I'm tired...

You know? I've been a Paramedic for over 14 years. I've fully enjoyed my job/profession/career. I really have. There are great calls...the 80 year old woman who can't breathe because her lungs are full of her own fluid, and we give her Oxygen and drugs and by the time we get her to the Hospital, she is speaking full sentences, and is pretty much "fixed". And there are not-so-great calls, such as a 14-year old being hit by a car travelling 30mph, and though EVERYONE does everything possible, they don't survive. And then, of course, there's the 20 year old heroin addict, who we arrive on scene to find not breathing, due to an overdose. Yes, I carry the drug to instantly reverse your "Overdose", and make you breathe, and live, again. So that you can do this again tomorrow/next week/next month. And don't forget the drunk at 2am, who plows into another car, injuring innocent people, who vomits all over my nice, clean pants, while I'm caring for him.

Honestly? I do enjoy my job. I just think that I'm hating working for a "Private Ambulance Company". Let's see what the heck I'm talking about...

As a Paramedic working on an ambulance, there's a couple of different avenues that you can pursue. You can work for a Municipal Service, where you work for a Town/City/County, you are publically employed, and you pretty much are locked into your job, either by a Union, or other entities. Then you could work for a "Hospital-Based" system, where you work for a Hospital, and respond locally to Towns that do now have their own ALS (Advanced Life Support) system in place, so they contract the Hospital to provide Paramedics to their citizens. Then, you have "Private EMS"...or a Privately owned ambulance company, who provides EMS services for Towns and Cities, and also provides transport between Hospitals, and other Healthcare Facilities.

Working for a "Private"...you are basically an "at-will" employee. If you show up without your name-tag on, you could be fired, on the spot. If you forget your boots at home, and are forced to wear the shoes that you are wearing, you could be fired, on the spot. If you do not treat EVERY other care-working with the utmost respect and nicety (even in the face of being chastised by Nurses and Doctors, or even, heaven forbid, being referred to as an "Ambulance Driver", you could be fired, on the spot. You are truly an "At-Will" employee. If you upset a Nurse at a Hospital, you could lose your job. You could be the worst Paramedic in the world, but when Nurse Ratchet calls your Company because you were not cordial to her...BAM! You're fired!

I'm done with that. I really am. I have grown to hate the world of Private EMS. It's not my job that I dislike...it's all the BULLSHIT that comes with it!

Which is most likely why I'm now in Nursing School (that and the fact that I'll be able to make almost DOUBLE as a Nurse than I make now as a 14-year Paramedic!). And...no, money isn't everything...but providing for your family is. So you do what you have to do.

OK...I'm done babbling. What point did I actually make? I have no idea. I just know that I really don't enjoy my job right now. And I'm working hard at changing that.

Stay safe, everyone. :-)