Is it dumb I picking my job in case of an apocalypse?

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Grendle1972@reddit

Dude, I was part of a team and we had plenty of shooters, but zero medics. My agency was looking to send a couple of guys to get their Medical Responder cert. I suggested we get our EMT-Basic certs, same cost, a few more hours, abd since better to our client. That led me to working for a 911 agency, then getting my EMT-Intermediate, and then my paramedic. I have had an interesting career, having wield both rural and urban EMS, both 911 and Interfacility transport, both in the US as well as abroad as a remote duty medic. I will retire in a few years knowing that between my time in Service as well as my EMS career, I have served my country and community for more than half my life. I have helped alot of people over the years, and it has helped me prepare for bad timeswith real world experience. But after nearly 33 years between military and EMS, I'm getting very tired, lol.

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JRHLowdown3@reddit

Great post. This crosses over to survivalism in that most just want to do gun training, few want to specialize in things like medicine.

Even when you consider untrained folks, "shooters" will be a plenty, what most will need is specialists who can do that AND have some specialized skills.

If we plan worth a crap, we won't be fighting every day, but folks will need to eat every day, get their health tended to, be able to build, fix or improvise a power system, work on cars, fix equipment, etc.

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Grendle1972@reddit

I'm not a prepper but an old school survivalist. The difference is mainly the spelling (meaning which adjective you use to describe yourself, pc vs non pc). My skillset compliments my brothers skillset. We have built 2 houses together, a chicken coop, raised beds for a garden, and fruit trees and berry bushes. We have an outdoor pantry that members of our family call the grocery store with cans and bulk buckets of food. They're are supplies of electrical switches/ outlets, wire, plumbing supplies, shingles. Malls, screws, canning jars/ lids/ rings, multiple caves both water bath and pressure, seeds, tools, medical supplies, guns and ammo, traps, generators, solar panels, fuel, seasoned wood, propane, and the list goes on.

Skills, he was CBRN (NBC specialist) in the Army, I was infantry in the Marines. He is good at automotive repair, I fix people. We both work well together building stuff, I plan, he's labor, lol. We are both HAMs, he is an Extra class, I'm just a Technician. We compliment each other.

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LizDances@reddit

This is something I think about a fair amount. I am a nurse, and I have an older teen daughter who just got her EMR and will soon be working on the EMT. She plans to proceed to paramedic after that, but she is still young enough that I am not getting all excited about it yet. That being said, I am an LPN, and will probably be upgrading to RN soon, maybe even this coming school year. It occurred to me that it might be smart to pick a specialty that compliments my daughter as a paramedic. I don't think that as a family unit it would be as helpful for me to also specialize in emergency medicine, if my daughter sort of already has that bit covered. It seems like the most useful specialties for me would either be family practice and managing long-term, chronic health conditions, or labor and delivery. Both (of mine) are with more of a focus toward long-term survival rather than the first week after an incident.

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JRHLowdown3@reddit

Definitely. Our son is an RN. I've had a fair amount of medical training and experience over the years, just nothing accredited. I've been able to help him with tips when he's struggled with inserting IV catheters doing the way the school showed them. I showed him how the medics taught us and his sticks immediately got better.

The complimenting idea is great and will help you cover a much wider range of problems. I've been working on more on herbals- both growing a good number of medicinal herbs as well as making tinctures, etc. This will help give us some "alternative" methods as well as approaching things from a more hollistic point of view.

We usually get sick during the major pollen season down here and that means some doxy and Prednisone. This year I made it a point to try to avoid the abx and used a lot of herbs like elderberry and echinicea for general immune support as well as chickweed and marshmallow for respiratory issues. Made it though with abx and that's the first time in probably 5 years. Our pollen gets so bad you see these huge yellow clouds like a smoke grenade went off!

Tell your daughter congats!

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Weary_Ad_1533@reddit

I’ve been in national security between military, IC, and building tech for the government since 1996. It will be 30 years in August. I’m getting tired too. The GWOT and everything since has been constant.

I’m focusing on learning gardening now. I still do NATSEC work but I’m ratcheting back.

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SheistyPenguin@reddit

Try to work towards a career that provides some amount of fulfillment, and/or earns enough money to save for goals or fulfilling pursuits.

Your most likely SHTF are job loss, health issues, weather events, economic downturn. More often than not, the best prep is a fat bank account from a job that earns you enough money to thrive instead of just survive.

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-Lady_Sansa-@reddit

Well if you’re dumb for that so am I, because I’m going to agriculture college so I can learn to grow/raise my own food.

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Beginning_Limit1803@reddit

Medicine + EMT + military is already a ridiculous stack. You're fine

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myOEburner@reddit

When was the last apocalypse?

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JRidenhour@reddit

Make sure you aren't a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP).... that is, bothered by lighting, noises, etc. Check ordinaryintrovert.com for your cognitive stack and if EMT will work for how you react under pressure.

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preppers-ModTeam@reddit

Your comment was removed because it has a very limited relationship to the question the original poster asked. Your link has a very limited relationship to the point you made. While it might have been posted in good faith, moderators are typically sensitive about external links. We are trying to avoid commercial spammers, and they often come up with ingenious ways to post their links.

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JRidenhour@reddit

Ok, I'll recommend online articles by author name instead. This is a free resource that I've found useful, because it's someone's hobby, not for profit.

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WhereDidAllTheSnowGo@reddit

Billions of more people have retired than have done an apocalypse

Whatever job you take should really do the first and optionally the second

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PrisonerV@reddit

Got about 10 more years and I'll have completely missed the end of the world. Dang it! My dad has already passed away of old age and damned if he didn't miss it too!

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Tired_Pentester@reddit

Worked in an ER for years at a prior job. Nothing wrong with being a EMT. But, be aware they're paid like shit. I thought about becoming one in the past and decided against it because the pay in my area was literal garbage. Especially when you considered the work schedule.

I'd encourage you to choose nursing and try to get into a ER over becoming a EMT. But, if you do choose to be a EMT, have a plan to become a paramedic as soon as you can.

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OceanGateTitan@reddit

FYI EMTs don’t get paid all that great. If you’re choosing this purely in case of an apocalypse, a higher paying job will suit you better. You already have the training from the military. More money allows you to deploy that knowledge and skills to prepare for the worst.

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endlesssearch482@reddit

As a paramedic who was an EMT both straight out of college decades ago and then more recently in 2017 before becoming a medic, if you don’t use it, you lose it. Obtaining your EMT is one thing, but unless you work with it for a couple years, your skills will be disappointing. Working in the field builds and broadens skills. Depending on call volume, one to three years is adequate.

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PrepperBoi@reddit

ER RN pays better

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armedsoy@reddit

I work at a bakery bc I want to go out feeding people

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TastyMagic@reddit

I remember in the early days of prepping blogs in the Internet, reading about a person who survived a SHTF situation and became an EMT afterwards. EMTs and community health care workers are uniquely positioned to see the early hints that S is about to HTF.

So the medical knowledge is great for sure, but also being in regular contact with other first responders will also give you a leg up on knowing when it's time to bug out

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Potential4752@reddit

It makes it harder to bug out in borderline situations though. EMTs can’t suddenly stop going to work without being fired.

Personally I’d rather work remote and have the ability to leave before things have definitely gone wrong.

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Potential4752@reddit

It’s not a good idea.

You are stacking rare events.

1 - there is a huge disaster 2 - you survive 3 - a situation arises where EMT skills are lifesaving

It’s not worth planning your life around that low probability. I would only do it if you were already interested in that career. Or get the certificate and pick a different job.

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LonsomeDreamer@reddit

Not at all. I live about 3 miles from my work at a landfill in northern Michigan. We have racks and racks of water jugs here along with pallets of cases of water, giant tanks of diesel and and unleaded fuel. We have a locker with multiple gas masks and respirators and multiple replacement filters for each. Heavy duty yellow steel. There are mutiple maintenance bays with oil and tools of all sorts. We have heavy duty work pickup trucks and side by sides. Lots of 12 gauge ammunition and lots of extensive first aid lockers on site as well. Lots of lumber and building materials and piles of stones, large and small, along with rolls and rolls of 100' fencing. The list goes on and on. This mindset is not why I took the job but why I stayed!

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TechnicalTerm6@reddit

Nope, absolutely not dumb.

Because jobs are not....it's not 1978. Companies don't care for workers as well as they once did AND people realize they can change interests.

So you can do it for a few years, pick up whatever skills you want to learn, people you want to help, money you need....then shift if you find it's not for you long term.

I took a college trades program in 2021, and picked welding in 2022 because of the war in Ukraine. I wanted to help rebuild when the war ended. Of course, I didn't anticipate the war not ending. And all the other shit attached. But I absolutely made a career choice from 1. I like this, 2. I am good at this, 3. I can help people with this and feel useful vs helpless.

Then in Nov of 2024, I moved cities and changed jobs. And a few weeks ago. I decided I might go back to welding for a while for the pay and stability.

You are allowed to want to feel useful. You are allowed to change your mind.

Best of luck!

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flacid_thirdarm@reddit

lol I’m an emt, definitely didn’t do it in case of an apocalypse.. and to be honesty what you learn in class means nothing unless you put It to practice. Try and land a 911 job in a busy city, then you’ll really know what to do in an emergency. Best of luck man, crush that NREMT.

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JRHLowdown3@reddit

Medical training is ALWAYS good for emergencies, no doubt there.

And thank you for your service!

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Tasty_Impress3016@reddit

Getting a different job will not rob you of knowledge you have. If you feel you want more, study more. If you feel you want to do something else, hey go for it. Medical research sounds very interesting to me, I used to work in microbiology and blood testing.

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SirHarryAzcrack@reddit

I think picking something based off of the possibility of something that “may or may not happen” over your own happiness and interest in a career field is only going to lead to unhappiness.

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BallsOutKrunked@reddit

I'm an emt, the pay is generally garbage but the knowledge and experience (if you get a lot of patient time) is fantastic.

I don't do transactional help with my friends and neighbors, but I will say that being a low level provider is a provider none the less. Being a medical provider allows you to help people in need and if you do that well, with good intentions, and skill, it is meaningful in their lives. As you do that, other people often try to help you out too.

Again, I don't do it for the transactional nature. Rather it allows you to be a more valuable member of a community, neighborhood, etc.

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Unique-Sock3366@reddit

Not dumb. At all.

I’m a nurse and consider my skills to be a valuable asset for unprecedented times.

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IllManager9273@reddit

Yes. Likelihood of apocalypse is low Likelihood of needing to fund a retirement account high Pick a job you enjoy that pays well and prep as a hobby

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NeonGreenMothership@reddit

Good skills to have for sure, being an EMT. I would learn to live off the wildlife near your location as a hobby and some basic shelter/fire building. You'll be set. Your medical skills would be a major commodity.

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StarlightLifter@reddit

I am also getting EMT certified. Join the club.

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scarletOwilde@reddit

Very sensible IMO.

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Brick306@reddit

I am starting on my path to paramedic myself. While I did consider the value of training post shtf. It was something I've always wanted to do.

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nakedonmygoat@reddit

Being an EMT can be grueling, more so if you don't have the right personality for it. I had a friend who was an ex-marine and adrenaline junkie who enjoyed being an EMT but later parlayed that into working on rigs as an offshore paramedic. He said the money was good and he got lots of time off.

So you don't need an apocalypse to find EMT training useful. Natural disasters and just ordinary life can give your skills a workout. If you also have that adrenaline junkie mindset, maybe also look into become a Red Cross Disaster Responder. I think most of those positions are volunteer, but with an EMT certificate, you might get paid. You'd have to look into it. But if there is an apocalypse, going into it with real world disaster experience can only help you and those around you.

Please note that I don't mean "adrenaline junkie" in a disparaging way. It's just the sort of person who feels most alive when confronting danger or emergencies. These types make great first responders, firefighters, etc, and they're miserable in an office job. Always go with your strengths because someone else has different strengths and you need each other.

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Miss_L_Worldwide@reddit

Not dumb at all. Too many people have zero skills. My advice is to just not get sucked into every emergency that happens around you. Other people need to learn to step up.

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wildlife_is_neat@reddit

I personally volunteer to learn "apocalypse skills". Volunteering at different places lets you expand skills to a ton of different areas so you're well-rounded with various knowledge. Just my personal preference but if EMT works for you, rock it out! As long as you're happy :)

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Kradget@reddit

I think if you want to be an EMT, wanting to be an EMT is a good enough reason. If you don't, you're not going to last long, and should pick something that suits you better.

A bad job is often a drag on your mental and physical health, man. If you don't think you actually want to do it, find something else and just take a medic training course of some kind. Probably save you some money, too, in that case.

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smsff2@reddit

Actually, it’s a very smart idea. All the best on your educational journey.

At the very least, you’ll be doing things you enjoy, and you’ll know exactly why you’re doing them. You’ll understand why you’ve chosen that path in life.