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Some valid points are made. I am a paramedic, working for a private service for 19 years, but a total of 25 years in EMS. I have worked for municipal agencies, privates, even volunteer. Yes, there are times the burn out factor takes over, but overall, I still love my job. The money is ok, good benefits, good retirement. I think too many medics seem to lose sight of the fact that we are here to take care of people. Wether they are 8 or 80, in a car wreck or going to dialysis, they are all people who need our care. I have started to branch out into disaster management, not because I don't love the job, but because I know that I'm only one bad patient lift from being side-lined with a back injury. That's my biggest complaint about this job. The lack of advancement. I've had the chance to move into an office job, but the cut in hours did not make up for the pay increase. Overall, I'm happy with my career choice. It has provided me with a good life.

I LOVE MY JOB!!!!! Twenty years on the job Municiple EMS.... 16 as a Paramedic. I have advanced myself to EMS Instructor, ACLS/PALS/ATLS Instructor Have been an EMS Battalion Chief for 7 years now. I can retire if I want but I'm only 39 so I can keep going. I have thought about RN but I like working outside

The bottom line with this has to be if you have personally assured you will be able to finish your in hospital time, and your ambulance time there is no reason for them to charge you more money or delay you a year. I would be outraged at the lack of flexibility. Even so I have to agree with FireMedic65 here, my medic program, didn't stop for people with surgeries, broken bones, car accidents, lost family members or even pregnancy. It was the students responsibility to work it all out and make the dead lines. I am truly sorry for your loss, however, to be perfectly candid, our bereavement leave where I work is 3 days from date on the death certificate whether or not they fall on work days. I can understand you have trouble focusing, but perhaps asking for 6 weeks off was a little much. Maybe as an alternate you can lighten your load in other areas of your life.. in case you are unable to get through the "pecking" order because that in and of itself will take a lot of time, which will not help your case, or help you have time to destresss and relax, I mean if your going to go through all of that might as well just go to the shift on the ambulance and be stressed!

My only question is this: Does this mean we're going to have to deal with a glut of new threads from everyone who just HAS to bitch about how terrible the program is, but yet can't seem to stop watching it?

The physical demands of this job have much less to do with your physical attributes than you're technique and intelligence. I find that I spend the majority of my time doing nothing significant and then am suddenly in a position to need to lift fat people on a heavy cot and then drag them through a bunch of weird places. At these times it's much more about making sure that I move the load so that I can lift if evenly and safely, use good lifting technique, ask for help if I need it, while the firemen are snickering about what a pussy I am. Screw the whole, "Me and Bubba pride ourselves on never having had a lift assist, not ever." One of the best medics at my service is 5'4" and 115 lbs. If she can't lift she'll ask for help, if she can't ask for help then she'll come up with an intelligent way to get the job done and not get hurt. She's my hero. EMS is sometimes about brawn, but get good now with the fact that you need to focus way more on brains. Brains are at a premium, people trying to prove that they have an unusually long penis can be found running all over EMS scenes. Make sure you're fit, and then stay that way. But know that if you are thinking of getting into EMS and your main focus is on the physical that you're off in the ditch here brother. Welcome to the City! Good to have you. You've been stung a few times about spelling and grammar. Don't let it bother you. Those folks are just poking a little fun at you in the hopes of helping you improve, thus improving your chance of success in EMS and other things. Don't take it personally, but do take it to heart, OK? Dwayne

Thanks for the replies guys, but this forum is very bitter. I will be moving along, I know this doesn't mean anything to you. I am still going to do more research. I don't have any time to sit around at my current job and grow up. I need to start acting now on my future career. Cheers btw skydiving wold be cool

This thread and previous threads like on Trauma have really shown OUR lack of understanding of the entertainment industry, not their lack of understanding of us. Television and film have a long history of entertaining us by stretching truths and fictionalizing everyday situations. Law and Order does not accurately portray law enforcement or the practice of Law, yet SVU is one of the highest rated shows on television. I have yet to see police unions and organizations taking a stand against Law and Order for showing violations of constitutional rights, excessive force, etc. In fact, the actress who plays Olivia Benson has been honored by Law Enforcement after becoming involved in women's rights and rape crisis counseling. I do not see scientists at Fermilab blasting the SyFy channel for its grossly inaccurate take on particle physics. The American Medical Association is noticeably silent on the TV show House. House portrays physicians as drug addicts with little moral and ethical character, and is grossly inaccurate on how medicine is practiced. Yet somehow the physician community is intelligent enough to understand the entertainment value and realize the public is smarter than extrapolating what they see on TV into real life. The public does not fear doctors breaking into their houses to search for drugs and look through underwear drawers when they are admitted to the hospital. I enjoyed watching Trauma near the end of its last season and saw it slightly mature into a better series in its final few episodes. Like you, I do not preform emergency vascular surgery in the field, but after a long day at school or work, I like to come home and watch something that departs from reality for an hour.

Not a popularity contest. I earned some points because I tried to do something interactive, positive and educational. You took a tiny little beating because you simply whined, tried to do something negative, and then whined again, which is why you'll get negative points again. Your experience here is not normal. Very few of the new members stay and whine. They either need to whine, and eventually leave, or they step up to the plate and try and be productive and intelligent. You've done neither. You don't leave, yet you continue to whine. I hope better for you...I'm just waiting to see if you'll ever want better for yourself. I'm grateful for your posts though as this is an excellent example for the new members that want to do better for themselves. Thanks for participating. Dwayne

I just have one thing.... (This is an old picture if you look at the layout of the page!)

Funny because after my post in this thread my "rep" went to negative something. Funny, the popularity contest. Another reason why this site can suck sometimes!

I thought it was pretty funny.

Yes, it is TV, but it is BAD tv. It portrays a profession very poorly.

Be ready to be belittled and criticized for every tiny thing you may mention. The attitude here is "you are wrong, so we will trash you for it" no matter what. Ignore those people, some of us here are friendly and understand.