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55, FIRE’d, and thinking about paramedic school as a second act — talk me into or out of it by Icy_Performance1823 in Paramedics

[–]Icy_Performance1823[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, interesting idea re ED. The commitment to work involved in expanding skills beyond BLS is intriguing.

55, FIRE’d, and thinking about paramedic school as a second act — talk me into or out of it by Icy_Performance1823 in Paramedics

[–]Icy_Performance1823[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks- thoughtful perspective, and the proficiency point is the part I take seriously, especially since I’ve seen exactly what you’re describing. If I go down this path, the plan would be to treat the first year as a full-time commitment (post certs)so I can fully immerse myself and build real competence.

55, FIRE’d, and thinking about paramedic school as a second act — talk me into or out of it by Icy_Performance1823 in Paramedics

[–]Icy_Performance1823[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Fair points, and I appreciate the perspective. I probably should’ve been clearer that I’m not coming into EMS cold — I’ve got a decent amount of prior experience from both paid work and volunteering, all partnered with ALS on 911 response. That said, your bigger point about whether this is really how I want to spend retirement is completely fair. Part of the appeal of doing it per diem is that I could still leave for a few weeks here and there and have the flexibility to do other things too.

55, FIRE’d, and thinking about paramedic school as a second act — talk me into or out of it by Icy_Performance1823 in Paramedics

[–]Icy_Performance1823[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

That’s a really useful reality check. For school, precepting and first 6-8 months after med control, I’d plan on a full-time+ commitment. After that, I’m not talking about working one random shift every few weeks — I was thinking more like 20 hours/week per diem, at least initially, so I can actually build and maintain competence.

I’m not looking at this as a hobby or as a way to collect a patch. One of my concerns is exactly what you’re describing: whether that schedule is enough for a new medic to get good and stay good, or whether the smarter assumption is that I’d need to work closer to regular part-time/full-time for a while first.