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Reasons I didn't become an EMT, ranked

236 points · 112 comments · citelao

  1. whartung · · focus · HN ↗
    Friend of mine was an EMT, and he advanced on and became a paramedic.

    The work seemed to suit him, he enjoyed it. I'd hang out with him at his base of operations (he was a private paramedic in LA County).

    Then, one day, he quit.

    He quit, and didn't renew his certification.

    And he won't talk about it, and, boy, yea, did he have some stories.

    But something got to him.

    1. dreamcompiler · · focus · HN ↗
      I know some paramedics that reached this point.

      One I'll call John. He was a fantastic medic. Calm and reassuring in the toughest situations, and he was a great teacher of new EMTs. He had seen everything. Farming accidents (they're terrible), DRTs, MVAs, MCIs, child abuse. The works. Handled it all professionally.

      One day John and his partner get this nothing call. Kid fell off his bike and scraped his knee. John's partner puts a bandaid on the kid, looks around and John is gone. They find John sitting on a curb a block away bawling his eyes out. That kid with the skinned knee was John's breaking point. He was done.

      1. motionlessveloc · · focus · HN ↗
        For others wondering, I presume DRT = Dead Right There, MVA = Motor Vehicle Accident and MCI = Mass Casually Incident.
        1. dreamcompiler · · focus · HN ↗
          Correct. DRT is like DOA but dead long before "arrival."
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