a HUGE disservice to go through the motions only because you think it'll get you somewhere else.

What's more, you would have done better to be honest from the very beginning by saying your goal was to get a FF job. Your deception and lack of honesty from the get-go not only does you a disservice with regards to the advice you could have received but it also demonstrates that you're untrustworthy and not fit for either a FD or EMS job.

Perhaps you need to stay with Frito Lay for a little while longer while you grow up.

[clandest]

So you really have no interest in EMS other than what you think it'll get you in regards to getting hired by a FD?

If you want to be a firefighter then pursue that. If you want to be in EMS then pursue that. You will do yourself, your patients and this profession a HUGE disservice to go through the motions only because you think it'll get you somewhere else.

What's more, you would have done better to be honest from the very beginning by saying your goal was to get a FF job. Your deception and lack of honesty from the get-go not only does you a disservice with regards to the advice you could have received but it also demonstrates that you're untrustworthy and not fit for either a FD or EMS job.

Perhaps you need to stay with Frito Lay for a little while longer while you grow up.

Thanks for the reply, but that is not what I intended. I left out the FF part because I am sure you guys hear it all the time, but I do want to become a FF paramedic. So why not become and EMT than Paramedic while I am working to become a FF?

Edited March 2, 2010 by clandest

[ambodriver]

I can assure you that you will feel exactly the same way about EMS within a year of becoming a paramedic, even if you somehow manage to land a real EMS job. It ain't what you see on Turd Watch. The real world is completely different, and frankly every bit as boring as driving a delivery truck. In fact, driving a delivery truck is pretty much all we do.

Are you also willing to give up any kind of social life, hott girlfriends, or life's little luxuries (decent car, cable TV, vacations, money for dates) to become an EMT? Forever? Seriously, there is NOTHING about this job that makes it even worth considering making that kind of change. You'll kick yourself for the rest of your life.

Best scenario is generally to move to your destination and then attend school. That way you get insight into the local culture, job outlook, and how things work there. Trust me, going to EMT or Paramedic school in LA and coming to Dallas will set you up for serious culture shock and FAIL. Not to mention that both the cost of living and the cost of schools in Texas is MUCH better than anywhere in Calif.

Problem is, how are you going to support yourself through three years of school if you drop your $60k job and move out to Texas? Are you sitting on a trust fund? If so, go for it. If not, then I seriously suggest you spend a lot more time at this forum, as well as riding in some ambulances as an observer, before you make any career move because again, this field is quite honestly NOT what you seem to think it is. Job prospects are extremely low, nationwide. Salaries are at the poverty level nationwide. It's not exciting. It's not fast paced. It's just monotonous, repetitive, abusive, and exhausting, and does not bring you the slightest bit of appreciation or satisfaction.

If you want to be a half-way competent practitioner, you need a year of college courses before you even attend EMT school. That means you're looking at a year before you even have entry level credentials. Those with entry level credentials are a dime a dozen, and most of them are so horny to be a hero that they'll do the job for free. That means that there are no positions, and those positions that do exist pay very little whatsoever, and usually have nothing to even do with EMS. They're just horizontal taxi driver jobs for minimum wage. The schedule at one of those jobs is usually so overwhelming that you simply don't have time to attend school full-time, so it will take you much more than another two years to become a paramedic, if you ever get there at all. Less than 10 percent of all EMTs ever become a paramedic. And while there is a greater job market for Paramedics than for EMTs, they are still seriously underpaid because of the glut of whackers who don't think their job is worth much and work for peanuts. Not to mention that they also share the problem of the EMTs, which is that most of their jobs have NOTHING to do with EMS.

Bottom line is, the chances of anyone going from zero to full-employed Paramedic in less than four years is extremely low in most of this country, unless they intend to be a firemonkey. And even then, the competition is so great that you still have a hard time finding that job.

Too many. Way too many. My advice is that, unless your sole motivation for choosing EMS is that you simply cannot think of any cooler exercise for your mind than the scientific challenge of the practice of medicine, you should simply forget it. If you just think this would be "cool" or "fun" or "exciting", you are beyond delusional and should move along. If you are looking for something easy or fast to get into, this isn't it. And even if you do, once you realise it isn't for you, you're fucked, because there is nowhere else you can go with it, and you've just wasted several years of your life figuring it out, just like the over fifty percent of all medics who leave EMS within the first ten years.

Don't be a statistic. If medicine is really your calling, then the best advice you can get is to go to nursing school, and then move into EMS from there. It works very well. The opposite direction, it hardly works at all. Start at the bottom and you're trapped at the bottom forever.

If the scientific and intellectual challenges of medicine are not your real calling, then neither is EMS, so again, move along. Wanna be a hero? Be a fireman.

Whatever you do, good luck.

This is the most epic post I have ever seen on these forums.

Thanks for the reply, but that is not what I intended. I left out the FF part because I am sure you guys hear it all the time, but I do want to become a FF paramedic. So why not become and EMT than Paramedic while I am working to become a FF?

Your best bet would to take EMT class while still working your job, and do EMT work on the weekends/part time. Then get into Medic school. I wouldn't give up your job to be an EMT full time.

[Kiwiology]

...My goal is to actually become a firefighter...my ultimate goal is to become a firefighter. I want to have it before I am 30...

Ambulance Officers are medical professionals, not a back door to the Fire Service. Go away.

[jonas salk]

You want an exciting career but want to be a firefighter? So sitting on your ass all day watching TV, eating then sleeping, and occasionally going out to put on a NRB on patients is your idea of excitement?

Or do you just want to go around telling everyone you're a firefighter, one of the real heros, just so you can get some herpes infested tail?

Go take up sky diving.