The Real World

One of the most popular shows on television when I was in High School was “Emergency!” A show extolling the exploits of John Guage and Roy Desoto, two Los Angelos County Fire Department Paramedics. What adventures they had! I thought that this might be the spot for me. However, as I would learn in time, in New York State, we had full time Firefighters (FDNY in New York City) and Volunteer Firefighters everywhere else. Our Paramedic programs were just getting started, but required an affiliation with a Fire Department to undertake training.

As soon as I turned 18, I joined the Melville Volunteer Fire Department on Long Island. I still needed a job though as there is no pay for volunteers! I was enrolled at Stonybrook University as well and undertook my firefighting training while pursuing my undergraduate degree.

Being a firefighter, even a volunteer was a rush! They Brotherhood I joined would be something that I would be a part of for the rest of my life. After completing my firefighting training, I was able to obtain my Emergency Medical Technician Certificate (EMT) and eventually my Paramedic Cert. (AEMT-P).

Now I had the best of both worlds! I was a firefighter and a Paramedic. The adventures, assignments, and experiences were everything that I had seen on TV and more. There was one exception though. I was still a volunteer!

Emergency!

It was not long before I was working a civilian job, in the Graphic Arts Industry, and supplementing my need for adventure by continuing to be a volunteer firefighter / paramedic and flight training on the weekends.

Fate is a funny thing though. After a few years of this dual career, and with the introduction of “Desktop” publishing, I found myself out of a paying job.

Recently married and expecting our first child, being unemployed was a very cold and shocking awakening.

All but the barest of necessities were put on hold.

I had received many offers to work as a NYC Paramedic since completion of my training in the “Vollys,” but the salary of a NYC paramedic was far below what I was earning in the graphic arts world. But when you are unemployed, any pay is better than no pay!

I reluctantly called the “City” and submitted an application. Within 2 weeks, they had replied and offered me a position. The day I began working for the City of New York, was the last day that I ever worked for a living!

The only problem though, was that because my salary was so low, all “extra-curricular” activities would have to be curtailed for a while. The job was wonderful though. It was everything that I had seen on TV as a kid. The difference though was that in NYC, Paramedics were not part of the Fire Department (yet). The call volume for EMS was so high, that there was no realistic way that a Paramedic could also be a Firefighter.

New York City Emergency Medical Service paramedic