I'm not medical professional, but we have a pair of EMT shears that have been kicking around my mother's house since the 1980s. She showed me a flashy pair of kitchen shears she paid more than I'll say for, and bragged how they cut a penny, I dug into the drawer, pulled out the loose riveted old shears and cut a penny in half. Not that the penny test is a very good one (that was my point), but even w/o intentional babying EMT shears can last. We also haven't gone out of our way to break them...so take from this what you will.