I'm looking to become either a paramedic for the LAS (London Ambulance Service) or a firefighter for the LFB (London Fire Brigade) but can't decide which one to pursue. Could anyone offer any advice ?

I'm 30 years old and I have had numerous jobs in various industries throughout the last 10 years and I am now looking to settle into a rewarding and stable career.I don't have a degree, I love to help people and stay active and I also like the idea of on the job training. It looks like here in London, either of these careers would be able to give a good work / life balance as the shifts average at 4 on 4/5 off schedule.I think the things that are weighing up in my head are...

Both jobs would provide satisfaction of helping people and would have a lot of variety on a day to day basis. From a friend who is a firefighter, I have learnt that the 4 (2 day, 2 night) schedule includes many nights where you can essentially do some training then hit the hay, assuming you don't receive any call outs that is. The only thing that I think could be negatives are maybe shifts being boring if call outs are very infrequent, and perhaps a lack of progression, or new things to learn after a few years of service as it seems after being a firefighter, you can progress to supervisor and station manager and thats about it.Being a paramedic would require a lot more training at a lower salary while training. After this training however the salary would go up to around 10k more per year than a firefighter.

It seems that there would be a lot more to learn being a paramedic and that no shift would ever be dull. The other side of this is that from reading other forums, being a paramedic is stressful and many paramedics don't last too many years in the job. I love to keep busy and active, learn new things and problem solve. At the same time wouldn't mind a couple of hours to chill out on the night shifts and watch some TV so it's a hard one to weigh up.

(I had been offered the role of trainee emergency ambulance technician previously but stupidly wussed out at the last minute out of a fear of commitment)

If anyone who has experience in either role could offer some insight into the role as a long term career choice could offer any advice, or if anyone has any advice in general that would be great !