Surprise....I guess I should be Poor

Paramedics

What they do: Paramedics respond to emergency situations and attempt to provide the necessary medical care, whether it involves transporting participants to a hospital or treating them on the scene.

Surprising salary: $27,070. Seeing as paramedics have high stress jobs that require them to be on call and ready to save lives at a moment's notice, you might expect their mean annual salary to be higher.
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This was part of a recent Article on MSN's website homepage regarding five surprising salaries. The profession of Paramedicine was included in this article. Yet, not in a good way. It was surprising to MSN how little we make.

No Shit, It was surprising to me as well. But hey, I have to admit, things aren't as dismal as the 27,000 a year they mention, and honestly how they came up with that figure is unclear. Did they average all salaries from San Francisco to BumF### Kansas. Who knows, plus what about the volunteer Paramedics.

I really can't complain too much. But hey I will complain if given any opportunity.

I went through a lot of Shit to become a Paramedic. Schooling averages a minimum of two years with all the prerequisites and actual PM school together. Many never make it to PM school, and even more can't pass PM school so those of us that perservered and survived Didactic and Internship are on top of their stuff.

Paramedics are expected to perform well under extreme circumstances. They have to be able to perform advanced medical skills in an uncontrolled setting. We are expected to make life saving decisions in an instant and perform fast.

EMS has its perks as well. A great shcedule that allows for 24 hour shifts, 10 days a month. During our shifts we arrive at an apartment or small home and live there for the day, available for calls. Once our morning duties are completed, we are free to watch TV, surf the NET, play PS3, drive around town and complete errands in our area, and workout. We just have to be ready immediately for an emergency call. A great shift is spent chatting with your partner, renting a few flix, sitting in the relcliner and going on a few calls, then sleeping all night. All the while we are paid whether we get a call or not. There is little manual labor involved and as a rule we are usually respected by the people we serve. The job is rewarding and usually fun.

I knew going into this that Paramedics as a whole do not get paid what they deserve. This is mostly true in the Private sector, where profit margins and all expenses are tight. This is where most medics get their experience before moving on to the Fire Department or City/County run Ambulance. When you move to a government paid job, as with any career in Gov, the pay and benefits are better as they have a fixed budget to utilize and profits are not foremost in mind.

Working here in California, Paramedics make a lot more than the quoted salary above, due to cost of living expenses here. I make enough to live comfortably. But I know I will never be able to buy a house on this salary, nor travel and buy extravagant things. This is why EMS is a revolving door of faces. The Paramedics with 5-10 years experience are more of a rarity, than a norm in the private sector. How can someone imaging being a career medic. Most go to FD or into other allied health professions to better themselves.

This is where I am at. I am researching where my future role in the medical field might be. I am looking into respiratory therapy as well as RN. Although these positions allow for a much more inflated salary, upwards of 90,000. Yet, the excitement and comradary is missing. But hey, buying nice stuff might make up for that lack of excitement.