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Stressful Time (ACAP)

RainRain Posts: 8,958 ✭✭✭
in Non Cigar Related
As some of you know, I've got about 9 months left in this Warrior's Profession (as my counselor calls it.) The amount of briefings/classes/information is staggering and daunting. I'm hella nervous, but in a good way. Like the nervousness before a mission, or I imagine before a band takes the stage....it's good, keeps you on edge. I attended a job fair yesterday, and got offered a gig as an EMT-B at $15 an hour...which is a lot considering an EMT gives O2 and transports. They also offered to pay for my paramedic school (a year course), under the condition that I then stay employed with them for a year upon graduation. Just wanted to share. It's a transition...but I'm ready for it. :)
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Comments

  • BigshizzaBigshizza Posts: 15,659 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Dang I'd definetly do a gig that pays for school and you're required to work for only a year afterwards. Looks like you picked a great profession! You will do very well Randy
  • The3StogiesThe3Stogies Posts: 2,652 ✭✭✭✭
    Sounds like a great opportunity. Know what you mean about being busy, but it's a good busy and makes you feel alive. Amazing what one can accomplish when they really want it. Good luck and thanks for serving.
  • RainRain Posts: 8,958 ✭✭✭
    It will be strange. In the Army, a medic is IT. They don't send Doctors on patrol.I am trained to start IVs, give narcotics, perform chest needle decompressions and perform a Cricothyrotomy (incision made through the skin and cricothyroid membrane to establish a patent airway). I can do more interventions than a paramedic, although that's probably because a soldier can't sue ;)In essence, they will pay me more to do less.
  • Amos_UmwhatAmos_Umwhat Posts: 8,806 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Rain:
    It will be strange. In the Army, a medic is IT. They don't send Doctors on patrol.I am trained to start IVs, give narcotics, perform chest needle decompressions and perform a Cricothyrotomy (incision made through the skin and cricothyroid membrane to establish a patent airway). I can do more interventions than a paramedic, although that's probably because a soldier can't sue ;)In essence, they will pay me more to do less.
    Hit the paramedic school as soon as possible. You may soon miss the level of resonsibility you are used to . And good luck, very exciting!
    WARNING:  The above post may contain thoughts or ideas known to the State of Caliphornia to cause seething rage, confusion, distemper, nausea, perspiration, sphincter release, or cranial implosion to persons who implicitly trust only one news source, or find themselves at either the left or right political extreme.  Proceed at your own risk.  

    "If you do not read the newspapers you're uninformed.  If you do read the newspapers, you're misinformed." --  Mark Twain
  • RainRain Posts: 8,958 ✭✭✭
    My EMT Instructor told as it was time to move up when you knew what needed to be done next but were not authorized to do it. Sound advice...but I'm ready to move up before I start.
  • raisindotraisindot Posts: 1,294 ✭✭✭
    Rain:
    It will be strange. In the Army, a medic is IT. They don't send Doctors on patrol.I am trained to start IVs, give narcotics, perform chest needle decompressions and perform a Cricothyrotomy (incision made through the skin and cricothyroid membrane to establish a patent airway). I can do more interventions than a paramedic, although that's probably because a soldier can't sue ;)In essence, they will pay me more to do less.


    If I (or someone in my family) needed a paramedic, I'd feel much more secure if he or she had been a medic in the Army. I'd have to think they'd know how to stay focused under pressure and time limits. All the best in your endeavor. You'll be a credit to the profession.
  • RainRain Posts: 8,958 ✭✭✭
    raisindot:
    If I (or someone in my family) needed a paramedic, I'd feel much more secure if he or she had been a medic in the Army. You'll be a credit to the profession.
    Jeez...high praise! Thank you my friend :)
  • Ken_LightKen_Light Posts: 3,537 ✭✭✭
    Congrats on a great opportunity!! I've known a couple long-time EMT's that eventually knew the paramedic's jobs better than the new parameds and they got very frustrated with that. I've known long-time nurses who struggle similarly with bad doctors. Get on that quick!!

    And + 1 to raisindot
    ^Troll: DO NOT FEED.
  • blutattooblutattoo Posts: 1,294 ✭✭✭
    Congrats on the offer bro. Not just anyone can do what your doing and sometimes the work itself is it's own reward. As a former firefighter EMT you'll find you do a lot more than just O2 in the field, but most of the time you're there to support the medic if there is one on scene. I always encourage guys that are medics to try to get on with a metro fire department. Pay is better, retirement is generally better, and you get more variety of calls. Medic school is a lot harder than fire fighter school so if you can do the first you'll definitely succeed at the other. Good luck in whatever you choose I'm sure you'll do great.
  • StubbleStubble Posts: 8,991 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Congrats Randy....I take it you'll be staying in the area?
    Hey, you gonna eat the rest of that corndog?
  • RainRain Posts: 8,958 ✭✭✭
    Stubble:
    Congrats Randy....I take it you'll be staying in the area?
    Yep...probably Temple. Close enough to CTC (wife is in the LVN program), her parents' place and the job I got offered.
  • The_KidThe_Kid Posts: 7,869 ✭✭✭
    Good luck on the next chapter of your life/career. They say one of the hardest decisions is enlisting, another one is separating. Lots of anxiety. Kinda like letting go of one trapeze and hoping that another will be there for ya. You'll do fine.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 3,917 ✭
    Congratulations on the job offer. That's free schooling and a 1 year guarantee of work, which I think is fantastic. I'm sure you'll succeed and be surprised at how well you excel.
  • TexvetTexvet Posts: 39 ✭
    Take advantage of the opportunity, it's a job with a commitment. Your used to that stipulation. All the best,
  • flowbeeflowbee Posts: 1,203 ✭✭✭
    Hi Randy, maybe you could consider a fire dept paramedic position. If its like hete in NY your srvice time counts!
  • RainRain Posts: 8,958 ✭✭✭
    How does it work? A lot of places have combined their EMS and FD in to one organization to save money, but I'm just not sure how it works.
  • RainRain Posts: 8,958 ✭✭✭
    Figured I got a beer in my hand a moment to relax, why not give you guys an update? Transitioning is tough. I'm doing a lot of things I've never had to do...build a resume, compare cost of living in cities, forecast job growth....and apply for college. COLLEGE. I have a GED, and I got that seven years ago. I've not done any formal school time since then, and it really makes me nervous. There is a college local (Central Texas College) that has a paramedic program I'd like to go to. It's a two year course that awards you an EMT-P certificate and a Associate in Applied Science degree. RN is a two year course and pays way more, but I'd like to be a paramedic.All the people that teach this class should have been recruiters, because they make you feel like if you get out you're going to be homeless. Granted, we had to do a year long budget...and...I REALLY saw that I am not where I need to be. No smokes, sodas or anything for me for a while.I'm nervous, but it's exciting to have some control in my future. Thanks for listening guys, back to my beer.
  • First_WarriorFirst_Warrior Posts: 3,417 ✭✭✭✭✭
    You will have the experiance of knowing the honor and duty and sacrifice that you made in active service. You will have that experiance the rest of your life. Money cannot buy that experiance. Taking what you know and adding on to it will serve you well. Use the GI bill. Us Jarheads had Navy Corpsmen with us and we called them "Doc" A Doc saved my sorry ass one day.
  • BigshizzaBigshizza Posts: 15,659 ✭✭✭✭✭
    You will be more disciplined this time around and responsibility is a good motivator. You will surprise yourself and gain confidence as you move along. Sounds like you're moving in the right direction my friend. If you need anything--- just ask!
  • The3StogiesThe3Stogies Posts: 2,652 ✭✭✭✭
    Cigars are a budgeted item here, lol.

    I went to college when I turned 40 and I only had a GED too, you rebel. Almost had to retake some math but I tested out, whew, I hate math. The homework is what will kill you, every class hour equals about 2-3 hours homework, at least. I was working full time so I went on 4-12 shift to get more classes during the day and I could do my homework when I got home at midnight. Everyone sleeping, no distractions.

    Once you get settled in college and start taking classes you may discover something else in that field you want to learn more about, who knows you may end up being a teacher or professor yourself. Education is yours to keep and do with what you want, not necessarily what they want. If you enjoy what you do and are really good at it the rest ($) will come in time. Even if you don't get rich you will be happier doing what you like. Never stop learning and questioning, 1 degree easily leads to another too.

    Good luck, think you will do just fine.
  • webmostwebmost Posts: 7,713 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Fifteen bucks an hour for paramedic ain't squat. After taxes, that's like two hamburgers, these days. For saving lives? Ought to pay a whole lot more than that. I could not live on 600 a week, and I don't stop the bleeding.

    Honestly, I don't grok pay scales. Without the trash man, we'd have typhus up and down the neighborhood in three weeks; yet he can't hardly afford a Budweiser at the end of a hard day. Here's a paramedic glad to get 30 grand, yet a teacher pulling down 70 bidches she doesn't get more.

    It's a weird world.

    Just saying consider the RN route. Money is good too. Cigars, for instance, they cost money.

    “It has been a source of great pain to me to have met with so many among [my] opponents who had not the liberality to distinguish between political and social opposition; who transferred at once to the person, the hatred they bore to his political opinions.” —Thomas Jefferson (1808)
  • MartelMartel Posts: 3,306 ✭✭✭✭
    webmost:
    Fifteen bucks an hour for paramedic ain't squat. After taxes, that's like two hamburgers, these days. For saving lives? Ought to pay a whole lot more than that. I could not live on 600 a week, and I don't stop the bleeding.

    Honestly, I don't grok pay scales. Without the trash man, we'd have typhus up and down the neighborhood in three weeks; yet he can't hardly afford a Budweiser at the end of a hard day. Here's a paramedic glad to get 30 grand, yet a teacher pulling down 70 bidches she doesn't get more.

    It's a weird world.

    Just saying consider the RN route. Money is good too. Cigars, for instance, they cost money.

    Not to derail, but I don't know many teachers pulling down 70.

    Randy, stop trash talking your GED, man! That's a hard process to go through. Schools know that, too. You'll be fine. You can do this.

    Wherever you go for training, make sure you don't overextend yourself financially. I know the army helps pay for school--don't waste that. If you have to take any leveling classes, don't get discouraged, but get them out of the way as quickly as possible so you can move on to the stuff that counts. And repeat after me..."I will not take out student loans."

    I tell my students that there's always jobs in the medical profession and many pay well. $15/hour isn't great, but it beats $10, especially if you get benefits. And it sounds like you have a plan to move up; I know you have the qualifications. Don't do the RN thing unless you have a real passion for that specific kind of work. There are a lot of projected jobs in nursing and the pay is good, but part of the reason there's so many jobs is because it's hard on the nurses. It can be a route to being a nurse practitioner or other jobs of more responsibility, if you take the long view. Examine those options, like I know you're doing. These are exciting times for you. Starting anew. Kind of cool to get to do that. Scary, I know, but exciting, too.
    Intelligence is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad.

    I like Oliva and Quesada (including Regius) a lot.  I will smoke anything, though.
  • RainRain Posts: 8,958 ✭✭✭
    I'm not trashing how hard the GED was to get, sitting down and testing on every subject at once was hard! I just know that people see it and think "Oh, why couldn't you just finish high school?"Because apparently I'm in the minority of people that made a mistake as a teenager. ;)
  • The3StogiesThe3Stogies Posts: 2,652 ✭✭✭✭
    Rain:
    I'm not trashing how hard the GED was to get, sitting down and testing on every subject at once was hard! I just know that people see it and think "Oh, why couldn't you just finish high school?"Because apparently I'm in the minority of people that made a mistake as a teenager. ;)

    Nope, you probably showed good sense at the time. If you are really not into your studies you will learn it but not necessairly retain it. Why waste your time. I dropped out for my own reasons but let me say I have probably learned more myself, out of school, than I did in high school.
  • webmostwebmost Posts: 7,713 ✭✭✭✭✭
    You gotta be kiddin me. You made a mistake? As a teenager?

    Bwahahahaha! Unheard of. Nobody does that.

    Hey, all the people I know who worked in the real world a bit first and then came back at it more mature, they are the ones who get the most out of life.
    “It has been a source of great pain to me to have met with so many among [my] opponents who had not the liberality to distinguish between political and social opposition; who transferred at once to the person, the hatred they bore to his political opinions.” —Thomas Jefferson (1808)
  • RainRain Posts: 8,958 ✭✭✭
    I can just see myself being old and telling my kids "I might only have a GED, but it was good enough to deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan to defend all these rights you have now! And I'll probably mean it haha, old white guys are grumps. Sorry Davis ;)
  • MartelMartel Posts: 3,306 ✭✭✭✭
    Rain:
    I can just see myself being old and telling my kids "I might only have a GED, but it was good enough to deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan to defend all these rights you have now! And I'll probably mean it haha, old white guys are grumps. Sorry Davis ;)
    Heck, I can be a grumpy YOUNG white guy!
    Intelligence is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad.

    I like Oliva and Quesada (including Regius) a lot.  I will smoke anything, though.
  • AshMeAshMe Posts: 318 ✭
    Hey Rain man, just wanted to say congrats on landing this opportunity. The worst feeling is leaving the military and not having anything to do - lost in the sauce. You'll do great. The important part is to start somewhere, anywhere, and the rest is up to you.
    "Do you smoke? Mind if I do?"  - Genie, in Aladdin. 
  • RainRain Posts: 8,958 ✭✭✭
    Luckily I got in to a Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) class coming up, paid for and taught by the Army. Free training and a resume bullet? Yes please.I also need to get a hold of the college here. I meet all the paramedic program reqs except (maybe) one. It says you have to have a 2.5 GPA on all college classes...I don't HAVE a GPA, so I need to find out if that means I have a 4.0 or a 0 haha.
  • webmostwebmost Posts: 7,713 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Saving babies is the most awesomest ever. I couldn't do it.
    “It has been a source of great pain to me to have met with so many among [my] opponents who had not the liberality to distinguish between political and social opposition; who transferred at once to the person, the hatred they bore to his political opinions.” —Thomas Jefferson (1808)
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