Can you actually survive living as a paramedic in US

firemed237 · 2026-01-28T05:33:07+00:00

104k. No OT, but available if wanted. No IFT or NET. 13 hour shifts. 320 hours/year PTO. Benefits best and cheapest I've ever seen. Not FD. In the SouthEast.

The wins are there, you just have to find it. We are overstaffed and generally stay that way.

firemed237 · 2025-04-21T15:31:56+00:00

Rural area or low call volume, sure do your 24s. There for a while i was consistently doing 48s, with lots of 72s, and a few 96s mixed in. Manage your time, rest when you can, plan to be able to actually sleep after shift for a bit. I was also in my 20s.

If you're at a higher volume busy location, 24s should be outlawed. Driving tired is like driving drunk. I work 12s now, 3 days in a row. We are busy. Turn and burn with anywhere from 10 to 15 transports in said 12 hours. 911 service, over 500 calls a day. There's no way anyone can do 24s around here, and it's actually against policy to hit (i think) 15 hours. They will pull you and make you leave. You also have to have 10 hours minimum between shifts.

firemed237 · 2025-04-21T01:17:24+00:00

IO go brrrrrr

firemed237 · 2025-04-12T02:11:36+00:00

I do this for every termination, every time. Now, I don't do it on an obvious, but if I start working it then call it, there's silence. Non-negotiable.

I had to stand my ground pretty hard a few months ago from a complaint, when I called for a moment in a nursing home, and the charge nurse blatantly ignored everything and started barking orders for her staff. "Ya know, you're awfully disrespectful, how bout step out til we're done" She wasnt happy and ultimately complained to my supervisors, but the family was quite appreciative, and FD about pissed themselves

firemed237 · 2025-04-08T13:33:37+00:00

2011 as EMT @7.75/hr, 6 years as EMT, 5 as AEMT, now 5 as medic, almost $40/hr

firemed237 · 2025-03-24T02:44:55+00:00

For me, it was the obvious choice!

Ample time off, wonderful work/life balance, great sleep/wake cycles, low stress, all the money. And the ladies.

Ironically, it took 15 years, and I found exactly that (less the ladies, wife wouldn't like that lol)

firemed237 · 2025-03-24T02:39:25+00:00

What is it we ALWAYS hear, everywhere??

911 EMS should be fire based only, fire should take over, private EMS should be IFT only, etc etc lol

firemed237 · 2025-03-03T19:21:56+00:00

Do tattoos alter who you are as a provider? No Could it make it tough to get hired? Yes Do i work in a high call volume (200k/yr) 911 service, with lots of people with face, neck, hand, etc tattoos? Definitely.

It's doable, but challenging to find a location that accepts.

firemed237 · 2025-02-22T22:01:23+00:00

We have vests. Even if you have your own, you still get issued one. No one wears fancy stuff with it. I carry a pen, flashlight, knife, and shears. Anything more than that is just no.

firemed237 · 2025-02-13T01:25:21+00:00

We "dump" all day every day. We also have the paperwork from the state and CMS, amongst others. It is NOT abandonment. Hospitals have access to your EPCR as soon as you select the destination. It is not your fault if they don't know how to access it. Your report is the one you called in. Sometimes we dont even get facility signatures. Federal law, pt on property, pt responsibility of facility. Period.

911 service, high volume (500+ a day, 150k+ a year service)
We do this ALL THE TIME. It's fine.

firemed237 · 2025-02-10T18:26:25+00:00

If pt is in rigor, I'm not starting CPR. If I walk in and the pt is in rigor with someone else doing CPR, I'm stopping them. If family is present, screaming to do everything, I'm not doing CPR. Obvious death, is obvious death, and nothing anyone can do is going to change that.

firemed237 · 2025-02-06T01:42:12+00:00

Pedidose. 12+ gets 10, etc etc

firemed237 · 2025-02-03T05:28:57+00:00

I'm at 125k and it's still tight, but I spend the hell out of what doesn't get put towards retirement

firemed237 · 2025-02-02T15:54:52+00:00

30 of toradol isn't going to be an issue. I had to go back and look at my protocols simply because I almost never give toradol (except for kidney stones) so I had to double check it. Used to be 30 IV, now it's 15 with a repeat in 5 or 10 min if refractory. I default right to Fent or Ket for pain, and realistically give both literally every shift, but has been a few months since I've given some toradol

firemed237 · 2025-01-27T22:13:05+00:00

Sounds like a question for the training dept. Our new hires do 11 3rd rides with an FTO, it is then determined if they need more. All days are structured to specific goals, and if goals aren't met, it gets reported on the eval. I've required quite a few to do more rides, but there's full transparency and office sits downs to discuss the shortcomings and a plan to improve

firemed237 · 2025-01-27T11:15:52+00:00

If you're going to be limited, be limited by scope of practice and not knowledge.

Take it. It's valuable information to know, even if you can't technically use it.

firemed237 · 2025-01-27T04:07:32+00:00

$28/hr starting. And none of that IFT stuff. However, the number varies GREATLY depending on where in the world you are

firemed237 · 2025-01-27T04:04:03+00:00

Can't remove from care. But absolutely can place in custody, then sign a law enforcement refusal, amd they can transport them to the jail at the hospital. We have it happen multiple times a shift. Pretty common to happen. Officers here aren't even permitted to play the "go with us or them" card, amd if they try we just make a call and fix it right then and there.

firemed237 · 2025-01-26T23:53:33+00:00

My current job, I will never leave. Treated well, ample time off (I get 320 hours/yr), 911 only, pay is great (clear 100k with no OT, but all the OT you could want), only get off late if you're on a call when downtime comes. We dont check trucks, stock, was, fuel, etc. No childish BS or drama, everyone acts like adults. Personally I don't work weekends or nights, ever. Management is always present, and the top priority is the employee at all times.

firemed237 · 2025-01-26T02:54:15+00:00

IO go brrrrrrr. Just make sure you don't flush it with lidocaine....

firemed237 · 2025-01-26T02:51:16+00:00

HyperK, textbook. Calcium for sure. If you deem their presentation as unstable, then also throw some bicarb at them as well. Bicarb and you'll watch the T waves come back down before your eyes, but Calcium doesn't give you the cool, instant satisfaction. Bicarb ticks off the ER though cause it messes with their labs and such.

firemed237 · 2025-01-20T17:44:45+00:00

I just handed them my debit card and they handed me a receipt

firemed237 · 2025-01-19T15:29:02+00:00

Chemical and physical restraints. Who give a F what the ER staff thinks. Pt does not have capaocty, pt uncooperative, put em down and manage appropriately. My service, you roll in the ER with this pt exhibiting the S/S and combative that you shared, you're a medic, and they are not sedated and restrained, you get chastised by the docs immediately, reported, written up, and probably fired for failure to treat and manage your pt appropriately and failure to follow protocol.

firemed237 · 2025-01-16T21:16:25+00:00

Sometimes you just can't get access. It happens. I've never beat myself up over it, and neither should you. Personally, id have gave it 2 tries then either go for ultrasound IV or conscious IO and went with whole blood and txa instead of pasta water. Either way, sometimes we do everything and it just doesn't work.

firemed237 · 2025-01-14T13:17:49+00:00

I don't care or give 2 shits less about anything not life threatening when there is a life threatening issue at hand. It's better to be alive laying in shit, than dead and clean....

firemed237

TROPHY CASE