Well said Pete.

I was career EMS (EMT-I) for about seven years for two different commercial services. Both were in depressed urban environments. Although we were the primary service providers, about 90% of our time was spent doing routine transfers between healthcare facilities. The other 10% of calls were classified as "emergencies" but very few were even close to life threatening.

The work hours changed from week to week and when I first started on the job the folks at McDonalds made more money. There were also personal issues to deal with. I worked with a lot of people having marital difficulties. Mostly because of the long hours and poor pay. On more than one occasion I worked with a partner who was "under the influence". Due to the difficulty in hiring people, management generally turned a blind eye to this and would just make sure the offender wasn't behind the wheel (treating the patient was okay though).

For me, this was the sad reality of EMS. Oddly though, I am also glad that I did it because of the experiences and the insights into society that I gained.

I got out of it about seven years ago. Today, I could probably count on one hand the number of people I know that are still in the field.

Please keep in mind that there are parts of the US where EMS is much more progressive . Also, Employment with a government body is generally more desireable than with a company whose only focus is money.

Chris

PS: I am a much happier person today.