The Hard REALITY Of Being A Paramedic | HINDSIGHT 

Thank you for sharing this… I’m new to the EMS field but the advice from your mentor is something every human should live by.. sometimes love (platonic) can be great medicine to someone with emotional wounds..

I see the crying family members. I smile for them, the ill and injured…because they have someone that cares. Then feel sad.. who will cry me…my cats when they get hungry lol

12 years (and ongoing) Cdn. Paramedic. My sentiments exactly.

How long was your course ? I just finished my EMT class but am considering doing paramedic school as soon as I can

in New Zealand its 3 years but you can cut it down with EMT experience I believe@@AngelDeLoera-sy4ty

@@AngelDeLoera-sy4ty sorta in your boat, recently started working at an EMS company . Hopefully your local companies offer to put you through paramedics school. Take the time to learn and don't rush. But the program, depending on where, is 6-18 months. But fr, just take it in, don't rush.

Age aint nothing but a number. You got this man.

@@muaaditz Thanks mate! I've decided to put it on hold for a year as i have back surgery coming up, a spinal fusion so best to see the outcome of that first.

@@edxr6949 wish you all the best!

@@edxr6949good luck!

It's becoming more and more common in Australia. I've had two guns, knives, and syringes pulled on me, grabbed, pushed, punched plus countess incidents of getting bodily fluid intentionally flicked in my face. It's not paramedics copping it too, but especially ED staff.

@coover65 The question is why? Why would anyone abuse the people trying to help them?

@@eoinbrennan3949 Speaking on behalf of people I work with, most assaults come from family members. Emotions run high, and people expect magic to happen. Drug addicted patients don't have that same thought process as others and will often be aggressive to people trying to help. Often too, it's not the patient who has called us, and they think they don't need our help.

It's unacceptable to abuse anyone.

@@eoinbrennan3949 Because people don't know how to deal, or they've watched too much TV where everything works out for everyone, or they're just assholes to begin with.

OMG how did it go????

@@bookwerm4life19 I just got my results and I PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@@colmb17 legend. stay up bro

@@colmb17 Congratulations. What's your next step? Here in Australia it's apply for a position and spend a year as an intern.

Glad to hear! Any updates?

Dont do it. unless you live in a good area. I live in a bad city and it was awful doing ems, the few rewarding moments was not worth the cost of your mental health.

@@s1rm0rr1lswdsx3 I can actually agree with this. I’m outside of Detroit and would never work in Detroit after hearing about all the burn out and horror stories that come from that city

A woman in my EMT course is 67. You are definitely not too old. I am absolutely loving it so far, it's such an incredible job and there are many people over the age of 60 in this workforce. I say go for it! Find another place that will accept you.

Australian paramedic aged in late 50s here; Question number one you'd need to ask yourself is how's your fitness level? Would you pass the beep test and heavy lifting requirements? Question 2; Mandatory retirement age is 65, and you'd still have three years of university and a year as an intern before being a fully-fledged paramedic. Question 3; Are you happy to work 12-hour shifts that aren't family friendly? I get that some 63-year-olds probably run rings around me health and fitness wise. It's an extremely competitive field, and it's not a case of how good you are, but how much better you are than the next applicant. When I applied there were some 3,500 applicants for about 50 positions. The language, maths and spatial relations tests were the real tipping point. You only made it to the next stage if you were in the top 2%, which equated to a minimum score of 95% we were later told.

Which story seems fabricated? I admit that restraining a Pt and cannulating them seems a bit more stupid than heroic. But everything they talk about seems very real and quite restrained. I've got way more dramatic stories than these, but as I'm sure you know it's often the smaller job that catches you off guard and sticks with you. I wish you well.

@@MattSaysRelax Just a side note Australia is very rural and I have been to jobs where they sound dramatic but are very real. And restraining is not only for our safety but the safety of the patient as well.

As an Australian paramedic, everything here is realistic. Having a 20-year-old paramedic though is virtually impossible here though. Graduate high school at 17, graduate university at 20, then a year as an intern.

@@coover65 20 year paramedic. Not 20 year old

@@thomaswilson813 Haha, my bad. I've got 26 years coming up. It's certainly changed a hell of a lot in the decades. Where abouts do you work?