Waiting period

[paramedicmike]

Dust may be but one opinion but his is well reasoned, earned through experience and fair in its presentation. Don't discount what he's saying simply because you don't think it agrees with your plans. That doesn't mean he's wrong.

I'm curious as to your other goals in life. What are they? How do you plan to incorporate volunteer fire and EMS experience into a career?

I, too, have a background in Maryland fire/EMS. I can tell you first hand that they'll be the first to tell you how great they are. They're also the only ones to realize they're not that great. Combination departments (MontCo, PG etc...) have constant battles between the volly and paid guys that have lead to fist fights on scenes. Is that what you envision as "giving back to your community"?

Also, speaking of giving back to your community, if you're truly interested in giving back, do you volunteer to pick up trash, also? Wouldn't that be giving back to your community more than volunteering for a FD would be? This may seem like an off the cuff remark but if you take it in line with what Dust was talking about it should raise an *awful* lot of questions for you.

So, yeah. What are your goals in life? What do you want to do with yourself? With this experience? With the time you think you're dedicating to this pursuit?

[Dustdevil]

That said, there are a LOT of people who are really happy with what they do, and get satisfaction out of it every day. My personal experience is that there are more of the former than the latter, but that's just what I've seen. I'm really not convinced that the ratio of unhappy to happy people in EMS is any different from any other profession.

Ah! But you have to analyse that deeper to understand the cause and effect basis of your observation.

The reason you see more happy people than unhappy people in EMS is very deceptive. It's because the vast majority of those in EMS have less than five years in the profession. The rest got out before then because of their unhappiness, having pretty much wasted that time that would have been better spent getting an education or real job. And, as already noted in the other thread, one in a million ever make it past that point with any satisfaction.

[Richard B the EMT]

Maryland may be different from New York, but, due to "being burned", many volunteer ambulance and/or fire agencies near my area of the state, insist that someone volunteer for a minimum period, set by that agency, before they sponsor that member in an EMT class.

By being burned, I mean folks who simply apply to the volunteer agency, just to get into an EMT class, then while in EMT school, or on completion, drop out of the volunteer agency. I should have mentioned that, while one can get into an EMT class, either funded, partially funded, or unfunded, without being in an EMS provider/agency, the schools give some preference to giving seats to those who need the EMT training "for employment or usage" in an EMS agency.

I know of a few agencies, who advised the EMT schools that a class attendee just used the agency's name for obtaining a seat, and the school threw the student out, claiming the student falsified the application, which, in a way, they did.

[fiznat]

The reason you see more happy people than unhappy people in EMS is very deceptive. It's because the vast majority of those in EMS have less than five years in the profession. The rest got out before then because of their unhappiness, having pretty much wasted that time that would have been better spent getting an education or real job. And, as already noted in the other thread, one in a million ever make it past that point with any satisfaction.

I said I see more of the former than the latter... I see more unhappy people than happy ones. I agree with your point anyways, though.