You’re being paid to be there and to be ready for when that medical emergency does happen.

You’re doing what you’re paid for, which is to sacrifice a normal schedule that the rest of humanity is on, in order to be available when an emergency happens, and they will eventually happen. No, you should not say something. Why would you try to make your job worse for yourself and your coworkers? The company has decided that this is how much your specialized training, experience, and time is worth, and you agreed.

Standing by “just in case” means you’re giving up your time, a normal sleep schedule, and aren’t at your own place or going out.

Sometimes, having someone on standby is exactly what’s needed. And it’s good that they’re compensating you fairly for that time.

You don’t want to be in the situation where you’re “officially” free and unpaid, but always have to be within 10 minutes of work and rush there whenever you get a call that can happen at any time.

And besides, when it comes to emergencies, someone who just got rushed out of whatever they were doing isn’t the most helpful.

When I was trying towards being an airline pilot it was said that the job is 99% boredom followed by 1% of sheer terror. Being a firefighter or your job sounds similar, with the hope of boring shifts, but the understanding when expertise is needed it must be available. The boredom aspect didn’t work with my brain so I deal with computers these days.

Don’t say anything

This reminds me of the old saying “It’s better to have something and not need it than to need something and not have it.” Insurance is largely built around this principle. Not counting the corruption in exorbitant prices that’s a different topic.

Are you familiar with firewatch duty? When somebody is doing any work that could produce a fire in an environment, they need to have someone there to supervise who can do something if a fire breaks out. Grab an extinguisher, hit the alarm, stuff like that. This is pretty normal in businesses, because if the guy doing the work say, welding, accidentally said some self on fire, there needs to be somebody there to put it out. The chances of it being necessary or extremely low, but the consequences of not having someone there in an emergency are extremely high.

This can lead to situations that seem silly. A buddy of mine was once on fire watch duty while someone was repairing a manhole or sewer grate or something like that in the middle of an empty parking lot. He just grabbed it off his chair and sat there shooting the shit with the guy while hanging on to the fire extinguisher for like 4 hours. There is nothing to catch fire except possibly the guy doing the work.

Anyway, keep on doing your job. On the off chance that you need to do something, it’ll be good that you were there to do it. If not, at least people can sleep happier knowing that the job is being washed over by people who know what they’re doing.

My job has large patches like this. I refer to it as “fire duty”. I’m not being paid to do anything. I’m being paid to do the correct thing in an emergency. I’m the insurance.

Your best bet is to check your rules, either on paper, or to ask and do an appropriate hobby. It’s particularly effective if its a cumulative hobby (thing programming rather than computer games). If queried on it, you’re just keeping your brain up at speed.

There’s a parable about a mechanic with a hammer (here described as an old man with a hammer):

https://openside.group/the-parable-of-the-old-man-with-the-hammer/

It seems applicable.

Do you want disabled people to have medical emergencies? 🤪

Relax, you’re being paid for what you know, what you can do, and being there when you have to do what you know.

Just know that if you DO take a nap on the couch, and an emergency happens, your employer will demand to know why you weren’t on it immediately.

Your career will be destroyed.

In my opinion, you are describing a form of “imposter syndrome” and it’s not unusual for professionals to experience it.

There are many jobs where only a very small amount of time is spent “doing the job”, the rest is waiting around.

The thing is, waiting around is also the job and whilst you’re not handling an emergency, you don’t suddenly become a different person, you don’t forget those skills.

You are being paid for your skills and availability, plus having to work at night. Your employer can pay someone cheaper who can be up all night but won’t know what to do if something does happen. They can also get someone who has the skills but won’t agree to do the job at night unless they are paid higher. Being able to do both is what they’re paying you for. I would suggest you use your time to maybe make your idle time productive, like learning something new (if you’re allowed to of course).

I learned this early on, but basically they’re paying you for your availability in case an emergency arrises. It brings peace of mind. My situation had to do with being available during an important meeting and need all tech running smoothly. Yours is something more important and deal with vulnerable human lives.

It is a good job.

If you are from the US that might be why it feels weird. Keep saving.

And being there is what these folks need for when they need you. And you need them. So don’t just go sleep on the couch. Once the late nights start to interfere with your health it is time to give up that shift to someone younger.

Until then you are on the good foot. Keep caring for them and yourself. Save your monies. And take up life affirming activities outside of work.

And keep being my hero.

If the firefighters are sleeping, the city is at peace.

At one of the factories I worked at, the CEO was fond of saying, “If the electricians are sleeping, we’re making tons of money!”

If you were busy, your employer wouldn’t be as profitable. You’re there for those times when your expertise is necessary, but they’re better off when it isn’t.