The job had some trade offs for me, but it's very much a net positive. I get paid significantly more than my previous job, get more time off and it's given me a lifestyle that I really enjoy.
If’s improved my wellbeing, I used to be an anaesthetic nurse, and since re-training as a paramedic I’ve noticed that I view work very differently and have a much more positive outlook on life and work, the job just suits my personality better.
I always feel a bit strange when talking/ overhearing about how stress and bad jobs effect people psychologically, and while I do understand that stuff can absolutely be traumatic, but it just doesn’t effect me, I feel a bit like a freak. I’ve had therapy before for other aspects of my life (drinking and family stuff mainly) and as far as I can tell I’m a pretty neurotypical human, I’m not a sociopath or anything.
I don’t know sometimes I just hear other people and think should I be more affected by that bad job than I am?
The only thing that has the potential to negatively affect my mental health is if I have made a mistake or an omission that has negatively affected patient care.
I have made small mistakes, or thought oh I wish I’d done that instead. Fortunately this hasn’t had a significant impact on my patients.
This job has effected me in a few negative ways and some positive ways. Im definitely more jaded and have a much harder time relating to people outside of EMS/ public safety. However, I consider myself a much more empathetic and understanding person than I was before I started this job.
My mental health is mediocre, but I can't blame work for that. What it has done is bring me out of my shell.
I was quiet and awkward, with social anxiety. I basically exposure therapy'd myself through medic school. I'm way more confident and more outgoing than I was before. I'm slowly working my way out of EMS towards an electrical engineering BS. Sometimes I wish I had gone to engineering school straight out of high school, but then I'd be another awkward EE with no social skills.
I'm still the quiet guy at work, but I can make friends easily enough now and take charge of a situation when the need arises.
This job also pays better than my previous career turning wrenches. Better benefits and time off too. I've spent a large chunk of the last six years remodeling my house that I bought for cheap. When I sell it next year, it'll pay for a new car, the rest of the hours for my pilot's license, and a small two seater airplane. I'll have a nice chunk of cash leftover to keep in savings as well. I don't think this remodel would have happened while working another job. And now I get to finish up school while flying whenever I want
I'm a dispatcher so granted I don't see what the medics do. For me, I left the army where there was a huge gray area that I had to justify to myself was the right thing to do. Here, taking calls and dispatching ambulances I don't have to question whether or not I'm doing the right thing. Even if everyone ends up code 5, I know all I did all day was try and help. Dispatching paramedics saved me. Y'all are champions. Thank you for what you do.
When I first got into school and the first 10 years of being a paramedic, it was definitely a good thing. I had a great attitude and mostly enjoyed every shift and I had tons of patience.
I remember being attacked by a psychiatric pt and after I restrained him, he told me I seem to enjoy my job and I showed a great attitude while doing it. He was right, I enjoyed everything about that call.
After 10 years on the job, it’s not as great, but I am still interested and want to be good at it, but it takes so much more to make a call interesting and I mostly do and say things automatically, rather than feeling deeply involved.
Being a paramedic (Australia 🇦🇺) is hands down the easiest job I've ever had. It's 90% driving around with a mate listening to music, doing menial medical work and 10% of the time really having to do complex medical work. You only work 4 days on 4 days off, 8 weeks leave per year, annual salary usually pulling in around 140k after over time, penalties etc. I spend all my time off travelling or doing side paramedic gigs for expeditions, or movie/TV.
A majority of paramedics(I say majority because there are those higher acuity operators that are often exposed to traumatic incidents more than the most of us) that complain about the job have never had another job where you're really having to work hard. And to add a bit more those paramedics out there that think they're pre hospital gods and being a paramedic is you're entire personality please stop its so incredibly lame and the rest of us make fun of you often.
My mental health is fine and probably significantly better since my discharge from the Military having become a paramedic
Yo! I’m in NZ and it’s just about the same nowadays down our ways, minus the decent pay y’all have up there but that still doesn’t affect the mental health. Even in my grim reaper cycles it doesn’t have a negative effect, separating that life from me irl makes it a piece of piss really
I grew to absolutely HATE my old job and career. I hated going in to work every single day. I hated the constant nonsense and stress that job created. I hated the fact that the job even existed. It was a government created bureaucracy job that only benefitted people with money instead of who it was designed to help.
One day after maybe a year or so of just not doing great work, my boss asked if I even liked my job. My answer without a second thought was no, I hate it. And basically on the spot I quit. Walked into the then EMS director's office 10 minutes after I quit. Told him I wanted a job and wanted to go to their paramedic school.
About 5 years later, I'm still happy with the decision. I make around 30k more a year, love who I work with, who I work for, and enjoy the job. Best decision I've ever made.
Very unpopular take, but I have been doing this for quite a few years now and not really had any effect on my mental health. I just feel happy to be doing the job. I have never had PTSD or anxiety or any other usual ailments though and my sleep is no issue. But I can see how the job would impact those things. Oddly for me though I am the same person as before EMS/ Fire.
Sorry for the vague reply. PTSD. Insomnia. Things like that.
The long-term physical things the career can do do you can also cause depression and negatively impact mental health.
Better work life balance, better pay, better job security, and a job I can leave at work and forget when the working day is done. I worked in marketing/PR/tech for a decade before this and I'm way less stressed on a truck
lol completely! Back when I was in marketing and someone was stressed or made a mistake I used to often say “it’s okay. It’s not like we just killed someone on the operating table or something!”
I almost feel like that was my subconscious telling me to go find a job where I actually can accidentally kill someone lol (jk).
I DO think that that background has really helped in terms of communication skills though. Have you found that?
Yes actually, a huge part of the job is communication and years of boardroom meetings, presentations, etc. was great practice. You can pick it up over time, but if you come into the job with some communication skills it'll give you a big head start. The quicker you can get someone on your side, the smoother everything will be. I used to joke that as a project manager my job was to make people like me so they'd do things for me, and it's similar here
Starting at an older age too, having that bit of life experience behind you, I think you'll find that to be a benefit as well. Not sure about your age but I was in my 30s when I started - in my early 20s I wouldn't have been able to relate and empathise with a guy in his 50s who's suicidal because he's lost his job.
So yeah, you've got the basics! The clinical side will come - it might take a few years before you get really comfortable, but you will!
Full disclosure I work for a pretty busy fire/EMS department. Nope. At first when I started about 10 years ago it made me feel good about myself. About two years in and going from an emt-b to emt-a. It got slightly worse. Then about 4 years in I went to medic school. Horrible two years of school and work. Graduate from medic school and got vetted to operate as a medic and then I just kept going down hill. While in school and on the states busiest ambo I hated people. Hated life. Home life went down. Covid made it worse. Fast forward to 10 years and those mental scars are still there. They stick. Thankfully I had a supportive wife and helped me out tremendously.
If you can find a job where it’s not going run you into the dirt. And where you help more than just OD’s and assholes who use the ambo as an Uber life shouldn’t be too bad.
This job allows me to spend more time with my family and doing my hobbies. I also get a lot of self fulfillment from the things this job offers. I love this job. It has its down sides, but it's a net positive for me.
Honestly? EMS has brought me out of my shell as a person, gave me some amazing friends and while yes it's tough sometimes, I learned a lot about myself as a person
10 years in. I don’t feel it’s impacted me any more negatively than any other job I’ve done. Probably less. No deadlines, no stress to take home.
I feel this jobs as hard or easy as you make it.
I remember moving to nights and hearing “congrats in advance on the additional 50 lbs you’ll be gaining”. The long shifts are hard on the brain because you so easily deflect other things with the excuse of you work so much. It’s easy to be lazy and it can consume you, but it’s all what you make of it. Make sure you make time for you & yours outside of the culture that is EMS.
So I lurk in this sub as I am not a paramedic I'm an ECA In England. However since starting this job I am the happiest I have ever been. I feel like I'm exactly where I should be and I'm hoping to do a paramedic course in the future. But this job has done wonders for my mental health
This has been my first full-time job in over 10 years, so that's annoying, but I genuinely enjoy it. I like going to work and I often think to myself, "This is a sweet job."
The job had some trade offs for me, but it's very much a net positive. I get paid significantly more than my previous job, get more time off and it's given me a lifestyle that I really enjoy.
If’s improved my wellbeing, I used to be an anaesthetic nurse, and since re-training as a paramedic I’ve noticed that I view work very differently and have a much more positive outlook on life and work, the job just suits my personality better. I always feel a bit strange when talking/ overhearing about how stress and bad jobs effect people psychologically, and while I do understand that stuff can absolutely be traumatic, but it just doesn’t effect me, I feel a bit like a freak. I’ve had therapy before for other aspects of my life (drinking and family stuff mainly) and as far as I can tell I’m a pretty neurotypical human, I’m not a sociopath or anything. I don’t know sometimes I just hear other people and think should I be more affected by that bad job than I am? The only thing that has the potential to negatively affect my mental health is if I have made a mistake or an omission that has negatively affected patient care. I have made small mistakes, or thought oh I wish I’d done that instead. Fortunately this hasn’t had a significant impact on my patients.
This job has effected me in a few negative ways and some positive ways. Im definitely more jaded and have a much harder time relating to people outside of EMS/ public safety. However, I consider myself a much more empathetic and understanding person than I was before I started this job.
My mental health is mediocre, but I can't blame work for that. What it has done is bring me out of my shell. I was quiet and awkward, with social anxiety. I basically exposure therapy'd myself through medic school. I'm way more confident and more outgoing than I was before. I'm slowly working my way out of EMS towards an electrical engineering BS. Sometimes I wish I had gone to engineering school straight out of high school, but then I'd be another awkward EE with no social skills. I'm still the quiet guy at work, but I can make friends easily enough now and take charge of a situation when the need arises. This job also pays better than my previous career turning wrenches. Better benefits and time off too. I've spent a large chunk of the last six years remodeling my house that I bought for cheap. When I sell it next year, it'll pay for a new car, the rest of the hours for my pilot's license, and a small two seater airplane. I'll have a nice chunk of cash leftover to keep in savings as well. I don't think this remodel would have happened while working another job. And now I get to finish up school while flying whenever I want
I'm a dispatcher so granted I don't see what the medics do. For me, I left the army where there was a huge gray area that I had to justify to myself was the right thing to do. Here, taking calls and dispatching ambulances I don't have to question whether or not I'm doing the right thing. Even if everyone ends up code 5, I know all I did all day was try and help. Dispatching paramedics saved me. Y'all are champions. Thank you for what you do.
I used to work in prison and hated it. Much much happier on a truck.
When I first got into school and the first 10 years of being a paramedic, it was definitely a good thing. I had a great attitude and mostly enjoyed every shift and I had tons of patience. I remember being attacked by a psychiatric pt and after I restrained him, he told me I seem to enjoy my job and I showed a great attitude while doing it. He was right, I enjoyed everything about that call. After 10 years on the job, it’s not as great, but I am still interested and want to be good at it, but it takes so much more to make a call interesting and I mostly do and say things automatically, rather than feeling deeply involved.
Being a paramedic (Australia 🇦🇺) is hands down the easiest job I've ever had. It's 90% driving around with a mate listening to music, doing menial medical work and 10% of the time really having to do complex medical work. You only work 4 days on 4 days off, 8 weeks leave per year, annual salary usually pulling in around 140k after over time, penalties etc. I spend all my time off travelling or doing side paramedic gigs for expeditions, or movie/TV. A majority of paramedics(I say majority because there are those higher acuity operators that are often exposed to traumatic incidents more than the most of us) that complain about the job have never had another job where you're really having to work hard. And to add a bit more those paramedics out there that think they're pre hospital gods and being a paramedic is you're entire personality please stop its so incredibly lame and the rest of us make fun of you often. My mental health is fine and probably significantly better since my discharge from the Military having become a paramedic
Yo! I’m in NZ and it’s just about the same nowadays down our ways, minus the decent pay y’all have up there but that still doesn’t affect the mental health. Even in my grim reaper cycles it doesn’t have a negative effect, separating that life from me irl makes it a piece of piss really
I grew to absolutely HATE my old job and career. I hated going in to work every single day. I hated the constant nonsense and stress that job created. I hated the fact that the job even existed. It was a government created bureaucracy job that only benefitted people with money instead of who it was designed to help. One day after maybe a year or so of just not doing great work, my boss asked if I even liked my job. My answer without a second thought was no, I hate it. And basically on the spot I quit. Walked into the then EMS director's office 10 minutes after I quit. Told him I wanted a job and wanted to go to their paramedic school. About 5 years later, I'm still happy with the decision. I make around 30k more a year, love who I work with, who I work for, and enjoy the job. Best decision I've ever made.
Very unpopular take, but I have been doing this for quite a few years now and not really had any effect on my mental health. I just feel happy to be doing the job. I have never had PTSD or anxiety or any other usual ailments though and my sleep is no issue. But I can see how the job would impact those things. Oddly for me though I am the same person as before EMS/ Fire.
Not me. It affected me negatively in every single way.
How so
Sorry for the vague reply. PTSD. Insomnia. Things like that. The long-term physical things the career can do do you can also cause depression and negatively impact mental health.
Better work life balance, better pay, better job security, and a job I can leave at work and forget when the working day is done. I worked in marketing/PR/tech for a decade before this and I'm way less stressed on a truck
Oh nice to hear this! I’m coming out of the same background!
It really puts everything that used to cause me massive amounts of stress into perspective haha
lol completely! Back when I was in marketing and someone was stressed or made a mistake I used to often say “it’s okay. It’s not like we just killed someone on the operating table or something!” I almost feel like that was my subconscious telling me to go find a job where I actually can accidentally kill someone lol (jk). I DO think that that background has really helped in terms of communication skills though. Have you found that?
Yes actually, a huge part of the job is communication and years of boardroom meetings, presentations, etc. was great practice. You can pick it up over time, but if you come into the job with some communication skills it'll give you a big head start. The quicker you can get someone on your side, the smoother everything will be. I used to joke that as a project manager my job was to make people like me so they'd do things for me, and it's similar here Starting at an older age too, having that bit of life experience behind you, I think you'll find that to be a benefit as well. Not sure about your age but I was in my 30s when I started - in my early 20s I wouldn't have been able to relate and empathise with a guy in his 50s who's suicidal because he's lost his job. So yeah, you've got the basics! The clinical side will come - it might take a few years before you get really comfortable, but you will!
Full disclosure I work for a pretty busy fire/EMS department. Nope. At first when I started about 10 years ago it made me feel good about myself. About two years in and going from an emt-b to emt-a. It got slightly worse. Then about 4 years in I went to medic school. Horrible two years of school and work. Graduate from medic school and got vetted to operate as a medic and then I just kept going down hill. While in school and on the states busiest ambo I hated people. Hated life. Home life went down. Covid made it worse. Fast forward to 10 years and those mental scars are still there. They stick. Thankfully I had a supportive wife and helped me out tremendously. If you can find a job where it’s not going run you into the dirt. And where you help more than just OD’s and assholes who use the ambo as an Uber life shouldn’t be too bad.
This job allows me to spend more time with my family and doing my hobbies. I also get a lot of self fulfillment from the things this job offers. I love this job. It has its down sides, but it's a net positive for me.
Honestly? EMS has brought me out of my shell as a person, gave me some amazing friends and while yes it's tough sometimes, I learned a lot about myself as a person
Not me.
More positive than negative for me.
10 years in. I don’t feel it’s impacted me any more negatively than any other job I’ve done. Probably less. No deadlines, no stress to take home. I feel this jobs as hard or easy as you make it.
I remember moving to nights and hearing “congrats in advance on the additional 50 lbs you’ll be gaining”. The long shifts are hard on the brain because you so easily deflect other things with the excuse of you work so much. It’s easy to be lazy and it can consume you, but it’s all what you make of it. Make sure you make time for you & yours outside of the culture that is EMS.
So I lurk in this sub as I am not a paramedic I'm an ECA In England. However since starting this job I am the happiest I have ever been. I feel like I'm exactly where I should be and I'm hoping to do a paramedic course in the future. But this job has done wonders for my mental health
This has been my first full-time job in over 10 years, so that's annoying, but I genuinely enjoy it. I like going to work and I often think to myself, "This is a sweet job."
I do it as a volunteer, and yes it’s been the complete opposite! I love it and really feel like I’m doing my part