Something that I had anticipated but not yet felt about my time in EMS so far was the effect of the long hours and the changing shifts. In the past (although it was not the most pleasant) there were a few times when I went to school, worked overnight, then went back to school in the morning. After doing this, I was tired to be sure, but it didn’t really have any chronic or all that serious effects. However, working 12-hour shifts that do not start at consistent times is a different story. The thing about 12-hour shifts (which I had been previously doing one of a week) is that as soon as it is over, I go right home, maybe eat something, and go right to sleep. My day is shot at that point. This is all fine and good when I am waking up and going to sleep at the same time. When the start times jump between 2:00 in the afternoon, 10:00, 9:30, or 7:00 in the morning, the effects are felt much more. This kind of scattering of start times is difficult to adjust to at least in the beginning at least when it is new to me. It will be interesting to see how this continues to effect me as the project progresses.