Anyone return to trucking after working in healthcare?

Basic EMT's don't make good money, no. Paramedics usually do okay. Different license levels there. The last paramedic job I had was salaried at $48k. For comparative purposes, the first EMT-Basic job I had paid minimum wage, lol.

In EMS, the higher the license level, the more money you make. It takes a toll on you, though. Don't know a single person who has been a paramedic for 20 years that doesn't have some severe emotional problems. That knowledge contributed to my decision to leave the field.

 

I made 42k a year as a ff/paramedic.

Worked 24 hours then was off 48. Worked an average of 14 days a month.

 

It's the single most physically stressful job you can imagine. It was more stressful than my combat MOS in the Marine Corps. It didn't pay what I thought the stress was worth. Now I make about 25k more a year, stress free, and home almost every night and every weekend.

 

I spent 4 years as a nationally registered EMT-P before it burned me out. My last year's pay worked out to around $44K, working a 12/3 and 12/4 day shift. The pay isn't enough to compensate for the BS. You're basically a mobile on-call social worker who gets yelled at by everyone around you. Sometimes you get to actually make a difference, but it's rare.

 

Yup, 4 years sounds about right. That's how long I lasted as well. I did some digging one time and found that the average burnout time-frame for paramedics was 5 years, lol.

I experienced three distinctly different schedules, myself. At a county service, I had the standard 24/on 48/off. The salary was no good, though.

The first private service I worked at had a 72/on 72/off schedule. That particular schedule was a nightmare. During the spring time we'd run non-stop for 72 hours. Terribly exhausting, but it paid about $13k per year more than the county job.

The final company I worked for had an awesome schedule: 42 hours per week. I worked almost two days straight and then had five days off every week. It was also one of the highest paying paramedic job in the state. It paid $14k per year more than the private company I was with. It's kinda funny, this position paid $27k more than the county ambulance that I first started out with, lol. Exactly the same responsibilities. I was pretty lucky to get on with that company. But, like all good things it eventually came to an end. The owner sold it, and the new owners couldn't figure out how to meet payroll. Oh well.

I tell ya, I do miss taking care of folks, but I don't miss the atmosphere in EMS. Police officers and fire-fighters seem to have a fraternal bond. Whether or not they actually do, you just don't find that kind of a bond in EMS. At times it really felt like everybody took their turn as the piece of meat being dangled over the shark tank.

 

That's why you do what I did and become a paramedic/firefighter.

 

I still work for the county, though. In what's called per diem aka "as available as needed". Generally end up working a Saturday or two a month.

 

Definitely. FF/paramedic is the way to go if you want a real career, imo. Good pay, good retirement, dedicated folks.

Unfortunately, out here where I live all of the fire services are purely volunteer. The nearest paid service only staffs at the EMT-B level. What I found interesting is that volunteer firefighters who retire after 20 years get a monthly retirement check. Gotta love it. Fire fighters take care of their own.