> Which raises the question why the US doesn't arm its EMT and firefighters. As a firefighter, please, no. And as someone who educates future EMTs and paramedi

> Which raises the question why the US doesn't arm its EMT and firefighters. As a firefighter, please, no. And as someone who educates future EMTs and paramedics, I've taken to telling students that if you think you need to be armed to do this job or to "deal" with some of your patients, it may be a clue that you may be dealing with compassion fatigue, burnout or PTSD. Certainly not the only reason, to be clear - we are often in less than ideal situations with less than ideal patients, but that's what you sign up for. In our county (not known for high crime) we are issued ballistic vests but they're not worn on every call (and when we expect to have to wear them for a call, there's additional resources sent), and there are other "rules" - we have to wear our bunker (structural firefighting) pants, and our helmets, and our vests have "FIRE" printed in large white letters, because our management is adamant about doing everything possible from differentiating Fire/EMS on a scene like that from being confused with LE, for all manner of reasons.