Civilian Pararescue/SWAT

[preacher-medic]

I have been in and around EMS since 1973 when I enlisted in the Air Force as a corpsman. We had a six week school at Shepherd AFB in Wichita Falls, TX. Two weeks of the school involved basic emergency training. We even had a field exercise for extrication and mass casualties. There were no licensure agencies in those days. We received a certificate of completion that showed the areas of our training. As we continued up the chain we received more emergency training. Our certificate allowed us to advance to an intermediate level. We were working in the ER and occasionally made ambulance calls on base. By the time I had ten years in, our level of training allowed us to challenge the state RN exam. (I didn't, shoulda, woulda, coulda). In 1981 at a different base, we took an official EMT Basic course and traveled to Ol Miss for the NR. The problem was that since it was military sponsored, we never learned how to obtain state licensure to keep our license current. Mine expired by the time I left the Air Force two years later when I had ten years. I got out to pursue a ministry degree and obtained a BA in Bible and Ministry, but my education has been piece-meal. I finally obtained a state license and NR in 1989 while working part time with the local ambulance service,fulltime with the local 911 service as an EMD and as a vocational minister. In 1996, still working part time with the ambulance service, I received my EMT-Intermediate license and figured that was as far as I would go with it. I was still preaching and working too. A couple of years later one of the co-owners of the ambulance service asked if I would be interested in going to medic school. She would pay my first semester tuition but the catch was that she wanted me to watch over her young son that was also going to attend. Long story short, we finished together and became NR-EMT-P's with state licensure. A few months later I enlisted in the National Guard as a combat medic and after ten years retired with 20 years service and one year of combat duty in Iraq, I finally finished a Masters of Divinity degree. I said all that to say this: adrenalyn is part of the job, take it as it comes. Don't over do it! Too much of it will cause you to burn out. You will grow old before your time. Although I didn't plan it, it seemed that when I started to have symptoms of burnout I enrolled in EMS classes. It revitalized my enthusiasm for the job and helped me to pace myself. Never turn down an opportunity to obtain more training, whether online, recert classes, or going back to school.

[emtdennis]

After reading through the posts here, I wonder how the OP is making out. I hope he/she took the time to enroll in an EMT-B course to get started. I'm sorry I let it wait so long, Hope he/she didn't.

Edited May 10, 2012 by djdudley