I was 19. I enrolled to gain a certification as an EMT. I followed that by busting my a**, sometimes literally, to somehow be qualified to save a person or their entire life's earnings from a fire. I then followed that by sacrificing a year of my life, or ~90/hrs a week between work/school to become a paramedic at age 23. I've been sh*t on, puked on, bled on. I've smelled the previously mentioned, I've smelled brains, which has it's own distinct smell. I've held body parts that have been detached moments before. I've shoved tubes down peoples throats so they may breathe, despite the number of gunshot wounds they received. I've performed CPR on infants. I did this for ~$13/hr.
Firefighters, EMTs/Paramedics, and Police are not compensated nearly enough for what they experience.