What do EMTs do in between patient pick-ups?

First of all and most importantly I love Scrubs. Now, It depends on the type of system the ambulance belongs to. If the ambulance is part of a fire department then we will usually go back to the firehouse, if they're hospital based then they will stay at the hospital and if they are privately operated then they usually have a headquarters to stay at. Most EMS systems allow the medic crews to spend some time "on the air" for something like going to a restaurant for lunch.

As others have said it depends on the department. With my department we have pagers, when the pager goes off we have 5 minutes to respond to the ambulance "barn". After the call we finish paper work, fuel the rig, restock, and clean, then we go home and wait for the next call.

The town next to me has a larger department so they are "housed" at the fire department. After their call they return to the department and clean/restock the rig. Then they go into the "day room" it has a bunch of recliners, and a TV, they hang out watch TV, read, study, cook meals, clean the "house". They have a exercise room so they work out also.

Other things they do might include going to talk to the schools and talk to kids, or they may teach a class, they may help the firefighters do inspections, training, meetings, help at the hospital ect. We usually stay pretty busy if we arn't on a call.

It depends on whether they are paid or volunteer. Paid EMT's will generally go back to the station and wait for the next call. They could watch TV or clean or do whatever they want around the station. Volunteers generally clean the rig and go back home until the next call. Volunteers aren't required to stay at the station because it's not their job.

What Do Emts Do

where I live they are part of the Fire Department and they just sit in waiting for a call. its not like they have long stretches without calls. I guess I live in a area with crappy drivers because there is always a crash

play poker or watch a ball game

They play poker!