Why does being a Paramedic seem so worthless sometimes?

CK,

Heavy stuff. I feel your anger. It comes through the way you struck the keys writing this post.

To answer your rhetorical question at the end of this post, No we are not worthless, yet.

Your amazing survival rates for cardiac arrest (out of hospital neuro intact?) are only a portion of our successes in the field. You are indeed correct that EMS 2.o can only be carried forward by professionals who view what we do as a profession, not a trade or skill. There is an art to monitoring 2 drips (my max, I can't imagine 4!) the intra aortic balloon pump and trying to figure out how to afford dinner on the way home. I've been there. Gas station burritos and Mr Pibb only go so far.

EMS 2.0 is in good hands so far. Pass it along, Brother. Pass it along.

Happy

and yes, they are out of hospital neuro intact.

Chris, I hope you will respond to a couple of my questions. First, let me say I agree with you, but also I completely understand that I am young, inexperienced, and not even a paramedic yet. I too live in the midwest(Kansas) and I believe you've been down here to Sedgwick County. Kansas requires an Associates in Applied Science to obtain your MICT(same as EMT-P).

I think this question of pay is something we do to ourselves. Out of hospital care needs to happen, and we step up to do that. We work 80+ hours a week with knowledge we wont make very much, hell when I worked 911 in the north of my state we didn't even get paid for our mandatory 24 hour on-call shift, but we did it, because money isn't going to come out of my ass to feed my kids.

Do you think the Fire-dept based model keep us from separating ourselves from the public safety realm and out of being recognized as healthcare professionals? Or do for-profit companies that pay their employees less and crappier benefits then a county or municipal service hurt retention and longevity in our field?

You might find this interesting…. I had a discussion with a nurse at a local ER a couple of weeks ago. I was there as a paramedic student doing my 350 hours of clinical time, and in walked an EMT-B student from a local “technical Institute”. This was a new program, before this last fall semester, if you wanted to be an EMT-B you had to enroll at one of the community colleges, but now you can go do a 3 month class with NO EMS RIDE TIME. Their clinicals consisted of 2 8 hour ER shifts(at a heart hospital, not even a trauma center, which we have 2 of). This made me sad. I mean, we need to pushing more of our training into formalized education. That way people who want to do it and make a career out of it are taught to invest in their education. It seems like a step backwards to take a college level program like mine where my Paramedic instructor is not only a 22 year veteran of EMS but also has her Master's in Education, and start offering something that offers little more in the way of commitment and effort as a lifeguard class at the local YMCA.

Perhaps, maybe this plays into a larger healthcare discussion, if we get paid more, our services will cost more to the people we serve, and while unfortunately(IMO) we don't live in a society that sees healthcare as a right, it would pain me to see more anguish caused to my patients because of financial distress from a larger ambulance bill. And Maybe Mark(@UKMedic999) can answer this, but do Paramedic make more in a universal system?

Also, I believe you can get a Bachelors Degree in EMS from a handfull of schools… in fact doesn't The Happy Medic have a BS?Can you confirm there are some BS EMS degrees out there, because I'm not sure.

It's a US thing in general. Over here in Ontario, Canada, police, fire, and ems all make around 70-80k per year.

Good article, thanks for doing the research on wages, etc. I worked in the Midwest as a paramedic for years. I made a little over minimum wage. Looking at bankruptcy, I bailed and moved to the pacific northwest. Wages here are much better. I work for a private company in Tacoma, Wa. (Rural Metro) and I make about $63,000 a year. I''m at the top of our pay scale. I never work overtime. I worked Fire – based EMS for a while but hated the politics. Private industry is way less stressful in my opinion. It does seem rather crazy how little EMS folks are paid in some parts of the country. FDNY is one example – low pay, and worked to death.

Unfortunately, I don't see things getting better. The banking collapse created the housing collapse, which created a tax shortfall and now many municipalities are looking to cut costs everywhere they can. Including EMS jobs and wages. On the bright side, the proposed healthcare bill in congress should make insurance companies rich. Don't get me started….

If money is important, consider re-locating to a place where the pay is respectable. There are a few places like this; not many, but a few.

Finally – Some of us would do well to ask why we're doing this job in the first place.

Is it money?

Is it pursuit of knowledge?

Is is a journey to find self-respect?

Is it glory for ourselves?

Or is it really to heal those who are sick and injured?

If you picked the last one, check out my blog. This post might be a place to start looking for answers:
http://mobileintensiveprayerunit.blogspot.com/s…

thanks,
Dave

Good article, thanks for doing the research on wages, etc. I worked in the Midwest as a paramedic for years. I made a little over minimum wage. Looking at bankruptcy, I bailed and moved to the pacific northwest. Wages here are much better. I work for a private company in Tacoma, Wa. (Rural Metro) and I make about $63,000 a year. I''m at the top of our pay scale. I never work overtime. I worked Fire – based EMS for a while but hated the politics. Private industry is way less stressful in my opinion. It does seem rather crazy how little EMS folks are paid in some parts of the country. FDNY is one example – low pay, and worked to death.

Unfortunately, I don't see things getting better. The banking collapse created the housing collapse, which created a tax shortfall and now many municipalities are looking to cut costs everywhere they can. Including EMS jobs and wages. On the bright side, the proposed healthcare bill in congress should make insurance companies rich. Don't get me started….

If money is important, consider re-locating to a place where the pay is respectable. There are a few places like this; not many, but a few.

Finally – Some of us would do well to ask why we're doing this job in the first place.

Is it money?

Is it pursuit of knowledge?

Is is a journey to find self-respect?

Is it glory for ourselves?

Or is it really to heal those who are sick and injured?

If you picked the last one, check out my blog. This post might be a place to start looking for answers:
http://mobileintensiveprayerunit.blogspot.com/s…

thanks,
Dave

This is a great article. I am pretty much impressed with your good work.You put really very helpful information. Keep it up.

Its hard to find on the web… But there’s a group of ppl trying to push for a NEW medic! Advanced paramedic. More schooling of course… But with more schooling comes more pay.. cough cough RN

This is such a serious and sensitive topic.� As much work goes into paramedic training–clinical, field internships, let alone the didactic instruction–you would think that paramedic salary would be higher.

Granted, school is not as lengthy (or expensive) as becoming a doctor.� But, the responsibilities (in a overarching sense) are the same: You’re often responsible for saving someone’s life–or at least, keeping them sustained while you transport them to a nurse at the hospital.

I don’t want to get into a long diatribe about Hollywood actors getting paid millions, or ball players having obnoxious contracts.� I’ll just say that there’s absolutely no reason why a profession as honorable and sorely needed as that of a paramedic doesn’t get the financial compensation that other jobs do.� That’s not to say that other people in other professions don’t work hard.� Surely they do.

But the world, quite literally, needs EMS professionals.� As much as we love sports, we don’t need guys who can shoot a basketball in the NBA or drive a car at high speeds around a track in NASCAR.

Anyway, great article.