Last week I attended the Region 2 EMS Director’s Conference in Gatlinburg. It was my 2nd trip, the 1st being 14 years ago. What a difference a decade and a half makes.

I quickly realized I don’t fit in with these people. At all. I don’t have emergency lights on my car, I don’t wear “Trauma Junkie” t-shirts and have never once considered getting a star of life tattoo. It became the ultimate example of one’s job not defining who they are.

My interests, hobbies and passions have absolutely nothing to do with my chosen profession. It pays the bills. I’ve always liked having a whole separate life away from work. The vast majority of my friends have no clue what I do for a living*, don’t care and all are in lines of work totally different from my own.

I respect the dedicated men and women who LIVE the EMS life as well as working in it. It’s just not for me. I seriously considered letting my license lapse this year, but decided at the last minute to get the credit hours to keep it. 2 years from now my decision may be different.

*I haven’t actually worked on an ambulance but a handful of times in 10 years. I still work for an ambulance service, but doing IT/sysadmin work.