I used to do cadets right up until I was 17 and then went to adults for a while. I guess you need to be prepared to give up some weekends for 'duty' (working for free at big events etc.). I really enjoyed it and I learnt alot, but as I got older it became harder with work and it felt like more of a chore than for fun.
To be clear, are you talking about volunteer ambulance with St John Ambulance as a a weekly training session and then attend duties; or are you referring to the volunteer ambulance where you man an ambulance in a country town and you respond to 000 calls?
I'd have a chat to them. You might be able to do the theory but not the prac. It can be very physically taxing. There's no reason why you can't start it although it will depend on the Unit/Division as some may prefer to put someone on who can complete and start straight away - especially if they are short on members. Where abouts are you thinking of doing it?
Some people consider it to be a full on course and struggle to keep up with the study demands. My Step Mum is a Registered Nurse and struggled to keep up with the course requirements.
i'm a vol firefighter and completed all my basic training pre-baby, and it is still hard to keep up with training and really difficult to attend turn outs. a main difficulty is that you can't plan when incidents will occur- and organising a baby sitter at 30 secs notice is not easy. also, you don't know how long you will be out for, and you can't just bail cos you have stuff at home, which is hard if you breastfeed but would be hard with littlies anyway.
does your unit do specific shifts? that might be bit easier to manage. do you have a partner or friends/family who live close who can care for bub for you? there is no harm in getting more info to see if it can work for you. some of our training is done away over a weekend whle other training is just done locally. is there flexibility in the order that units can be completed? i am saving some of the more intensive trainings til i am free to go away overnight.
love to hear what you decide, i reckon that would be awesome.
Hotl I am also a vol firefighter but so is my hubby, so when it comes down to it, I don't get a look in! He loves it too much, I could never say 'ok you stay home with the kids and I'll respond' lol. I love it but have never had the opportunity to get too heavily involved with it.
It is a roster system for the ambulance and works on availability, so you just tell them when you're avail and you get rostered on for those times. I guess I figure night shift and weekends would be good for me, when hubby is home and we do have both our parents near by in an emergency.
I'll look into it some more and see what the training requirements are like.
Thanks for your replies
I know what you mean! DH is a vol ff too. He works shiftwork- When he is at work i can't turn out cos there is no-one to look after DD. He is often here during the day, so i could turn out then but as he is a driver and i'm not, and we don't have that many daytime drivers, most times he has to go then too! I am hoping to CIS peer training, but you have to go away for a weekend training, and last time it was held DD was still bfeeding overnight and next time i will have a 3 month old, so might miss out again (although have considered talking to them about taking him/her with me and possibly someone to look after bub).
When the kids are abit older, he will owe me heaps of turn-outs and he can stay home with the kids.
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Any volunteer ambo's in the house?
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