Are you interested in pursuing a career as an emergence medical technician (EMT)? It can be incredibly rewarding to have a career that saves and sustain lives. An EMT must perform lifesaving acts on a regular basis and must be prepared to handle challenging circumstances. If you are at least 18 years old and in good physical condition, you can begin the journey of becoming an EMT. However, there are some important points that must be highlighted regarding how your life will be like as an EMT. You must be prepared to work grueling hours in a variety of environments. Let’s take a closer look at life as an emergency medical technician.

You must be prepared and be able to work very irregular hours as an EMT because, obviously, emergency services function 24 hours a day. Many EMTs are required to work over 40 hours a week and most work well above this mark. Typical EMT shifts can be 12 hours long. It is common practice to have an EMT be on-call for 24 hours followed by 48 hours of complete time off. The main point here is that if you are looking for a very structured Monday-Friday, 9AM-5PM job, pursuing a career as an EMT will not be for you. If you have a family, you must take into consideration how your family members will be impacted your work hours. You will need to consider hiring a babysitter for your children and will need to get on the same page with your spouse. EMTs must also be ready to work in a variety of environments. They may be called to a home, business or the road to handle a car accident during a snowy day. Be prepared to be exposed to a variety of different environments working as an EMT.

If you are interested in pursuing a career as an emergency medical technician, you have to be prepared to handle long and unstructured work hours as well as a variety of potentially challenging work environments. Most importantly in all this, you will have to made adjustments in your family life while working as an EMT.