If you are going to work for a private air ambulance provider, it's not worth it! Too much education and certifications needed, too much risk, and very low pay (Nurses average 65-75k a year, and medics are 40-50k per year. Both sound good, but remember, it takes about 5 years of experience to get on, and by that time you'll be taking a step backwards on the payscale).
If your paycheck doesn't matter, then by all means do it. You do learn a lot about critical care, trauma, and aviation. Otherwise, crashes involving fatalities and other incidents are on the rise as the business becomes more competitive with the privates.
City and County agencies traditionally have better safety records, offer better pay and benefits, and generally treat their staff better. But then again, those exact same reasons are why it is so difficult to get on with a paid city/county agency. A lot of them (like the Ventura Air Squad) are volunteer and will offer a small stipend for the time you put in. Usually on something like that, the pilot and the 1st officer (co-pilot) are sherrif's deputies that are paid full time with all of the normal benefits.
