23/02/2026
"Ambulance Drivers"
Emergency Medical Providers. With the exception of a few who will go on to become doctors or teachers; never entered the profession to become rich, but they do have a skill set that very few other people have. They have the ability to work under real pressure, not pressure like the fries will burn or the drive-through is getting backed up but pressure like: "If I'm not fast enough, this child may die” and “if I make the wrong choice, this woman loses her husband.” They take thousands of hours of education and then test on one of the hardest tests in the nation. It's called the National Registry and passing it means you have met the minimum standard for what THE NATION believes should be a competent entry level clinician.
BUT WAIT...THERE'S MORE ...
That test only gets their foot in the door. They will still have to prove competence to their employer and do more than 500 hours in a clinical setting with doctors and nurses across all aspects of the healthcare field. They will be expected to maintain this certification every 2 years with at least 76 hours of additional, documented national training. This is just for "Entry Level" clinicians too. Some that maintain instructor status, hazmat status, critical care status and tactical status will have 50-100 MORE HOURS per cycles in each discipline or lose their accreditation.
BUT WAIT ... THERE'S MORE ...
You are expected to go from completely asleep to wide awake in less than 30 seconds. You go from awake to driving in less than 1 minute. You drive at speeds up to 160kmph and need to arrive to your patient in under 8 minutes (national average). Once you get there you will be required to remember everything you have ever been taught in the next 5-7 minutes, make a critical decision for your patient and then load them into an ambulance. Once you're moving you will need to have ninja IV skills to get your line started while screaming down the road to the hospital. You'll have to mentally calculate drug dosages and start appropriate treatments with 0 oversight and 100% certainty that you are doing the right thing.
BUT WAIT ... THERE'S MORE ...
There are no "Sick Days" or "Days off" - you work holidays because people still get sick and injured on them. You spend days and days away from your own family to help other families. You miss countless recitals, games, plays and family events because “Someone has to do it" right?
People die. You will watch them die in your hands. Despite your best efforts you will lose people. You'll need to be mentally strong enough to accept that fact and still put your boots on and go to the next call. Can you partition your mind enough to accept the pain of loss, the thrill of life and the crushing agony of helplessness? You win some, you lose a lot. Can you cover the body of that cute little 6 year old girl and then calmly walk over to the mother and tell her that you're sorry, but despite your best efforts, her child is dead? When the mother is screaming and pounding on your chest, can you tighten your jaw and calmly talk her down off that emotional edge? When she begs and asks "WHY?!" do you have the intestinal fortitude to be honest and let her know that her child wasn't properly restrained?
But hey... We’re just Ambulance Drivers... Right?
