Becoming a Volunteer EMT with a Full-time Job
Often, we think about jobs and leisure activities as a person’s passion or calling in life.
For some, the two pastimes are related; a carpenter goes into the business because of his woodworking hobby. For others, the day job is just a way to support the family, while the hours spent outside of work are devoted to passions like cooking, traveling, or photography. But what about people who feel they have two callings to pursue?
This may be the line of thought that leads a full-time working professional to become a volunteer EMT. Or perhaps it’s that there are only volunteer positions available for EMT services in the area. Either way, many people choose to pursue volunteer EMT service while remaining full-time employees elsewhere. Though a popular choice, it is also one rife with challenges and, luckily, great advantages and benefits as well.
The Struggles of Working and Volunteering
There are only so many hours in a day. When you spend 40 of them at work, one to three of them commuting, and an additional handful of them on your volunteer service, the windows of opportunity to do much of anything else get smaller and smaller. With limited down time, keeping up with healthy eating, maintaining relationships, sleeping regularly and the appropriate number of hours nightly, and simply maintaining a sense of balance in life ends up being difficult.
However, maintaining those healthy habits are crucial to performing well in your day job and in your EMT volunteer service. Enough sleep, enough water, and a healthy diet will in fact make a world of difference in your ability to support both endeavors, so be sure to schedule in time for healthy habits.
The Rewards of Volunteering as an EMT
The rewards of volunteering as an EMT are virtually limitless. As a volunteer, you work fewer hours than a professional EMT or paramedic, which can leave you with time to pursue other hobbies or methods of making a living. And yet, you’ll still have all the benefits of working with an EMS corps: helping people, saving lives, making a difference and setting a good example in the community, and being a part of a committed team whose primary mission is to be helpful and serve others.
