Have you ever had to work multiple jobs, just to make ends meet? Or do you have to work pretty much every day, just to pay the bills? In EMS, this is a common theme. EMTs and paramedics generally do not make that much money in America. For a profession that requires you to work long hours, ready to respond at a moment’s notice to save a life, you’d think we’d earn more. However, a survey that was done in 2023, stated that the average paramedic pay is only $48, 405 per year, and the average EMT makes only $36, 990 (Salary.com. 2023). Who can survive off that? As of 2023, the average yearly cost of living in the United States is $61, 334 per person. (World Population Review, 2023). That means that you can work a full time job, and still have a deficit of several thousand dollars. Some states, companies, and departments pay more, and some pay less, but overall, this is not a sufficient amount for us to live and thrive.

So, how do we cope with this? Well, most of us have to work multiple jobs, or frequently pick up overtime shifts. This does give us an opportunity to make some extra money, but at what cost? More hours at work equal more time away from your family, less time with friends, less time to do the things you enjoy, less time to focus on your health and wellbeing, fewer opportunities to get continuing education hours. All of this takes a physical and mental toll on your body. This leads to more instances of divorce, missing out on seeing your children grow up, job burn out, alcohol abuse, emotional instability like depression and suicide, and health detriments like high blood pressure, heart attacks and strokes.

I know medics who work every single day, sometimes at the same company or department, and sometimes they ping pong from department to department, picking up as many shifts as possible. Yes this does increase their income, but how is their physical and mental fitness with all of this go go go, with no time to rest, recuperate, and recover? Are they capable of performing at a high enough level, that they can actually help their patients? If they get dispatched to a pediatric cardiac arrest in the middle of the night, can they mentally focus enough to treat this patient? At a certain point, their performance is going to decline, as is their health.

Sometimes you don’t have another choice, but to work as much as possible. Life is expensive, and you have to make enough to afford it, but what can you do to improve your mental and physical health? If possible, decrease your monthly expenses, so you don’t have to work as much. Maybe you don’t need the newest model of phone or truck that just came out, make food at home instead of going out to eat every day, get rid of subscriptions that you’re not actually using, find free activities to do on your vacation. Find a hobby, something that is not EMS related. Go fishing, hiking, try yoga, learn to knit, flip furniture, just something that gives your brain and body a break from the high stress world of EMS.

Most of us get into EMS because we truly want to help people, so changing to a better paying profession isn’t even a thought for some of us, so we make do with what we have. We need to find a healthy balance between work, spending money, and our time away from work, so that we can attempt to live the best, healthiest, and happiest life possible. If we thrive, we will be better equipped to help our patients. If we are physically and mentally exhausted or severely stressed out, we might be performing at a level that harms, instead of helps.

References:
Salary.com. (2023). Paramedic Salary in the United States. Salary.com. https://www.salary.com/research/salary/benchmark/paramedic-salary#:~:text=The%20average%20Paramedic%20salary%20in,falls%20between%20%2443%2C525%20and%20%2453%2C924.
World Popularity Review. (June 2023). Cost of Living Index. World Popularity Review https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/cost-of-living-index-by-state#