EMT-B ? Hourly Pay, Benefits, Training, etc.?

[EMT001]

I'm sorry, but working 80 to 90 hours a week is incredibly dangerous. You are putting yourself, your patient, and innocent bystanders at risk. Not to mention the fact that at 80 to 90 hours a week you can kiss any semblance of a social life away - and trust me, in this job you'll need one!

[danb]

I'm sorry, but working 80 to 90 hours a week is incredibly dangerous. You are putting yourself, your patient, and innocent bystanders at risk. Not to mention the fact that at 80 to 90 hours a week you can kiss any semblance of a social life away - and trust me, in this job you'll need one!

EMT001 quote me if im wrong and I am sure your in the field already and know more than I but,

If your working 24's not all the time your on a call and your resting, but I am sure some nights are very hectic though. And say you work 3 '24' hour shifts a week? You still have 4 days off and thats twice as much as any other american?

[EMT001]

EMT001 quote me if im wrong and I am sure your in the field already and know more than I but,

If your working 24's not all the time your on a call and your resting, but I am sure some nights are very hectic though. And say you work 3 '24' hour shifts a week? You still have 4 days off and thats twice as much as any other american?

Three twenty-four hour days lands you at 72 hours per week with 4 solid days of rest. That is the norm in a lot of systems and it works fine. However, you were talking about 80 to 90 hour weeks in a system where you probably won't be able to find anything less than a twenty-four hour shift. Try working four straight days of twenty-four hours shifts and then tell me that it isn't dangerous. I'm not trying to be an ass here, I've done it and can tell you from experience. EMS can be taxing, both physically and emotionally, on the body and, quite frankly, you need time to recuperate from that kind of abuse.

[streetsmart]

If your working 24's not all the time your on a call and your resting, but I am sure some nights are very hectic though. And say you work 3 '24' hour shifts a week? You still have 4 days off and thats twice as much as any other american?

I work for a small service in Missouri - we work 2 - 24 shifts per week. Even though it is a small service we average 2000+ calls a year, or just over 6 calls a day. Most of the time we end up working the majority of the 24 hours with very little sleep. So every time we get off we usually spend our first day off at home sleeping to recuperate.

I thought everyone in EMS or that has been around it very long - knew that it is a low paying, thankless job! Isn't that part of the reason we love it!