Dude,
I am in paramedic school and this is no picnic. I can't tell you how much no one bothers to tell except "as you are going along" and when you are doing your clinicals, .... everyone seems to be an expert on what you are doing wrong all the time, especially when it makes them look smarter or gives them an easy target to vent their own frustrations on -- and this is the NON-EMS folks. I haven't done clinicals outside of the ER yet and I can only imagine how much worse it could possibly be when there is more to worry about than doing an IV without being treated like a retard because you are having trouble getting it right.
I am doing this because I feel like I am supposed to be here and I am coming by way of a completely separate career path with no intention of going into nursing or med school or any pre-existing affiliations with a firehouse. If I were you, I would sign up as a volunteer at a firehouse first and see how it goes. Most of these guys seem miserable because along with the pressures and demands of the job (how much time can a person spend up to their shoulders in drunks, ghetto life and Darwin-esque stupidity and NOT wonder why you didn't choose a different career path) - they have the added poison of grown men whose sole purpose in life is gossiping like little girls for no better reason than to keep the stew pot of horse dung around them swirling at all times. You know these guys and they all seem to be in a majority around fire and EMS work. Go volunteer before committing time, money and your peace of mind to this line of work.
There's a reason you have to love this job to do it. Trust me. I am not half way through school and I am already wondering what the hell I was thinking when I thought this was a healthy professional culture to be involved in.
