Health Being a Paramedic

[Absolute Gun]

Thinking of going into this field just after some clarification on a few things.

What's the work like?

Whats the hours like?

Whats the pay like?

Pro's and Con's?

Is it easy to get a job after you are qualified?

Any other information or stories you could tell me.

Thanks Guys

 

[Igloo]

Weren't you the guy who made the thread about wanting to work in sport?

On topic, I was talking to the paramedic who took me to the hospital last night. he had worked all day from 10am to 8pm.
Said he had been really busy the whole time too. If you do it, be prepared to work hard for a long time.

 

[HarryTiger]

Old person's taxi driver, mostly.

 

[RU_]

What happened Igloo?

 

[Igloo]

What happened Igloo?

Burned my hand with oil that was on fire. Hurts bad.

 

[Absolute Gun]

Igloo was he happy with his job??

What sort of things did they do to you?

Would it be an enjoyable job from what you saw??

 

[Igloo]

Igloo was he happy with his job??

What sort of things did they do to you?

Would it be an enjoyable job from what you saw??

He seemed like a nice guy. Was all smiley and everything. But I suppose they have to be.
He just gave me a drip line and morphine, asked my details, etc. Gave me the green whistle too.

They just manage it and try to keep the patient calm/happy for minor cases. Serious cases they work hard so you dont die.

 

[Powerade 08]

Igloo was he happy with his job??

What sort of things did they do to you?

Would it be an enjoyable job from what you saw??

f'n lol

 

[Messenger]

They just manage it and try to keep the patient calm/happy for minor cases. Serious cases they work hard so you dont die.

Awesome stuff.

 

[Igloo]

Awesome stuff.

Yep. Simple question, so i kept it to a simple answer.

 

[FlyingBurittoBro]

preface : this is flying b b's queensland housemate talking

What's the work like?
The work is mostly good, but can be frustrating and tiring at times. The people you work with usually make the work much easier.

Whats the hours like?
depends largely on the type of roster, the 12hr shifts,overtime and night shifts are usually the hardest part, but you get used to it. Days off and holidays are not bad.

Whats the pay like?
Depends mostly on where you are working i.e. which state. Its not the highest paying job in the world, but its not bad.

Pro's and Con's?
Overtime is both a pro and a con, good money but hard to make plans if you don't always finish on time.
Shift work is also a con, 9-5 mon-fri means u will always have weekends off, which doest happen in this line of work.

Is it easy to get a job after you are qualified?
There is generally only 1 employer in each state i.e. state ambulance service,there are some private jobs but prior experience is required for most of those. It will depend mostly on how many positions are available in the state you want to work/are trained and whether you are willing to move to where those jobs are available. Currently there are plenty of available positions, but this can change depending on amount of graduating students.

 

[Cole Dammett]

My best friend is in 3rd (final) year of the Paramedic course at uni. She said there is something like 100 people graduating to only 25 internship places in Adelaide... I know those numbers are wrong but it's a huge amount of people who will miss out. If she gets the internship I think they start on 70K a year. They work either a night shift which is 14 hours, 6pm to 8am or a day shift of 10 hours that goes from 8am-6pm. And they do 4 of either shift in a row then have days off, not sure how many in a row. Sorry I'm not being too accurate only because I don't know exactly! Hope that helps though.

 

[Messenger]

Yep. Simple question, so i kept it to a simple answer.

I enjoyed it immensely.

 

[jonoman89]

My best mate is one

- incredibly competitive to get a job
- you have to work for years in far away places before getting a gig in the suburbs
- hours are ridiculous
- pay is nowhere near enough
- have to deal with heaps of psycho people

I wouldn't bother.

 

[Mooster7]

I've been doing it my entire adult life (minus three years in the Army). In fact the "anniversary" of getting my license was this past Tuesday, but that's just a coincidence.

However, this is all in the US. I know squat about the way things are done over there. I'm only posting because, from reading through the thread thus far, I think it may be easier to get a paramedic job over here than over there.

That's something to consider if you've ever considered living in an "exotic foreign country." You speak the language mostly. For that matter, we've got an Englander, an Aussie and a New Yorker working here at my current jurisdiction. The New Yorker is the most foreign of the lot. The Aussie doesn't follow the AFL. I asked him. So I didn't see any reason to befriend him. Afterall, he's no different from everyone else who doesn't follow the AFL - which is everyone else.

Peace,

 

[prankmonkey]

shittest part of the job will be dealing with drunken yobs ready to pick a fight with you even tho you're trying to patch them up after getting beat up

 

[Piss Poor]

can't believe no ones mention death in this thread yet.
Surely that's a con.

The amount of people dieing in you hands and things you would see would be very disturbing. Have to be a very strong minded person I'd think, that can handle pressure situations and can ignore, I don't know someones hand being chopped off in a freak chainsaw accident.

Shit like that

PS there's blood everywhere

 

[Worldheroxx]

nah

the first death is a con, after that it aint nothing thang

 

[Absolute Gun]

Thanks for this guys, all has been pretty helpful so far

 

[Capt_Concussion]

What's the work like?
It's a mixed bag. Some days you'll just ferry old folk around and other days you'll be working frantically to keep someone from dropping off the perch. Stimulating work where you're always learning new things or a new and different way to do a particular skill. You'll never be entirely bored in this job as every case is a bit different.

Whats the hours like?
In Vic most branches work on a four days on, four days off roster. You do two day shifts (0800 - 1800) then two night shifts (1800 - 0800). Some branches have different rosters depending on how many crews opperate out of that branch at the same time.

Whats the pay like?
Depends on the state. Victoria has pretty average wages. The run of the mill Paramedic can expect to pull in about 80k a year. SA and ACT have professional rates of pay and get 10 - 20k extra a year.

Pro's and Con's?
Obvious ones like helping people in their hour of need and then the flipside, watching them die.

The people you work with are all friendly, caring people who are easy going.

Social life is pretty hard (but far from impossible) to have and say goodbye to team sports.

You get desensatised and develop a dark sense of humour which others might find a bit odd or rude.

Quite a few people put on a decent amount of weight after becoming paramedics due to not being able to eat at regular times and relying on fast food a bit. It's also hard to motivate yourself to exercise after doing a 14 hour night shift plus overtime.

Is it easy to get a job after you are qualified?
Pretty competitive but there are other options like the private sector. After working for the privates for a year it's usually easy to get a job.

Any other information or stories you could tell me.
Be prepared to not feel at ease or comfortable in the job for years and years due to the sheer amount of different cases you can attend. It can take years to see all the different types of illnesses and patients, let alone have the knowledge, skills and confidence to treat them perfectly. However, this is something I look forward to as I won't be bored of the job after a couple of months.

I'm only in my final year (3 year course) at Uni studying to be a Paramedic so this info is just what I've picked up on placements etc. I'm sure an experienced Paramedic would say some different things.

 

[Igloo]

You get desensatised and develop a dark sense of humour which others might find a bit odd or rude.

Noticed this with a lot of paramedics I've met, as well as a couple of mates who are paramedics. Seems to be one of those weird things that develops with them

 

[Mooster7]

Hello, Capt.

I've never seen a schedule quite like the one you're talking about with the four on- four off. The closest thing to that is a rural county jurisdiction to our south that does three on - six off, but they do three solid days as in 72 hours. They can get away with this because they are slow. They have three trucks in the whole county but share between them 8-10 calls in a 24 hour period.

I appreciate this:

You get desensatised and develop a dark sense of humour which others might find a bit odd or rude.

I don't think people outside of Fire/EMS/Police will ever fully understand that, but it's very true and something you have to be careful to guard against because it slips right out. I've been terribly gross and caught heat for saying something that I thought was an obvious joke or an obvious observation. I think, "Oh well, my co-workers would have got it."

Obvious ones like helping people in their hour of need and then the flipside, watching them die.

And you watch far more die. In my first 5 or 6 years I used to keep track of "Code Saves" and how many were lost. In that span I "saved" 12 people who fully recovered and made it out of the hospital. I lost count of the ones that didnt' but before I stopped counting it was over 200. Not a good ratio and we have good reponse times. We used to work a lot of asystole back then though and now we don't. Now I no longer keep track and I don't care. I think the patient (and his overall health) has far more impact on his outcome that what I might have done.

It's always wonderful to deliver a baby (10 to date including twins) but the SIDS deaths suck.

Social life is pretty hard (but far from impossible) to have and say goodbye to team sports.

Tough to keep playing in a band as well. Especially when you try to get work as a regular house band at a club somewhere and the club wants you there every Friday and Saturday. No can do.

Be prepared to not feel at ease or comfortable in the job for years and years due to the sheer amount of different cases you can attend. It can take years to see all the different types of illnesses and patients, let alone have the knowledge, skills and confidence to treat them perfectly.

Have the opposite problem over here. The new rookies often develop what we call "para-God syndrome" where a green proby noob thinks he can save the entire world and no one is better than he is. The veterans are experienced enought to know that each call is going to present challenges and are always on guard not to be surprised. You do this with a relaxed, confident attitude however because you've been surprised so many times.

I don't know how many times I've said, "I will never again be surprised by human behavior." And then someone will do something that surprises me all over again.

I'm only in my final year (3 year course) at Uni studying to be a Paramedic so this info is just what I've picked up on placements etc. I'm sure an experienced Paramedic would say some different things.

Thanks for posting. It was insightful into your system and ways.

Good luck, Capt Concussion. Learn, be smart, guard against the para-God and remember that any shift that you walk away from and go home is a good one.

Peace,

 

[Absolute Gun]

Thanks guys,

Whats the Uni Course like??

 

[DREAM TEAM BUFF]

If you become a volunteer ambo you don't have to work long hours

But it is a crap job i would rather be a paid firefighter

* Should just point out that i am in the Emergency Service's

 

[Capt_Concussion]

Thanks guys,

Whats the Uni Course like??

This is the only course I've ever done so I can't compare it to anything.


I'm doing it at Monash and to be honest it seems a bit disorganised. There hasn't been one year where the subjects/units have been the same since the previous year. The course structure is constantly changing.

Let me put it this way, I'll be working as a Paramedic in minimum two months and I still feel I haven't been taught everything.