I get asked all the time how I became an EMT
Well here is how.
It started in 1997. I was on my way to becomeing a Doctor, I was having trouble in school and wasn't feeling very good about myself at the time. I was use to getting a 4.0 GPA in all my courses and all of a sudden I am getting 3.5 and a 3.0 in physics. I was starting to worry I couldn't handle pre-med. I phoned a friends and asked what I should do. This friend was a paramedic and he said I should look into EMS, my friend told me to meet him at the station for his next shift.
The next night I end up at the EMS station and get to do a ride-a-long. The first call was an easy one, a pick up at a nursing home and take the guy to the ER due to breathing problems. My friend asked me to try doing an assessment and asked me what was wrong. I jumped in there and did what I could, I pulled up the shirt and noticed what was wrong, the guy has subcutaneous emphysema, at this point I asked what should I do. My friend said give him O2. I started the O2 treatment and noticed the guy looked a bit better. I felt like I was on top of the world, here I am making him feel better and being so hands on.
The next call we had was a huge motor vehicle accident, 4 cars and 16 people involved. I looked at the scene and first thing that came into my mind was how do I help all these people, What can I do? Well just as I was wondering if this job was for me my friend called me over and told me to hold C spine on an older lady in one of the cars. I knew at that point while holding her head in my hands and seeing that I was making a difference that this was what I wanted to do with my life.
I was hooked, EMS had a hold on me. The next day I goto the university and tell them I was to drop out to become a Paramedic. You can imagine the responses I got from this one, why would you quit pre-med to become a paramedic? I told them I want to make a difference in lives and paramedicine is the first link to care. I want to be there for the people when they needed me the most. Ok and I will admit now the idea of playing with the lights and sirens sure helped in that desicion.
That afternoon after signing all the papers to drop out. I enrolled in an EMT course and started a week later, after three months of school I was done, and on my way to take the state exam. I passed it on the first try and applied with AMR and got a job a week later. This was almost 11 years ago and I still love my job as much now as I did then.
