Volunteer

On September 11 2012 15:48 HawaiianPig wrote:
You're awesome.

...Wait so, how do you make a living?

On May 16 2012 15:13 Snet wrote:
I look at my paycheck and smile.

I get PAID to do this.

Loving life.

On September 11 2012 22:56 MCDayC wrote:

What changed?

On September 11 2012 15:48 HawaiianPig wrote:
You're awesome.

...Wait so, how do you make a living?

I became an EMT four years ago and have volunteered the entire time. I have averaged 1000+ hours a year, totaling over 4000+ hours of volunteer EMS time.

Sometimes I wonder why I sign up to work shifts that are 12 hours long, when I won't get paid a dime. Especially when my friends are out going to concerts, partying, etc

But honestly it's hard to describe... when you are doing what you feel is right - you don't need payment to feel like your time is worth it.

I could have worked the same amount of hours at a paid department and have $40,000+ in my pocket, but I wouldn't trade what I have done for a thing.

On May 16 2012 15:13 Snet wrote:
There's no such thing as a tip in EMS.

It's not the same as getting a few extra bucks as if you gave a good haircut, or served food well at a restaurant.

There's usually 0% recognition, gratitude, or admiration for what you do.

Many wonder why we dedicate our lives to continue a job with such low pay, but immeasurable stress.

Lives.

Imagine what you value your wife, mother, father, son, daughter, brother's life at.

There is no quantifiable equivalent.

So when I save a life.

And I mean 100% literally, my physical hands, save a life.

The feeling is absolutely indescribable.

I look at my paycheck and smile.

I get PAID to do this.

Loving life.

On September 12 2012 01:35 FryBender wrote:
I always felt weird about reading Snet's blogs. At first I thought I was just jealous of all the cool stuff that happened. But that wasn't it because I love reading about all the cool stuff different people get to do on TL. Maybe it was because of the weird style. But I don't think that's it either. I finally figured out what it was. First of all the self-aggrandizing is kind of annoying. The "look at me I'm a hero" thing is cool to read once but when it's literally in every one of your blogs it gets tired and repetitive. The second thing is that I knew a paramedic once (a professional paramedic) and the only cool story he had after 3 years of working was the one time he got called out to the house of this old guy who died of a heart attack during sex. Needless to say the woman he was with was freaked out and she never dressed properly. So here is this old 67 year old guy lying naked in the bed and this much younger woman (who looks like she is a professional) is half-naked and freaking out. The best part of the story was that either because she was just in shock or (more likely) because she had never met this guy before in her life, she had no idea who he was. Didn't know his name, didn't know if he had any relatives, nothing. That was the only story he had. He said everything else was pretty routine and boring. He never once talked about how much of an awesome guy he was because he delivered a 3 year old to the emergency room just in time and how he saved a million lives. And I'm glad he didn't because talking with him would become a bore.

Now it seems like you're lying about certain things. And I'm guessing that a lot of the stuff in your stories may very well not be true at all. That's sad

On September 12 2012 01:35 FryBender wrote:
I always felt weird about reading Snet's blogs. At first I thought I was just jealous of all the cool stuff that happened. But that wasn't it because I love reading about all the cool stuff different people get to do on TL. Maybe it was because of the weird style. But I don't think that's it either. I finally figured out what it was. First of all the self-aggrandizing is kind of annoying. The "look at me I'm a hero" thing is cool to read once but when it's literally in every one of your blogs it gets tired and repetitive. The second thing is that I knew a paramedic once (a professional paramedic) and the only cool story he had after 3 years of working was the one time he got called out to the house of this old guy who died of a heart attack during sex. Needless to say the woman he was with was freaked out and she never dressed properly. So here is this old 67 year old guy lying naked in the bed and this much younger woman (who looks like she is a professional) is half-naked and freaking out. The best part of the story was that either because she was just in shock or (more likely) because she had never met this guy before in her life, she had no idea who he was. Didn't know his name, didn't know if he had any relatives, nothing. That was the only story he had. He said everything else was pretty routine and boring. He never once talked about how much of an awesome guy he was because he delivered a 3 year old to the emergency room just in time and how he saved a million lives. And I'm glad he didn't because talking with him would become a bore.

Now it seems like you're lying about certain things. And I'm guessing that a lot of the stuff in your stories may very well not be true at all. That's sad

On September 12 2012 01:35 FryBender wrote:
I always felt weird about reading Snet's blogs. At first I thought I was just jealous of all the cool stuff that happened. But that wasn't it because I love reading about all the cool stuff different people get to do on TL. Maybe it was because of the weird style. But I don't think that's it either. I finally figured out what it was. First of all the self-aggrandizing is kind of annoying. The "look at me I'm a hero" thing is cool to read once but when it's literally in every one of your blogs it gets tired and repetitive. The second thing is that I knew a paramedic once (a professional paramedic) and the only cool story he had after 3 years of working was the one time he got called out to the house of this old guy who died of a heart attack during sex. Needless to say the woman he was with was freaked out and she never dressed properly. So here is this old 67 year old guy lying naked in the bed and this much younger woman (who looks like she is a professional) is half-naked and freaking out. The best part of the story was that either because she was just in shock or (more likely) because she had never met this guy before in her life, she had no idea who he was. Didn't know his name, didn't know if he had any relatives, nothing. That was the only story he had. He said everything else was pretty routine and boring. He never once talked about how much of an awesome guy he was because he delivered a 3 year old to the emergency room just in time and how he saved a million lives. And I'm glad he didn't because talking with him would become a bore.

Now it seems like you're lying about certain things. And I'm guessing that a lot of the stuff in your stories may very well not be true at all. That's sad

On September 12 2012 06:06 Maxd11 wrote:
Wow these people seem really jealous of Snet's incredible generosity. Believe it or not some people are just good.
Thank you for blogging and please continue despite the naysayers.

On September 12 2012 06:08 marttorn wrote:


I think most people are just a little suspicious of the inconsistencies we've seen here, not trying to discredit the act of saving lives. I'm not taking sides at all until he gives an explanation.

I had the money to spare after hundreds and hundreds of hours of stressful, long, and often saddening hours of emergency medical services.

On September 12 2012 04:47 paper wrote:
I'm just gonna say it.

I don't like these blogs at all. Is it truly altruism if you boast about it? No, it's just legal public masturbation.

On September 12 2012 06:06 Maxd11 wrote:
Wow these people seem really jealous of Snet's incredible generosity. Believe it or not some people are just good.
Thank you for blogging and please continue despite the naysayers.

Snet wrote

I continued with my EMT work. I worked Friday, Saturday, Sunday. 1700-0500. What shitty hours for a twenty year old. Practically no social life. But the money was good for my age, and the job was self-rewarding. During the week I volunteered at the local rescue squad to burn time (basically doing what I do on the weekends for free). This became my life. Other than that it was all starcraft, parties, and chicks if I was lucky enough. I'm no romeo, mind you.

renent wrote

At my level of care almost all our skills/interventions are just to extend the patients life so they can get to a higer level of care where the true treatment needs to happen.

On September 12 2012 02:04 Dandel Ion wrote:

I'm also sure he made some parts look nicer or more awesome than they most likely were, but I'm used to that. You see that a lot with paramedics, especially volunteers. I don't think it's in itself a bad thing, you just compare penis sizes with the others about how awesome you were saving the life of guy X, or how horrible accident Y was (but of course YOU kept your cool and totally did everything right).
People kinda NEED to do that, especially when you don't (really) get paid.
Let me put it out there: The work sucks.
Period.
People die, people almost die, people have conditions that are WORSE than dying, etc. You have to make it good somehow in your mind, or you start asking yourself "why am I actually doing this again?" And to that question, you will not have a good answer. So you have to lie to yourself, and think "I do this because I'm awesome. And doing it is awesome. And since I'm awesome, I'm SO doing this"

The part where that goes wrong is when you stop just lying to yourself, and start lying to everyone else.
People that work as medics are very hit-and-miss in my experience.
There are a ton of really chill guys that are a ton of fun to hang out with (hanging out is >50% of the "worktime" as a medic, because more often than not, nothing actually happens.)
Then there are some people that are absolutely astronomical dicks. Arrogant assholes, the worst of the worst.
And everything inbetween exists too.


What I'm saying is:
Never go into a blog that even remotely deals with medical stuff and expect to read the truth. Never.
Even the nicest guys bolster up their emergencies right after they happened and you talk about it on the station. And by the time something makes it into a blog, it's never even remotely accurate anymore. I wouldn't take a blog written by my best medic-buddies as the truth, so I sure as hell won't trust some random on the internet.

That in itself may not be understandable to an outsider, but trust me it's how shit works, and it has it's place.
Always take the content with more than just one grain of salt.

On September 12 2012 06:28 Renent wrote:


I don't lie to myself about what I do.
I don't make it good in my mind.
On most days I work a majority of my shift including timing out at 16-18 hours.

Usually when I talk to my other EMS related buddies or work partners the calls are 100 percent truth, because bullshitting Ricky Rescues are identified quick. If I lied about my call, chances are my fellow workers are going to audit the PCR and then call bullshit on my stories. Partners not trusting each other does not bode well for the working relationship.

Sorry, I just wanted to give my perspective as your post does NOT represent EMS in my view.

However, I don't work where you work so it could be 100 percent of a different community where you are.

On September 12 2012 07:34 Dandel Ion wrote:

Hm, it is my experience, and nothing else.

I probably made it sound worse than it actually is, you just make your stuff look a bit better. Even to yourself.
Into that ties that most volunteers are 20-25 years and just keep doing it after they finish civil service - so it's mostly male almost-adults.
Gotta determine who has the longest and biggest.

And saying "patient X just pooped on my hand" is not manly enough.

Also, you "lie" afterwards. I know my colleagues, and I know I can work with them. Otherwise I wouldn't.
There are some who just spew baseless shit all the time, and I refuse to work with them because I see them endangering the patients. Be it through lack of knowledge, but mostly by the way they drive (biggest problem with overly arrogant people imo)

I also live in a rather rural area, and "good" emergencies almost never happen (though we have a ton of funny ones), so when they do, people that had it just HAVE to rub it in.

Like I said, it sounds worse than it is - it's just boys being boys. When it counts, you do what you can. Everything else comes afterwards and doesn't really matter.
Just my 2 cents on this.

On July 01 2011 15:20 Snet wrote:
I had a bestfriend from my childhood. I knew him since the fourth grade. Immediately we became best friends.

We played diablo together.

Diablo II came out, we came our pants.

Lord of Destruction came out... are we in heaven?

Eight years later we graduated highschool. I chose the educational route. Regular college wasn't for me. I couldn't find a passion. So, I went to EMT school, and started working on an ambulance for $10/hour.

He chose the uneducated route. He moved out of his parents house working on minimum wage. His parents helped him pay rent. He fell in love with a girl who was in her senior year of highschool. (his first girlfriend, so naturally he was obsessed with her). She went off to college. He decided to follow her. He moved out of state with 0$ to his name, but a heart full of love.

I continued with my EMT work. I worked Friday, Saturday, Sunday. 1700-0500. What shitty hours for a twenty year old. Practically no social life. But the money was good for my age, and the job was self-rewarding. During the week I volunteered at the local rescue squad to burn time (basically doing what I do on the weekends for free). This became my life. Other than that it was all starcraft, parties, and chicks if I was lucky enough. I'm no romeo, mind you.

My friend called me up. His girl dumped him and cut him off from her life completely. He was sleeping in her dorm at that time so he did not have to worry about rent. Now he was homeless. Broke. He needed help. He was lost in a entirely new city with fast food income.

He asked me for a loan of $1,000.

I had the money to spare after hundreds and hundreds of hours of stressful, long, and often saddening hours of emergency medical services.

He was my best friend. I trusted him with my life.

It was not even half an hour before I sent him the money. I trusted him that deeply.

My money helped him survive. He was able to rent a place with several roommates so his rent was cheep.

My life became very busy. I decided to take it one step further and become a paramedic. That means two more years of intense school. Not even counting clinical hours. We grew out of contact slightly. Down to about one phone call a month.

I got the call.

"Snet, I'm coming home"

He was moving back to town!

Then things turned for the worst.

"Yea, Snet, I don't have a job but I have a hookup in MD.. gonna grow some green man... I'll be making more money than I ever did."

Ok, whatever.. although I don't smoke, I don't see anything wrong with marijuana. I've seen people die first hand to almost every other elicit drug, but never pot.

Months pass by. This kid is smoking his own merchandise.

I mean like EVERDAY, 24/7.

He is getting ridiculous.

He starts linking me to dozens of random youtube videos about "The secret", "the zeitgeist", and several, several other propaganda videos.

He left me a voicemail.

"Snet, you are in danger. You and your family will die very soon unless you listen to me. I have researched things you don't even know. I need you as my ally. Hear me out or you will die."

I woke up in the morning and listened to that voicemail. I was like...uhhh ......

So I talk to him and he tells me about dozens of different government conspiracies.

"OK" I told him, "I do not care for these things"

He became angry. He said I should trust him. Said I was risking my life, said I was going to die.

I told him,
"Dude, listen.. I'm not saying I don't trust you, I'm just saying I don't care for the things you are researching and trying to get me to believe."

He said, and I quote:
"You faggot"

WTF?

He continued to attack me, and call me an ignorant sheep. He said I hope you enjoy dying. You will starve and die when the system falls.

I was like wtf...

I grew tired of it. I told him:
"Look man, i'm not saying i don't trust you but I do not want to join anti-gov groups!"

He continued to call me sheep.

I told him.

"Look man. You are my best friend. I will always be there for you. I even gave you $1,000 when you asked me for help. Stop attacking me because I don't agree with you on this."

He told me.....

"Want your money back? Sue me. Good luck finding me."

He deleted me off facebook and won't answer his phone. He also has no fixed address so I'ts hard to find him.

So I stand here before you, TL, in utter disbelief. Although it makes no difference how I earned my money...but, I spent over 100 hours attempting to save lives.... only to "loan" it to this kid, and never get it back. I don't even know if I want to pursue this kid. Do I want to sue someone like him? He will never be able to pay me back, and I don't even know where to find him, so I can't serve him. He's never had over $50 to his name so even if I do sue him, god knows how long it will take to see any payback.

I knew this kid around nine years, and we were literally best of friends.. like brothers. To him, $1000 was enough to trash our friendship.

My eyes have been opened. People can, and will turn on you whenever it is convenient to them.

TL, I can only hope that you will not become that person.

It breaks hearts.

From: Ride the bus?
Please realize over fifty (50) volunteers, including volunteer EMTs. volunteer medics, and volunteer firefighters responded within five (5) minutes of dispatch.

From: Crash Landing
Do you know that feeling when you wake up on your day off, and you panic for a second after you wake..thinking.."am I late for something..am I late for work??"

Then you realize...silly, Snet, today is your day off.

Such a wave of relief....

[...]

When I was searching the living quarters I hear a dispatch that I have never heard before.

Area box 703 in the area of 12341 Hollywood Dr, for the plane crash. CO7, CO79, CO19, CO13, CO 3, CO9, CO 39, M1 due to respond

You could have put a brick wall between me and my crew and it would not have slowed us down.

On September 12 2012 12:24 Snet wrote:
My blogs are not a chronological timeline. I write stories from things that happen the current day I write them, and some that happened in the past. I have been a volunteer for four years but have also held several jobs in the medical field including a paid EMT position, and positions in an emergency department. Sorry for any confusion.

On September 12 2012 12:24 Snet wrote:
My blogs are not a chronological timeline. I write stories from things that happen the current day I write them, and some that happened in the past. I have been a volunteer for four years but have also held several jobs in the medical field including a paid EMT position, and positions in an emergency department. Sorry for any confusion.

On September 12 2012 12:24 Snet wrote:
My blogs are not a chronological timeline. I write stories from things that happen the current day I write them, and some that happened in the past. I have been a volunteer for four years but have also held several jobs in the medical field including a paid EMT position, and positions in an emergency department. Sorry for any confusion.

On September 12 2012 14:13 mynameisgreat11 wrote:
Many of you do not realize I don't get paid for my work. I volunteer.

In my city, there are volunteer programs to help others in need.

Why do I do it you ask?

Because it allows me to talk down to others, no matter how little education or how inflated my ego may be.

I have been helping the homeless for almost 2 years now. In my 'boy am I an awesome guy' daily planner, I've kept very close track of every hour I've ever spent helping others.

You may ask, why do I keep such close track of my hours? Wouldn't my selfless work be enough satisfaction by itself?

The answer, of course, is no. My selfless acts are meaningless by themselves. If I don't share them with others, how will they know of my selflessness and good deeds?

Sometimes I wonder why I spend so much time with the homeless, with the poor souls that society pushes aside. 8, 10, 12 hours pass, day by day, when I could be earning money, gaining an education, or meeting friends.

The answer? So I can tell people about it later. Girls at bars. Family at christmas time. My fellow brethren, my fellow starcrafters. They need to know the power, the awe, that happens when you hold another person's life in your hands, they need to know that their lives are meaningless without experiencing it.

They will never know happiness, joy, or the true meaning of life unless I tell them about it from my amazing, unpaid, unsung experiences.

I love life.

I love working for free.

I love telling people about it later.

On September 12 2012 13:12 Snet wrote:
The deleting of old blogs has been something I started quite a while ago when I first got the idea of creating a book. If I referenced or rewrote old stories I wanted them to be fresh and forgotten. And those who have been following my blog would get some sort of nostalgia feeling when reading old stories. Silly, I know.

Meaning that those who have read and enjoyed previous stories would be more likely to read my book if they knew old stories I deleted were in the book.

Amateur marketing scheme.

On September 12 2012 15:05 Snet wrote:
All my blogs were written as I remembered it. So if I was writing about a call I was on two years ago, I wrote it as remembered, in the first tense.

It's fun and exciting for people not involved in the health care field to read first hand stories of experiences with patients. And I found early on that the topic of helping others was inspirational and touching to the general TL population.

I now see my intentions were skewed, and I apologize to any and all who feel as if they wasted their time reading one of my blogs.

I do intend to continue writing stories. Although I hope they are read "as is". My blogs are not a continued story, they are all individual stories. I've ran 1000's of calls, but choose to write on only a dozen. I sincerely apologize if those dozen are not in order, or do not relate to each other.

On September 13 2012 06:41 zJayy962 wrote:
To respond to some people, it is certainly possible to like to get paid and to enjoy volunteer work. I've done both as an educator and they certainly give you a different feeling.

On September 13 2012 23:09 niteReloaded wrote:
Your blog in general is too attentionwhory for my taste... saving lives isn't bigger in my book than baking bread, changing tires or fixing plumbing leaks.

I mean, you could be just loving your job so much that you can't help but share the overwhelming feelings, but I get the feeling that you want praise from people too much and it irks me. But what you're doing is commendable regardless whether you are looking for being commended or not.

On September 13 2012 23:23 theBALLS wrote:

I don't usually get involved in iffy matters like this.

But I'll have you know that people like myself truly appreciate reading blogs like these. They provide perspective to a world unknown to myself.

Just leave if you don't like it.

On September 14 2012 00:27 ImDrizzt wrote:
KEep owning it up sNET, I love my life as well, and I never work, and I probably have 60.000 hours not working, and I'm hoping to reach at least 100.000 before I die

=]