Paramedic or EMT Work?

It's a calling.
No O. does that for the money.
Do you have child (if relevant) care for the shift work?
Good luck!

I don't know anything about being an EMT but in response to Wild Woman's advice, sometimes all a woman needs is an outside job, and mentally and challenging interests of her own, to become a better, more connected wife and mother. Suggesting you focus even MORE on your husband and kids sounds completely counter productive (I'm sure that's pretty much all you do as it is, right?)
Happy wife = happy life, for the whole family.
The most solid, long term couples I know are professional, working couples. There's more balance there.
I wish I had discovered that sooner for myself...

I have a friend who went through a similar situation. She quit her tax business where she was making well over six figures every March and April, didn't have to work the rest of the year, and went to Jr. College to do the EMT thing.

She really enjoyed practicing CPR on the corpses while they waited for the M.E. when the person was dead. She said it was fun to watch the brain goo come out of the ears on the accident victims but often their bodies were way too crunched up to practice CPR on.

She often came to a home on a call where the person refused help. If the person was about to pass out they'd hang around for a few minutes until they did pass out and then they'd transport them. One person sued them and won. Said they'd informed the paramedics they did not want to go to the hospital and they should not have done that. She got tired of it because very rarely did they truly help anyone.

She had to get used to lifting people who weighed well over 250 pounds because most people were bigger than her. If it was just her and a partner she had to do heavy heavy lifting and it was taking a toll on her body.

Overall her experience being an EMT was not a great one. She said she got tired of getting a call and them getting there and the people were already gone and they basically had to see all the gore and stuff over and over.

So being a paramedic/EMT isn't often what a person expects it to be. It's not all get a call and go help someone with chest pains get to the ER. It's more often they go and it's to a scene that no one really wants to remember and dream about when they close their eyes.

Have you considered nursing? Going all the way for a Nurse Practitioner? They make excellent money and can do so much more for people. Our pediatrician is a nurse practitioner and she is the best thing we've ever had for the kids. She's been a nurse all her life so she knows what's what. She knows all that a nurse knows and more. Then they can treat patients on their own even without a doc supervising them in some states.

Or why not consider getting a master's degree in psychology? or look at being an educational psychologist? They take students and figure out how they learn then tutor them while they figure out how to take the information and turn it in to what they need.

For instance. I have flunked beginning algebra a couple of times. I never had to take it in high school. So I asked for help with my undergrad adviser and she hooked me up with this lady that was an educational...therapist isn't the right word. Maybe an educational tutor? It was more official than that.

Anyway, she finally figured out that if we color coded my algebra problems I saw them differently and could do some. Positive numbers were green, negative signs and numbers were in red, equal was black and the answer was blue. When I had to do more steps we had a formula for that too.

So an educational counselor/tutor/therapist/person with mad skills would be an amazing job if I had the time and money to do that.

With so much strife in the world there are many many many jobs where you can help someone but not experience goo on the sidewalk that used to be a person. I couldn't do that job.

I had a seizure last Friday and within three minutes my downstairs was filled with firefighters and paramedics. They were awesome! While I was being transported and waiting to be checked into the hospital they waited with me and I'm nosey so I ask a lot of questions. Two full years of school 8-5 then clinic also. They work ever changing 12 hour shifts. For me, it wouldn't have been a good job for me although I have always worked a full time challenging career but with flexibility so I could help at the school and be at her activities and softball activities.

If your marriage is on the rocks? I would focus all my adrenaline on my marriage FIRST - to keep my family in tact and happy.

If you are bored? You really need to see a therapist to find out what is driving you - are you OCD - Bi-Polar?? WHAT?

You want to help people? Start with helping your family first. Being a Paramedic or EMT is a shift job - where you need to have a SOLID foundation and support system - to take care of your children and yourself. It's a HARD job. It's not just adrenaline. It's stressful work - you literally have a person or family's life in your hands. You might be on the scene when a family is dead in a horrible accident and trying to save who you can. My sister in law is an EMT/Firefighter. She was a Marine first. IT's NOT easy.

Go to your local firestation and talk to them. Ask them what they deal with. You'll have to go through a mental exam as well as a physical exam - the course for being an EMT is several months long. She had to stay at a barracks for this training session as they were building teams/groups of people...so talk to them about what they went through to get there. An Adrenaline Junky? That's not someone I want trying to save my life or that of my loved one - you will make stupid decisions that might not cost my family member their life - but yours too.

First and foremost? You need to see a doctor. You need to find out WHY you are "bored" and if you are bi-polar or something else. Get into marriage counseling. Get your personal life straight FIRST.

Good luck!

Find a blog where EMTs hang out and ask your questions there.
You'll be hearing it right from the horses mouth.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ems/comments/3b271l/advice_for_o...

I have a paramedic and also an EMT in my extended family. It's pretty demanding and challenging work but they love it.

It's definitely not for the faint of heart - some of their co-workers have suffered from post traumatic stress disorder and have had to be shifted around to other jobs over the years. Just something to consider.

My EMT relative was a volunteer fire fighter first so knew what to expect. The paramedic had a nursing background.

It's quite an involved course and being a paramedic takes much longer of course as more responsibility and able to perform more life saving procedures. I think you have to be strong in the sciences to become a paramedic from what I recall.

When you start out, you would get the unpopular shifts like most shift jobs. It gets better as you move up of course.

The paramedic decided to switch to an administrative role within the field once he had a family. So there are other career options/positions once you have experience.

Have you thought about volunteering in something similar? I have a friend who volunteers for a crisis line and finds it very rewarding. It can be stressful too but she has the right personality. She definitely feels like she makes a difference and is helping people. She does it part time in the evenings - they worked around her schedule.

Good luck :)

A close friend of mine is an EMT. She is an adrenaline junkie who loves working nights, etc.

It's really hard on your body. Lifting heavy patients is doing my friends body in. She's 42 and training to be a nurse.

I'm a retired police officer. A job similar in many ways to that of an EMT. Both jobs are stressful. Your life is already stressful. As an EMT nearly every hour of your life will be stressful. This amount of stress usually results in a very difficult life and is not good for your physical and mental health. Such a life is not good for your children. Your children need you even more when their parents aren't getting along. There are many jobs and a vocations that are interesting and less stressful. Our community college has a class in which you learn about your interests and how to find a compatible job.

I suspect your marriage is failing or has failed in part because you're bored. If you and your husband don't enjoy each others company find interests that you can enjoy for yourself. One of the mom's answer to your previous post gave many ideas for finding friends and things for you to enjoy. Have you tried any of those?

I understand the reason someone suggested bi-polar illness. Often, a person with bi-polar is energetic and searches for excitement when they are bored. Most of us facing a divorce are depressed and not functioning well. The bi-polar person, if not depressed, searches for excitement. One isn't necessarily bi-polar when they deal with major life changes in this manner. Some deal with depression and other stressful situations by focusing on something else as a way to detract themselves from dealing with the stressful situation.

You don't seem to be bi-polar but I do wonder if you'e depressed. Most women would be in your situation. I suggest you consider talking with your doctor about short term meds and with a counselor. Bored people in an unhappy marriage rarely have the energy on their own to find ways out of their boredom.

I would consider meeting with a Career Counselor or Life Coach. Just want to say the Bipolar suggestion is foolish.