Yesterday I visited the first year (pre-employment) paramedic students at university. I was invited by one of them to have a talk to them about next year, when they will be heading to induction school to start their practical training, and then after 13 long, hard, gruelling weeks they will be dumped in an ambulance to deal wth whatever the world feels like throwing at them.
Of course this is a slightly intimidating thought. What if I don't meet expectations? What happens when we get on road? How do you deal with shift work? How do you deal with bad jobs? Social Life?
All questions that I had myself 12 months ago, so I was more than happy to go up to campus and have a chat to next years group of newbie ambos. Actually, I was feeling a) excited to go up and share my recent knowledge and experience, and b) feeling honoured that they would ask me up.
I had organised to grab an ambulance from a close by depot to take to uni, to show to anybody who wanted to have a good look again. Ambulances are exciting to first years (to me they still are!).
So I head down to the depot to grab the van. I meet some colleagues, and of course they ask me what I am doing at the depot, wondering why I am in uniform 3 hours after finishing my nightshift. I explain my plans. Reactions range from "good on you", to "you doing that for no pay? Good on you (I wouldn't do that)".
Then one comment that gets me: "Why are you doing that? Let them figure it out themselves.".
Dumbfounded, I grabbed the van keys, and drove off, saddened by the fact that there are colleagues out there that just don't care.
