Paramedic - is it too late?

[YellowRedBlueGreen]

I'll be 39 next year (F) and have always been in office jobs. But more and more I'm considering a career as a paramedic, or something at least connected to the emergency services. I feel deep down that my life just needs to change to something more meaningful and as I've become more active physically and mentally over the last couple of years I want to do something that makes a difference. I also have a friend who does this for a living and whilst some of the stories he tells me are emotional and testing, I feel envious that he really makes a difference to people and does something genuinely rewarding. I know the shifts are long and I know the pay isn't fantastic but that isn't the main course for me. It's about getting out there, having every day different and genuinely helping people who need to be helped. I can be an emotional person but only privately and I am quite strong and assertive. But I'm no spring chicken anymore. No children, no commitments. Have I left it too late? Any paramedics out there with advice?

You've got a lot of working life left in you, so go for it!

Not too late, but it is a physically demanding job that gets harder as you get older.

Go into it with your eyes open though, there is huge understaffing which will effect both your access to careful training and support when you qualify. The stress and workload is relentless and many feel they can't give care in the way they want to. There is a reason they is a very high rate people are leaving the profession.

Not too late at all. I know someone of a similar age and multiple children just finishing up her studies for the same thing :)

Not left too late, but it depends if you’re able to pass the fitness requirements of the role.

Which can be impacted sadly by age

My DH joined the ambulance service coming up 4 years ago when he was 46. He had left the RAF and had wanted to work for the ambulance service. He’s a technician and has decided not to do his paramedic degree.

He mostly enjoys it, they are long days and he’s rarely finished on time. For us as a family though it’s much more of a stable life.

I say go for it.

There aren’t many fitness requirements. My DH has high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes (all under good control), and isn’t the slimmest or fittest.

I'm not fussed by the physical workload as I say I've become very active and quite strong so if anything it'll do me a favour and make my life feel more fulfilled. I find myself lately wanting to get involved in ANYTHING where it looks like someone might be in trouble etc. I'm that nosey fucker who will ask half the beach why that distress light is flickering in the sea, or when I pleaded at that bunch of kids to get off the lake a week after that devastating tragedy in Solihull. I'm just the "get involved" type of person and I have loads of free time, empathy and will to help people. But I don't have many GCSEs for a start 😕 English, Maths. That's about it. No Science, Biology etc. Just feels like I fucked it too much when I was younger.

I run occasionally, walk 10 miles per day, kayak, cycle and am about to take up surfing. Drink once per week, ex smoker. I'm pretty active to be fair.

DH qualified last year with the London ambulance service and had to pass the incremental endurance test, which was quite gruelling. Plus vision testing, blood pressure checks and a test on his lung capacity

Maybe it has changed then or is because your DH is a paramedic rather than technician. Makes sense that they need to be fit and healthy.

DH is a Technician and trained at 42 now 16 years later he's done in, physically and mentally. Yes a lot of the jobs are stressful but what's worse is the moral. They are totally beaten down by the system. The 12 hour shifts that regularly become 14/15 hours. Very few meal breaks. Scared to have a drink because they don't know when they will get to a toilet, standing for hours on end in a hospital corridor because there are no beds for their patients meaning they are not on the road. Dealing with total idiots who want an ambulance for a stubbed toe then going out to a 80 year old who has been lying on the floor for hours. The abuse they get because someone has waited hours on end. Management who don't give a toss. They just want targets hit no matter what. No support at all.

The NHS is on its knees and so are it's staff.
Even with the payrise this year the money is rubbish for what is expected off them.
DH would be er encourage anyone to go into this role now when years ago he would have.
I know I sound all doom and gloom but that is the life we are living right now.

The OP is asking about becoming a paramedic, why then reply about your DH if he isn’t in that role?

Not too late but now various trusts expect a degree (East does) so look at that first!

It’s gunna be 39 plus getting your quals to even get into uni, then uni? That’s going to be hard.

fwiw, and I’m trying to just be genuinely truthful here, but the police I work with who got into it
because they were ‘nosy and always wanted to be involved’ are the ones that burn out the fastest and the hardest so be careful. Anything emergency services is a fucking hard job and it seems a little like you haven’t properly thought it through, not understand the role properly

For para you will need to do a paramedic science degree, or start at a low level (ECA or AAP or Technician as direct entry) and work your way up. There is lots of elderly/frailty care, and a high proportion of mental health cases. DH has done 33 years frontline as a Para; he's mentally burnt out and struggling with the physical demands of the job but his pension isn't due for another 8 years.

@ClaretBarret aTechnician will be doing everything physical and emotional that a Paramedic does - same jobs, same lifting and manual labour. They just have fewer drugs and get paid less. The are the Ginger Rogers of our Trust. Their fitness entry test is the same as all our frontline recruits.

My brother qualified last year after a few years as a tech. It's something he has always wanted to do. He is early 40s.

Go for it!

No mate I appreciate this and yes I admit it's a pipedream and I've not thought it through properly. I mean I don't realise that I have to go through university and also I can't just fuck off my current job because I need an income. I work Monday to Thursday, 32 hours per week (I dropped Fridays because I want to have that extra day to find something more fulfilling, paid or not).

Have you thought about volunteering for at johns ambulance? I think they provide all training and it might satisfy your itch!

My neighbour celebrated her 50th and qualifying as a paramedic in the same year. Go for it!

Would you consider working in the patient transport service? (It's what I do).
Still in an ambulance but not front line and less issues. Will give you a taste of the life, and you can do your frec 3 and 4 and do event work. Can also the sidestep into front line.

Check with your local ambulance service whether they have a student paramedic programme, and what the requirements are. For example, in my trust (WMAS) to get on to the programme you have to have 5 GCSE's at C or above or equivalent and an a level or equivalent. As well as some other requirements regarding driving licences etc. You could do an access course online perhaps. The programme is like an apprenticeship in that you learn as you train and also earn a wage (which is higher than an apprentice wage) but you also study for and undertake a degree as part of the programme.
Lots of people who join the programme are your age or older, and there is a fitness test but it sounds like you'd pass that without too much trouble. I also think coming into the job at an older age with some life experience is massively beneficial and makes for a better paramedic.
It is worth bearing in mind that it isn't all action and saving lives though, we deal with a lot of mental health, and a LOT of patients that don't actually require an ambulance at all. The hospital waits and late finishes at the moment are awful for moral as well, it certainly isn't the job that '999 on the front line' etc paint it out to be.

I looked in to doing it a couple of years ago as a 40 year old. No NHS bursaries, just loans. The cost of the degree, and paying to live when doing the degree (no possibility of doing paid work whilst on the course) just didn’t add up. I was looking at taking on an 80k debt to start off in a low paid career that realistically isn’t something I would be able to do until retirement age.

I found myself at a career fair at 45.
The paramedic stall was empty and I wasn't interested but the the staff stopped me . I told them I was too old ( just to curtail the chat.) They asked me how old I was and they werent phased and a man there said he qualified at 52!
They were so lovely and enthusiastic .

I didn't take them up on it as my interests lay elsewhere.

Just saying.

Agreed with this completely! You don’t have to pass a fitness test 😂
OP you have a good few years ahead of you. If you’re passionate about it, go for it. I am a HCP in the NHS, I started my training age 32 after first doing my GCSEs and an access course. It’s a demanding job but I love it and never regret it. Good luck!

The time will pass anyway...might as well spend it training for a career you dream about it!