EMOTIONALLY

I sometimes wonder about how my description of my job comes across. I cant stress enough how much I love my job. I've done many things before finding this including (mostly as a student)
1. Bar man
2. Door man
3. Bank Clark
4. School janitor
5. Ski instructor
6. Furniture manufacturer
7. Locations assistant manager in Film/TV

For most of my working life I was a Chartered Surveyor. A job I think I liked in essence but honestly didn't like the people I worked for. I never had that greed for money or the inherent desire to be a businessman. I left surveying to join the police but due to a home office directive at the time, they did not employ asthmatics. What would I do?

It took a bit of time and a spell building database driven intranets to find my calling. It was a bit of a fluke really. A girl I have known since I was 3 has parents that go to church with my mum. She's a paramedic. I met her for a drink and had a chat. 4 years later I too am a Paramedic.

I love my job and will always be involved with this work. There is no greater reward than helping someone who is in trouble or seriously unwell. We are limited in what we can do, our remit is to get people to hospital, but we can and do make a serious difference to those in need. We save lives or at the least give people a chance that they would not otherwise have. We reassure, console, relax and sometimes make people laugh. Despite the fact we give morphine, fluids, adrenalin, oxygen etc. 80% of what we do is make people feel that they are getting the best care possible, and they do.

There is a bit of political piss with the "technician/Paramedic" thing but I would rather have a good Technician turn up to one of my parents than a burnt out Paramedic.

I once thought I was worldly wise. As a surveyor you go into houses all over the city; good neighbourhoods and bad. I also thought I knew people. I knew people from my background and speculated about the rest. My eyes have been opened. In a country where 1 in 5 people leave school unable to read/write or do "sums" I shouldn't be surprised with what I come across.

As far as I am concerned the welfare state has destroyed this country. We are now into 3 or 4 generations of people who have no intention of working. It is more beneficial to have a few kids and live of the state. This is the education they get from their parents so why bother at school. And, lets face it, their right. I'd be better off having another 2 kids than working and having to pay child support at the same time.

The biggest thing though is that people, the general, undereducated people have no idea about self responsibility these days. We live in a Nanny state so I shouldn't be surprised when they expect an ambulance for something trivial. There are two factors in this:-
1. Age
2. Education

Age. Well, the number of people over 70 that don't call an ambulance when they should is amazing. I spend a lot of time telling them that that's what were here for, if they have chest pain etc. it's my job and I enjoy helping them. The NHS was established for these people but they seem reluctant to bother anyone. I get a great deal of reward from helping and reassuring these people. People under 50 think of us as a taxi. Screw those people who are ill/dieing, we want a lift; no really that's their attitude.

Education. Well I'm biased. I had a good education and so did all my friends. We lived it large in our day but never sought trouble and always looked after our friends. We still do. We always knew we'd work for a living and that there was a point where we would have to be responsible for ourselves. This just don't happen in chavsville.

I love my job. I hate the state of the country. It started with the Tory Thatcher and is going on with the Tory Blair.

God help the emergency services.

Sorry, ran out of steam on this. could of gone on for ever.