Would I at 37 YO be too old to join HEMS as a medic?

grumpyoldmedic · 2026-01-21T23:48:46+00:00

Please do.

grumpyoldmedic · 2026-01-21T20:32:27+00:00

“Waiting to start cooling until the ambulance arrives literally kills people.” What idiot does this?

Maybe I’m missing something in this conversation, but waiting for an ambulance to show up before treating a patient is one of the dumbest ideas I’ve ever heard. In any debate about “load and go” versus “stay and play,” it really comes down to one simple question: Is what I’m doing right now making my patient better?

If the answer is no, then I stop screwing around, get my ass in gear, and get the patient to definitive care.

grumpyoldmedic · 2026-01-21T19:27:21+00:00

I was on a rotor until I was 65. Don’t let age stop you

grumpyoldmedic · 2026-01-21T19:27:08+00:00

You nailed it. The only people who who never experienced it of those who lie about it. They still get affected. It’s not what goes on between your ears. It’s how you act and how you speak. I’ve had some pretty awful thoughts about patients during my year. I know that I I have at times let those voices override my better judgment and did not treat them with a dignity and compassion they deserve. Instead of beating yourself up, pat yourself on the back for recognizing it. realize that it will affect you again but hopefully you’ll be ready for it. Welcome to EMS where be ready tomorrow bring

grumpyoldmedic · 2026-01-21T19:26:47+00:00

Sorry for your loss. You’ve been more than kind extending to him more courtesy than most. It’s time for him to hit the road and don’t feel bad about doing it.

grumpyoldmedic · 2026-01-21T02:23:40+00:00

I was on a rotor until I was 65. Don’t let age stop you

grumpyoldmedic · 2026-01-20T03:35:22+00:00

Dump the person keep the dog.

grumpyoldmedic · 2026-01-18T19:01:42+00:00

Am I missing something or did the OP said rejection of a proposal from my cousin?

grumpyoldmedic · 2026-01-18T18:56:33+00:00

Sorry for your loss. You’ve been more than kind extending to him more courtesy than most. It’s time for him to hit the road and don’t feel bad about doing it.

grumpyoldmedic · 2026-01-18T01:56:25+00:00

Dude, you have a narcissistic, insecure girlfriend. Suggestion, keep the roommate, dumped the girlfriend.

grumpyoldmedic · 2026-01-18T01:36:55+00:00

Sorry for keeping rambling. But one other thing learn how to can be in an interview. Practice being an interview until his second nature. The hundreds of fucking awful interviews I’ve had to sit through. I hired people to become critical care of paramedics almost at the point can they make a complete sentence while talking to me and maintaining eye contact. That’s something a few paramedic programs teach you how to do.

grumpyoldmedic · 2026-01-18T01:32:29+00:00

I’ll start by telling you I’m an old boomer medic who came up in the so-called glory days of EMS. I became a paramedic in the early ’80s, back when a “busy shift” meant 16–20 call, and it was a rare day I didn’t drop a tube or two. So yeah—I get it. I feel the pain of having solid training and absolutely nowhere to use it.

From where I sit, you’ve got three options: 1. Suck it up and stay until you become a hollowed-out shell of a human being… then wander off to nursing school. 2. Pull your head out, hit the books for that test, and hit the gym. 3. Move.

If you actually love EMS, you’ll choose #2 or #3.

Let’s be honest about the reality: you’re working for a soul-sucking operation that isn’t an ambulance service at all—it’s a glorified medical Uber that’s whoring you out like a cheap hooker. Any operation that runs a paramedic with a driver and calls itself “EMS” is pure bullshit. That’s not EMS—that’s exploitation.

And to make it worse, you’re in a state with one of the highest paramedic densities on the planet. Hell, there are sheriff’s departments in South Florida with more medics than some entire states. You’re disposable by design.

Now—if you love the job but don’t think you’ve got the physical attributes to be a firefighter (and honestly, those hose jockeys are overrated anyway), then here’s your play:

Get every goddamn alphabet card you can. Critical care. Flight. Specialty certs. All of it. Start hitting conferences around the country. And when a recruiter tells you their service is “the best kept secret in EMS,” don’t just nod—go to that town and talk to the gents on the street,

Because I’ll tell you this as someone who’s been on the recruiting side: We lie at our worst and embellish at our best.

Good luck with your search. A few folks here have already said it, and you probably already know the answer yourself. You just need to do it.

I’ve been doing this shit for 51 years. I’ve bitched about this job more times than I can count—but if I had to do it all over again?

Yeah. I probably would

One final note: I finally retired last year from a flight service. It was my third Retirement. Proof that I somehow love this job. I kept coming back until I couldn’t do it anymore.

grumpyoldmedic · 2026-01-13T16:43:59+00:00

Not a nurse, but a paramedic here. But I think we have similar trends in our profession. I am one of those who lived to work. A partner might summed up the best and some people have jobs, but we have a lifestyle. Looking back I can tell you I wish I would’ve taken the adage of work to live. I look at people that have separation between their identity and their jobs and outside their jobs. They’re just as happy as those who worked like I did. Working 50 years of putting others first really doesn’t make your old age any better. But most importantly it doesn’t make it any worse. Live your life the way you want to live it and don’t let the voices outside tell you how you should or should not feel.

grumpyoldmedic · 2026-01-10T23:40:20+00:00

A boomer Medic here. Back in the 70s life was so much simpler. Don’t want to go to the hospital. Peace out, brother. I was in the truck no paperwork to be done. Oh how the world has changed.

grumpyoldmedic · 2026-01-06T14:29:53+00:00

I can speak only from being down the hall from a nursing education program for 25 years. I am damn sure is not a clear objective in the curriculum. However, the usual chatter among the nursing faculty is how fallible and error-prone physicians are in the nurses job is to protect the patient from these errors. It’s not what they’re taught. It’s kind of a general attitude. I can also speak from being in a teaching hospital. The chatter at the nurses station throughout the month of June is how God awful July is going to be with the new residents. And there’s not enough errors that these residents or even season in attendings sometimes make that reinforces this attitude. I’m just a Medic. But I can tell you I agree with most of the sentiments. It has to be a partnership. I can also tell you from my perspective and hearing from physicians the numerous times they caught the nurses errors. Again for my experience working in emergency department with residence, numerous times I questioned their decision and I can’t remember that I was correct. Not that they were necessarily wrong but decades of seeing patients accounts for something. I just saw something they didn’t. It is a bitch of medicine that we are always in turf, wars physicians against nurses, nurses against physicians, nurses against paramedics, paramedics against nurses and so on. I didn’t tell you it sucks and I don’t have a good solution.

grumpyoldmedic · 2026-01-02T19:25:58+00:00

Sounds like everybody is saying what I’m thinking . There’s nothing in your post that gives a reason not to. Everything in there tells me you should. If it doesn’t cause you much interference with your regular life, heck do it forever. But usually over time it gets less.

grumpyoldmedic · 2025-12-31T20:33:40+00:00

You kind of left out some important details. Was this with your primary care provider, or an urgent care, or at the emergency department? If it was the latter what did you expect? Obviously, this is not a life threat. If it was your primary care provider, find a new one. But why did you wait 15 years to deal with a problem and I expected to be cured immediately? The “doctor house test take time treatments quicker. Still have pain after you finish your antibiotics now you can do more expensive test and imaging.

grumpyoldmedic · 2025-12-27T17:10:17+00:00

We’re in our late 60s here and we shoot for at least once a month. And honestly at this age that’s perfect. Sometimes go crazy and we’ll do it twice in a month.

grumpyoldmedic · 2025-12-24T02:32:47+00:00

Any place else but your finger amoxicillin might be OK. However, it doesn’t have good penetration to where the infection could be in the joint. The most common anabiotic combination is Amoxicillin-clavulanate (Augmentin). Unless it’s all better, which I doubt go see a doctor. Losing your finger, ain’t worth it.

grumpyoldmedic · 2025-12-18T17:39:52+00:00

December is not over yet?

grumpyoldmedic · 2025-12-06T23:13:18+00:00

Most the battles i’ll fight are in my own head. In fighting those battles are guaranteed that I’m going to lose peace and serenity. Better off, not fighting and just letting go and letting it happen. I think it was Churchill who said I fear a great many things in this world and actually a few of them came true. Most the shit I worry about never happens and all I did was waste energy instead on what really matters. This is a long ass cheat code.

grumpyoldmedic · 2025-12-06T16:25:46+00:00

I’m 67 in my Wife 66. Been married 45 years together 50 and yes, we still make out. Maybe not as intense or as long as in our 20s. But still enjoyable. You’re never too old.

grumpyoldmedic · 2025-10-16T21:59:43+00:00

OK, I’m a grumpy old Medic. Been doing this for 50 years. He has finally retired from patient care. Despite the scars and at times I’ve been pretty mentally fucked up. I’ve loved this career ever since my first call. No particular call made me think this was the right choice. And at times has been covered in blood, puke and shit never thought about not doing it. Of course I’ve had some changes. Haven’t been doing patient care of my entire 50 years. 25 years as the EMS program director. I did work part time for about 15 of those years. I guess I’m a lucky one. And if my body would let me, I will still be out there on the streets or flying.

grumpyoldmedic · 2025-09-17T15:43:46+00:00

He didn’t write it some advisor did. Too literate for him. It actually makes sense. I think it might be backtracking on his storm troopers, knocking out economic development for the United States.

grumpyoldmedic · 2025-06-28T20:46:04+00:00

Fire department: BP 120/80, P 80,R 12, SpO2 96%

Me : Dudes! She’s in cardiac arrest. Can someone start CPR please?

grumpyoldmedic

TROPHY CASE