Free Sample
The Complete Guide to Becoming A Paramedic
The real story of the job, the pay, and whether you've got the grit for it — before you spend a dime on training.
by Alumigogo Books
Chapter 1: What Does a Paramedic Actually Do?
Every day, someone sees a headline about a paramedic doing something heroic. But you cannot build a career on headlines. You build it on shifts. So let's start there—not with the one dramatic call, but with the whole 12-hour block of time that makes up the real job.
As a paramedic, your primary workplace is the back of an ambulance, but that's not where you spend most of your time. An average shift might see you on the road or on a scene for roughly five to seven hours out of a 12-hour shift. The rest is spent writing patient care reports, restocking the rig, checking equipment, disinfecting the cab, and waiting for the next call. Some days, that wait is ten minutes. Some days, it's four hours. You cannot control it.
The core of the job is responding to a 911 call. You and your partner are dispatched by a computer system in your ambulance that shows the address, the nature of the problem, and any notes from the call-taker. You drive with lights and sirens if the situation is serious, but often, you're responding "hot" to something that turns out to be a non-emergency—someone with a bad cold, a person who's had a cough for three weeks, a child with a fever. You don't know until you get there, so you prepare for the worst every single time.
On scene, your job is to assess and stabilize. You take charge