This work explores how paramedics make sense of their experiences, maintain their footing amid moral and emotional upheaval, and find meaning in a profession defined by uncertainty and change.
As a paramedic and researcher, I’ve often wondered what enables some of us to stay grounded amid such profound exposure to suffering and chaos. What helps us hold steady when the tides shift, when the work we do starts to challenge our sense of self, morality, or purpose? Much of the research on paramedic wellness focuses on trauma, operational stress, and burnout. While these are real and deeply felt, they are not the whole story. Many paramedics endure, adapt, and even grow through their experiences, developing a deeper understanding of themselves and their place in the world.
Over the next six months, I’ll be sharing a series of blogs drawn from my literature review for my Doctoral dissertation. Each will explore one of the key themes that shape the paramedic experience: trauma and moral injury, resilience and coping, social and peer support, identity, spirituality, and posttraumatic growth. These reflections are not meant to offer easy answers but to invite a deeper conversation about what it truly means to endure—and to find strength—in a profession built around responding to crisis.
Following this series, I’ll share insights from my phenomenological interviews with paramedics across Canada, the USA, and beyond, exploring their lived experiences of resilience, transformation, and worldview.
My hope is that these writings offer both reflection and recognition—a place where those in our profession might see parts of their own story, and where educators, leaders, and peers can better understand what it takes to remain anchored amid the shifting tides of paramedic life.