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48 MAY 2016 | EMSWORLD.com In part one of a two-part feature, columnist Mike Rubin discusses nontraditional EMS jobs in the hospitality and entertainment industries. W hen I started paramedic school in 1994, I couldn't imagine EMS outside of 9-1-1. Ever y full-time EMT and medic I knew seemed attracted to the urgency of ambu- lance lights and sirens. The public favors an analogy of ambu- lances as our "offices," but that's pretty far from the truth. Our rigs are reminders that we don't need offices; that we're not constrained by the same four walls limit- ing the independence and imagination of white-collar workers. We take pride in the distinctiveness of patient care at 40 miles per hour, when every turn reminds us EMS is an unnatural act mastered by few. I've enjoyed 9-1-1 as much as anything I've done, but since 1994, I've spent a sur- prising amount of time—18 of 22 years— working for EMS employers who didn't even own an ambulance. We're talking about providers of emergency services other than transports—perhaps the core mission of EMS. Such nontraditional postings in our industry have given me unusual and much-appreciated opportuni- ties beyond the on-scene/en-route model that inf luences so much of our training and expectations. Some jobs I've had have been so special- ized, they're rare. For example, supervising medical control for a large, mostly volunteer EMS system with 100 individual agencies was mostly a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Although it would be fun for me to recount those years, I don't think there'd be much of a payoff for you. Merchandising is an EMS-related activ- ity I've pursued that would be hard to rep- licate—not due to any brilliance on my part, but just because of the specialized assistance I needed to succeed. I wouldn't want to waste your time discussing such low-probability ventures. Writing is my main EMS job now. We could debate whether that craft belongs in an article like this one, so let's just leave it out. Teaching is another "off-road" EMS vocation, but so many of you already do that on the side, just as I did for years. I don't think there's much value I could add to your experiences. I'll focus instead on seven other nontra- ditional EMS opportunities that I feel are among the most favorable alternatives to 9-1-1 work. As of this writing, each of those occupations has openings at salaries com- parable to customary EMS roles. Experience matters, just as it does on the streets, but none of these positions require extensive retraining. One caveat: Some of you will be much better qualified than others for unconven- tional assignments—not because of your years in EMS or the num- ber of acronyms after your names, but because of your people skills. I know that sounds like a prerequisite for EMS in general, but it's an even bigger factor when you encounter hundreds of healthy customers daily instead of one or two really sick ones. O f f - t h e - g r i d E M S employment isn't for every- one. There's no shame in deciding ordinary 9-1-1 is your specialty. Why even consider a nontraditional EMS occupation? Not for the money. With few exceptions, the pay is pretty much the same. Don't do it for benefits, either; they tend to be industry-specific perks that you can live without, like discounts on hotel rooms. And advancement opportunities are just as limited as they are on the 9-1-1 side. There are advantages to nontraditional EMS, though. Here are a few of them that sealed the deal for me: » Health and safety: Ambulances crash. Being involved in one less wreck or none at all increases your chances of grandparent- hood. And if you're looking forward to lifting your kids' kids someday without the use of hydraulics, eliminating patient transports from your job can be positively therapeutic after a decade or more of lumbar abuse. By Mike Rubin PART 1 If you're tired of the 9-1-1 grind, opportunities abound for delivering nontraditional EMS