EMT Paramedic Stories

Well, it looks like I am finally done with EMS life. I decided to make my complete exit, and have given up on my Paramedic certification.

I will say that I have loved my career. My peers have told me that they are sad to see me go, and I am just as sad to do so. However, after 16 years, I have had enough, and so has my family.

It has been a great job. I have had no other job that gave me so much personal reward. There were many tough times, and life in EMS is almost never grand, but at least it is satisfying. The job caused many personal problems for me and my family. It nearly destroyed my marriage, and took many hours of enjoyment away from my daughter and I. I think it is all due to the addicting nature of the EMS life. It truly is an addicting career, and one that will swallow your whole life if you let it. That was my mistake. I allowed my job to come before my family so many times, that in the end, I had to make a choice. I know this is the right one.

I do love my family, and I only hope that this decision will finally put an end to any questions they may have about my loyalty. As for the friends that I have made through my career, I can only hope that they understand, and will stand behind me on this decision, like they have on so many other occasions.

The friends I have made throughout my career have been the very best I could have hoped for. There were so many times that, as a Paramedic, they had to doubt my decisions, but in the end they always stood behind me.

I consider myself to have been one of the best Paramedics around. Over the years I have managed to continually educate myself, and now have a stack of certifications nearly 2 inches tall. I have received numerous accommodations from my peers, as well as two from the governor of my state, one for the deliver of a premature breach baby, and the other for my handling of a mass casualty disaster.

However, there is only one license that I am going to keep now. With that license, I promised to love honor and cherish someone, and that is the career I will spend the rest of my life.

Kind regards and best wishes to all my friends and colleagues.

I think it was in about 1995 that we had a blizzard where I live. In just a few hours we received over 18 inches of snow, and it closed everything down. After the night of the original snowfall, we continued to get about 2 to 3 more inches a day for over a week. Here in Indiana, that is a lot!

I was at work when the snow started coming in. Most of the local businesses had already closed and sent their workers home, so luckily the streets were fairly empty. The night went by calmly and we didn’t do much of anything other than watch all of the white stuff blanket our cars. However, morning would be a little different.

The morning after we received the majority of snow was a mess. People awoke to find more than 18 inches of snow, and no way to get around. It was so deep that a person could barely walk outside, leave alone try to drive. Even the county highway department was overwhelmed and there was little they could do. That didn’t stop people from having medical problems though. People would call 911, and request help to no avail. We were snowed in, and if a person needed help, it would just have to wait.

Somewhere in the mayhem, someone had a great idea. They notified the National Guard of our dilemma, and help came quickly. The local Army National Guard brought 6 Humvees to our aid. They let us load them up with supplies, and they became unstoppable ambulances. People would call 911 and those of us that were stuck staying on duty made a mad rush to see who could get to ride the Humvee first.

We had a blast! Busting through huge 10 foot snow drifts, and cutting across fields. At one point we dared the driver to go into the woods. We probably should not have done that, because he took us up on it, and through the woods we went. Until we got hung up on a downed tree anyway. At that point, the driver had to radio his commander and ask for another Humvee to pull him out. He had a very hard time explaining that situation.

The snow stayed on the ground, and kept everything locked in for about a week. The National guardsmen camped out at our stations, and between them and our crew, there were about 30 people living together for a week.

It’s funny how such terrible events actually bring up fond memories later on. We did have a great time, even though we couldn’t leave. Perhaps one of the most vivid memories I will always have are two guys that had no money to eat on. They were stuck eating whatever we had in the fridge at station. Sure, we could have lent them money, but then we would have never been able to watch to guys eat Oreo’s and Braunswager on Ritz crackers, and actually say they liked it!