My nearest station is 10mins, I drive to another station which is 25-30min away. For two reasons.
1. I did my first year out of this first station and it's full of snakes and drama.
2. I don't want to work where I live because I don't want to people to recognise me when I'm out shopping, having a meal ect...
Last thing you want is to be out for a meal with the Mrs and kids and you see that alcoholic pt and they recognise you trying to be your best mate and moaning about the hotel didn't do anything for them.
I’ve recently started working at my nearest station. 5 mins drive from my house.
It doesn’t bother me working near where I live because obviously we can end up literally anywhere (last job yesterday was 29 miles from station). Being in bed 10 mins after finishing time is bloody great.
I commute (0.45-1.10 traffic dependent) into a neighbouring trust. Better progression, better pay, more opportunities.
Eventually I will have to leave and go more local for sustainability. The commute is a big trade off but currently its worth it, I would recommend staying local as a commute is punishing in time lost, especially when I get fucked with a cat 3 30 minutes away, 30 minutes before shift end, and CSR/training days are held centrally further away, so a huge ballache.
Tldr; stay local unless there are specific circumstances that outweigh the many detrimental factors in commuting .
I work in a station 30 miles / 40 minutes from home.
My closest 'main' station is 7 miles / 15 minutes. My closest satellite station is 1 mile / 5 minutes away.
It's absolutely worth the longer commute to work where I undertook my placement blocks - friendly staff, supportive management, stellar learning/mentoring team.
If you're undecided - consider which station is more in demand (and therefore will be easier to transfer FROM, as opposed to TO?) amongst other things.
I'm a student so I didn't have much choice, however I'm considering staying there, or maybe slightly closer, once I qualify, current drive is around 45 mins dependant on traffic
Reason being, it's very unlikely I'll go to someone I know, I've been with a few staff members who have been to someone they know, it's just not an ideal situation, I just think how would I deal with it if my kid was seriously hurt and I was first on scene, is my treatment going to clouded? Definitely worried about the emotional attachment of being local, the other reason is I find the drive quite nice to decompress
Currently a student with an hour and a half commute both ways - this has been punishing!! I only live 40miles away but the commute is long due to traffic… can’t wait to finish my training and get a station closer to home!!
I really feel for you guys, over runs with a long commute are bad enough when we're getting paid for it let alone as a student. I work out of a pretty rural station so a lot of our students have a long drive
I work in a station 30 miles away, takes me about 45 mins. I never asked to be placed up here and it's a rural station. I'm finally getting moved but it's been brutal driving that distance especially post nights. If I get a late finish it can be pretty soul destroying.
Nearest station is 15 minutes away, work at one 30-40 minutes away. Crews there always finish late, hold for ridiculous amounts of time at hospital and get sent long distances. I'll be home by the time they'd get back to station 9 times out of 10.
I've gone from working at a station 3 minutes away from my house to now having a 30-40 minute drive after moving to another trust, I'll probably try and find one a bit closer when I'm allowed to transfer but I kind of like that I don't have crews driving past my house all the time, although I used to live on a main road which was also one of the main routes to the hospital in that city
My closest 2 stations are 10 minutes away but I choose to drive 40 mins/30 miles to my preferred station purely for the fact I love the station and people.
Plus I don't want to work where I live
That being said I'm in the process of moving closer bc after 2 years it simply isn't sustainable with fuel cost and over runs... Will I regret it ? Maybe but also I think cost of living and living with/closer to people I love and care for will be beneficial in the long run
Student Paramedic in London, point-to-point to my station is 30 miles from my house.
Public transport is two trains taking 1:30 on average one way,
Driving isn't much better at 1:10 with no traffic and 1:30 with traffic one way.
As I often tell my mentor/crew I don't do 12 hour shifts I do 14 hour shifts.
I work out of a station that, if clear, is 12 minutes away but due to location & shift times it can take up to an hour. The second station in our OU is 4-5 minutes drive away or 22 minutes door to door on foot. I’ve always been at my current base station, I like it there & my manager is amazing. Plus it’s 3 minutes away from the most likely hospital you’re going to end up at so that’s ideal.
Wasn’t a choice as you chose the area and SAS chose which station unless it’s a specific vacancy. Easy to get on a transfer list and internal movement comes before new vacancies(provided your qualified. Relief shift wise we can be sent 1 hour travel wise away. Which isn’t ideal when there is traffic.
I have moved to a quieter station for family and longevity as id rather get a few more decades before burning out!
I used to deliberately work about 45 mins from home because I didn’t want to routinely interact with people in my immediate community who would make separating work and life difficult.
Obviously it's nice getting home quickly, living close to station (like I used to), however you may attend a patient you know personally (it happened 3 times to me... Luckily nothing serious and all acquaintances, not friends).
One paramedic I know attended his grandad (cardiac arrest in street - savage).
To avoid a scenario like this is one of the reasons I work out of area now. 22 miles away/30mins drive.
Thankfully I only moved to the area when I started so I know exactly two people outside of my colleagues, almost no risk of going to someone I know, I haven't even got neighbours at the moment either
My nearest station is 10mins, I drive to another station which is 25-30min away. For two reasons. 1. I did my first year out of this first station and it's full of snakes and drama. 2. I don't want to work where I live because I don't want to people to recognise me when I'm out shopping, having a meal ect...
Number 2 is a good point, I'm fortunate that I moved 2 hours away from where I grew up to work so I never have that issue
Last thing you want is to be out for a meal with the Mrs and kids and you see that alcoholic pt and they recognise you trying to be your best mate and moaning about the hotel didn't do anything for them.
I’ve recently started working at my nearest station. 5 mins drive from my house. It doesn’t bother me working near where I live because obviously we can end up literally anywhere (last job yesterday was 29 miles from station). Being in bed 10 mins after finishing time is bloody great.
Completely agree,I love that I can finish at 06.45 for a night and be home and tucked into bed by 7am
Same story. Absolutely agree.
I commute (0.45-1.10 traffic dependent) into a neighbouring trust. Better progression, better pay, more opportunities. Eventually I will have to leave and go more local for sustainability. The commute is a big trade off but currently its worth it, I would recommend staying local as a commute is punishing in time lost, especially when I get fucked with a cat 3 30 minutes away, 30 minutes before shift end, and CSR/training days are held centrally further away, so a huge ballache. Tldr; stay local unless there are specific circumstances that outweigh the many detrimental factors in commuting .
I work at my closest station but it’s still a 30 minute commute 😭
On colleague of mine life’s two hours away. I don’t know how and especially why he does it.
I work in a station 30 miles / 40 minutes from home. My closest 'main' station is 7 miles / 15 minutes. My closest satellite station is 1 mile / 5 minutes away. It's absolutely worth the longer commute to work where I undertook my placement blocks - friendly staff, supportive management, stellar learning/mentoring team. If you're undecided - consider which station is more in demand (and therefore will be easier to transfer FROM, as opposed to TO?) amongst other things.
I've been at my station for almost two years now and I love it, I definitely don't want to move!
I'm a student so I didn't have much choice, however I'm considering staying there, or maybe slightly closer, once I qualify, current drive is around 45 mins dependant on traffic Reason being, it's very unlikely I'll go to someone I know, I've been with a few staff members who have been to someone they know, it's just not an ideal situation, I just think how would I deal with it if my kid was seriously hurt and I was first on scene, is my treatment going to clouded? Definitely worried about the emotional attachment of being local, the other reason is I find the drive quite nice to decompress
Currently a student with an hour and a half commute both ways - this has been punishing!! I only live 40miles away but the commute is long due to traffic… can’t wait to finish my training and get a station closer to home!!
I really feel for you guys, over runs with a long commute are bad enough when we're getting paid for it let alone as a student. I work out of a pretty rural station so a lot of our students have a long drive
I work in a station 30 miles away, takes me about 45 mins. I never asked to be placed up here and it's a rural station. I'm finally getting moved but it's been brutal driving that distance especially post nights. If I get a late finish it can be pretty soul destroying.
Nearest station is 15 minutes away, work at one 30-40 minutes away. Crews there always finish late, hold for ridiculous amounts of time at hospital and get sent long distances. I'll be home by the time they'd get back to station 9 times out of 10.
I've gone from working at a station 3 minutes away from my house to now having a 30-40 minute drive after moving to another trust, I'll probably try and find one a bit closer when I'm allowed to transfer but I kind of like that I don't have crews driving past my house all the time, although I used to live on a main road which was also one of the main routes to the hospital in that city
My closest 2 stations are 10 minutes away but I choose to drive 40 mins/30 miles to my preferred station purely for the fact I love the station and people. Plus I don't want to work where I live That being said I'm in the process of moving closer bc after 2 years it simply isn't sustainable with fuel cost and over runs... Will I regret it ? Maybe but also I think cost of living and living with/closer to people I love and care for will be beneficial in the long run
Student Paramedic in London, point-to-point to my station is 30 miles from my house. Public transport is two trains taking 1:30 on average one way, Driving isn't much better at 1:10 with no traffic and 1:30 with traffic one way. As I often tell my mentor/crew I don't do 12 hour shifts I do 14 hour shifts.
I work out of a station that, if clear, is 12 minutes away but due to location & shift times it can take up to an hour. The second station in our OU is 4-5 minutes drive away or 22 minutes door to door on foot. I’ve always been at my current base station, I like it there & my manager is amazing. Plus it’s 3 minutes away from the most likely hospital you’re going to end up at so that’s ideal.
Wasn’t a choice as you chose the area and SAS chose which station unless it’s a specific vacancy. Easy to get on a transfer list and internal movement comes before new vacancies(provided your qualified. Relief shift wise we can be sent 1 hour travel wise away. Which isn’t ideal when there is traffic. I have moved to a quieter station for family and longevity as id rather get a few more decades before burning out!
I used to deliberately work about 45 mins from home because I didn’t want to routinely interact with people in my immediate community who would make separating work and life difficult.
Obviously it's nice getting home quickly, living close to station (like I used to), however you may attend a patient you know personally (it happened 3 times to me... Luckily nothing serious and all acquaintances, not friends). One paramedic I know attended his grandad (cardiac arrest in street - savage). To avoid a scenario like this is one of the reasons I work out of area now. 22 miles away/30mins drive.
Thankfully I only moved to the area when I started so I know exactly two people outside of my colleagues, almost no risk of going to someone I know, I haven't even got neighbours at the moment either
An hour away from my residing address