How much is the life of your loved one worth to you? How much would you pay somebody to save your family member when they are dying? Personally I would give everything. But entry level careers in emergency medical field don’t pay enough. I'm an EMT and I still have a second job to manage my finances. Right now I started paramedic course which will put things in the better light once I graduate.

EMTs work in the background. Every fire, shooting, car accident, assault has medical workers in the background doing his job. We patch people up, bring them to the hospital and do our best to keep them alive. PD and FD get all the glory. Do we care? Of course not. Our biggest reward is seeing patient who was on the way out to be back in full swing. Unfortunately our profession is looked down upon. We see people at their worst. And we deal with people who would not be your choice of friends on the regular bases. It’s an honorable and humble profession and most important it’s a job. If somebody is putting it down ask them what difference did they make lately in the world? I saved somebody’s xmas by saving their dad. I can’t be everywhere but I can make a change one patient at the time.

Plus health is a funny issue to talk about. People don’t want to admit it that they are sick or they have a problem. People don’t want to face the fact that they just brushed with death due to accident, life style or age. They treat medics are their enemies because we are evil. We ask all the “shameful” questions which sometimes are uncomfortable. I will ask you if you drink, smoke, do drugs, if you are suicidal, your medical history, problems, etc, etc… It will make you upset because when faced with two complete strangers who just found out that you called 911 because you felt dizzy and ready to pass out but in reality you drunk 3 pints of vodka and now you do realize that you may have a problem. Or that you are 400 lbs with 2 heart attacks and you are going into another one yet on your bed table you have a glass that is filled with gravy. Or that you just beat your wife up and she stabbed you… I know things about you that should have stayed behind closed doors and that makes people to be ashamed. Many think they are invincible but that’s not the case.

Plus going lights and sirens for coffee and donuts doesn’t help our image either. <img src="images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Matt EMTB/Paramedic Student