EMS1 asked our Facebook fans to tell us what they like best about working in EMS. Almost all of your responses fell into two camps: one espousing the excitement of the job, the other celebrating the joy of helping others. Here are some of the highlights, but please continue to add your thoughts in the comments section below.
Question: What do you like most about working in EMS?
“Making a difference in the lives of others.” – Zach Wilson
“The freedom of calling your own shots.” – Amy McDaniel Barnes
“If you are willing to listen closely to others, you learn things about local history that you cannot find in any history book.” – Paula Wayman Rea
“Going to bed at night knowing that somebody will be alive tomorrow morning because of what you did for them today.” – Chase Coates
“Helping serve my community and making it a more caring place.” – Ann Dickey
“The variety: nothing is ever the same, nor is it ever ‘textbook.’” – Jason MacKenzie
“Working three shifts a week and getting your 48 in!” – Matthew Ellis
“Two days a week.” – Chris Black
“Earning money sleeping.” – Dale Britt
“All the extra sleep I get while working my 24s.” – Joseph J. Kinney
“The dynamic unpredictability of it. I cannot sit at a desk all day. Every day I start a shift, literally anything may come at me. I make decisions that matter, and have to be on my toes. There is no average, normal day as a medic.” – Nicholas Zuber
“The fact that no shift is ever the same. It’s not a boring desk job where you are in the same place doing the same thing from 9 to 5, Monday through Friday. There is freedom, variety, and occasionally excitement in the job, and it never gets boring. Tedious and annoying at times, but never boring.” – Molly Hegner
“I love knowing that I’m the best part of someone’s worst day.” – Lauren Waites
“Everything from the routine frequent fliers to the critical patient.” – Robert Stargel
“The miracle of the human body and what it is capable of doing and enduring amazes me with every call!” – Beatriz Torres-Clary
“Belonging to something that is so important and that makes such a big difference in people’s lives every day.” – Theunis Scholtz
“EMS tests every part of us: intelligence, decision making, memorization skills, gross motor skills and fine motor skills, emotional management and moral/ethical decision making. Not many other jobs require anyone to be as entirely invested as EMS does. Sometimes rewarding, but often not, we do it so that others may live, or have a better quality of life following an incident than if we had not been there. Definitely not for money or respect, otherwise we wouldn’t keep doing it.” – Troy Stauter