Hello everyone, I've a question. Can a type 1 diabetic be a paramedic or an EMT? I was always told no, but now I'm not sure. See, I know of a police officer in my area who is diabetic and wears a pump. I mean, how did THAT one get by? I just am so messed up again, and searching for my purpose in life. I know I won't be happy working in retail or anything else that requires no brainwork (no offense to anyone here who works that type of job, I've done it before and it just killed my soul). I wanted to be a doctor or a physician assistant, but I gave up on that.
So does anybody have any ideas? I live in Minnesota by the way, but if yo live somewhere else and have any insight I'd appreciate it.
Why’d you give up on being a doctor or PA? I’m a captain of large passenger ships. There are very few things in this world that being a diabetic can stand in your way of as long as you keep it under tight control…
I'm a firm believer that diabetics can do whatever anyone else can do. We just have to plan a little more and pay closer attention. I agree with Sam, don't let this stand in the way of your dreams. I race motorcycles during my free time and take great pleasure in beating guys half my age with functioning pancreases. :-)
In Indiana the restriction is set by department, and most departments require all EMT's to be Firefighters. However that is changing a great deal as Fire Departments are getting out of the EMT business. This leaves private services and hospitals as the providers. This brings up a different set of qualifications.
With regard to the police officers. Once again individual departments set the requirements for the fitness of police officers. It is common (again in Indiana) that new recruits are required to meet non insulin dependent standards. However, experienced officers are often waived from this requirement until they demonstrate that they can no longer do the job either int he required physical fitness test or with on the job observation. It is rare that any officer with a pump is working the streets. External hanging or wired (tubed) devices to be allowed both for the safety of the officer and the various perpetrators. However an Omnipod would certainly be viewed differently.
All of this presupposes that the officer could obtain and maintain an appropriate driers license. All departments both police and fire require maintenance of or obtaining the appropriate license. Actually for fire departments the license is usually a higher standard than for police departments. CDL for a fire department and a regular license for the police department. In both cases the driver training including defense, pursuit and evasive are very rigorous and this is a fairly common area of recruit wash out in the early stages.
You can do anything you want to do. Don't let diabetes stop you. You may have to work a little harder, maybe even do some things a little differently, but you can still follow whatever career you dream of.
ADA has some very nice advocacy efforts including success stories on their pages. For the most part it is no longer an automatic disqualification although that doesn't mean that there aren't still struggles:
Even though I myself don't want to be a police officer, I think it's very important for the general diabetic public that there be diabetic police officers. This is hugely important to me. If diabetics aren't allowed to be police officers, we shouldn't be surprised when diabetics have unnecessary problems in daily interactions with the police.
It really all depends on the individual agency or department. In Florida Diabetes is not an immediate dis-qualifier unless it is uncontrolled and you are suffering from complications. I attended and graduated from a state run Police Academy. I also asked every department that i applied to if Diabetes was an issue and they all stated not unless it hinders you from performing your job functions. I have seen some departments that do disqualify you for type 1 diabetes, but none were in Florida. NYPD, and FDNY automatically bar you if you have type 1. Basically I would look into your state standards and see if you qualify. If you do indeed qualify then go for it. Nothing should hold you back.
I've wondered about how a diabetic can handle their diabetes on the job as a CNA, Nurse, EMT , or Paramedic...some pretty physically intensive medical jobs. Not like I want people to be restricted but I wanna know how it works because I'm debating becoming a CNA then looking further , possibly into nursing, past that point.
As for EMTs though, I don't really know, depends on if you need a CDL I suspect? But otherwise I think ,why not?
I do Cara. There are many things that diabetics do to serve others. Think and research it. I was an EMT-Basic with a priority dispatch agency but I was not on insulin then. These service providers or healthcare providers are sometimes exposed to dangers that a typical person is not. Yes that goes for the police officer you seen too. Please bare with me as I go through a lot of details since I have been there. I know that employers cannot discriminate based on a 'disability', in which diabetes falls I believe. If it is hidden and not disclosed, how will one know? If diabetes develops while working for a company, they cannot fire you for it. One must evaluate what is best as well for them and for others. Now I move on to the other part of my entry...
I worked as an RN for many, many years as a T1D. I had hypos but was very careful at work and don't recall ever going so low I could not handle it.
My endo is a T1D on a pump and I am sure there was a time when he did not wear a pump and still went through medical education and practice. Just as I did with nursing practice.
Don't assume that you can't do something until you look at all the pros and cons for the job. For example, there are hundreds, if not thousands of settings for CNAs and professional nurses to work, some demanding and some not.
Check out the official criteria for entry, including exclusion criteria. If you are poorly controlled and have lots of highs and lows that are difficult to treat, then plain old common sense says some of the health field and public service jobs may not be a good fit. Supervisors are required to accommodate reasonable health needs (breaks for meals, etc) (ADA law). However, if you are not prepared, BG-wise, for emergency events in your work field, then that can be frowned upon--unless it is a rare exception. You don't want to go low during a CPR, especially if you don't have a backup.
You are exposed to long hours away from your base sometimes without access to food. Sometimes this may be vital for a diabetic. Sometimes you are exposed to horrible health conditions...like once, when my levels were running high (and I am told immunity is down then), I encountered meningitis. I was scared of this encounter. I have also encountered TB patients. Diabetics are more susceptible to TB as I have read. Do your research as well. There are longer shifts for EMS people...sometimes a 24 hour shift. Would that be ok for you? I have spent long long hours at fire scene standbys, crime scenes, motor vehicle crashes, etc...and in reflection, my insulin dependency like I am now, would be an issue. How about 911 dispatcher? Department of Agriculture dispatcher? Health administration? and why not a PA? Being an instructor of Mass Casualty or EMT classes is not bad either. Do what is best for you and fits your passion.
Under the DOT rules, insulin dependent diabetics cannot obtain and hold a CDL. Diabetics who control diabetes with oral medications can obtain and hold a CDL. I had to do some research on this issue on keeping my job. Since I was driving a vehicle under 10 tons I was not required to have a CDL.
There's a lot more to it than that nowadays Tim, that's why I was looking for more details. Insulin dependent diabetics absolutely can get a CDL-- there are just additional hoops they have to jump through, which I was curious about.... not sure when you were looking into it but this has changed a lot over the last few years--
Thanks everyone, for your replies. I guess I'll just have to do some research on my own. I do believe that Minnesota is one of the states that is tougher on diabetics and drivers' licenses. Even for my learner's permit I had to do an awful lot, and it was a royal pain in the ■■■. I've never looked very far into being a paramedic/EMT simply because I was pretty sure I was gonna run into a roadblock (the driving) right away, and just be frustrated and discouraged. As far as long hours without eating go I'm fine with that. I gained a measure of hope when I went on the pump back in 2007, and everything got so much easier. I started to go to nursing school, but then remembered that I can't stand nurses, heh. I just don't know what to do. I need to find my way, and I enjoy helping people and love the medical field. I can't be happy anywhere else, but I'm running into so many walls. I thought this latest idea of mine would be a happy medium between doing nothing and going to PA school (which is far too expensive), but it's looking like it's going to crash and burn before it even gets off of the ground. This fecking disease has messed with me for pretty much my entire life, and I can't do it anymore!
Hi Cara. Funny how we all need nurses at some point. But if you do not like the idea of being a nurse then I am sure there are other things for you. Look at the jobs in the Dept of Labor site. They have a list of careers you might look into.
Per FMCSA (DOT), you must pass the physical except for the insulin part, pass an eye exam by an eye doctor, fill out the form, get approval from an Endo, fill out the form, send forms with a copy of your state driver record to FMCSA. They then have and will take 180 days to make a decision. If approved, you have to see the eye doctor yearly and file the proper form. You must see your Endo every three months and he/she must certify that while driving (per your official driver log) that your BG has not been below 100 nor higher than 400. This one of the reasons I decided to retire when I did.
