A friend of mine used to be a specialist Mobile Intensive Care Ambulance paramedic but has opted to work as a general ambo instead. Her decision had nothing to do with the actual work, but plenty to do with camaraderie.

Some years ago the Ambulance Victoria service, like several others around Australia, decided that many MICA paramedics should drive to incidents alone instead of in pairs. This was aimed at improving response times. But there's a downside - MICA paramedics often turn up alone to save people (and deal with their stressed-out relatives). They might be joined at the scene by regular paramedics or police, but afterwards they hop back into their vehicles with nobody to download to. Yes you can call a counsellor, but it's not the same thing as having a chat with a person going through the same things as you at work, my friend tells me.