Happy EMS Week 2021!

I answered the call after moving into my first home, which was across the street from the local volunteer fire house. We had a siren to call farmers out of the field to respond. I started as the only female firefighter; after that, I was hooked. I went on to become an EMT, then a paramedic 8 years later. I’m still at it 34 years later. It was definitely my calling. Now I teach, and my teaching philosophy is to give them passion for EMS and learning.

My nephew was a NICU preemie and we spent a long time in the NICU. I watched all the RNs, MDs, etc… but particularly, the neonatal transport team was just second to none, and it made me want to do this for a living. This is where I work now.

In 1992, I was a victim of a car crash. I didn’t receive the best care by who I thought was an EMS provider, but the truth is, he was a first responder with about 40 hrs cert, working by himself on an ambulance, who was not fully trained as an EMS provider. That got me concerned and interested in EMS. I dropped from civil engineering and enrolled in EMS to serve others with better care in a community in need of EMS professionals.

I believe that I was called to help other people and build my entire life around it, whether it be in the classroom, in the field or in the emergency room. When I contracted Covid-19 working as a paramedic in the emergency room, I didn’t allow that to stop me and went on to serve as one of the lead paramedics for the Tampa Bay Area, making sure that everyone who wants to get vaccinated has the ability to.

I have always enjoyed helping people. I was in hospitality for many years, but got burned out. I went back and got my firefighter license. My passion has been renewed.

It chose me. After working in the hospital for years, the world of transport and reaching out to the community made my heart warm.

Several years ago, I performed CPR on a gentleman and he survived. Several months later at our county fair, a man approached me and asked my name. He told me he wanted to thank me for giving him a second chance at life!

My first call on a baby. I knocked on the door and announced who we were. The mother opened the door, crying hysterically, and put her baby in my arms. That’s the moment it set in: that the community trusts us with their most precious gifts.

For me, it was when my son told me he wanted to be just like me and do what I do. Work-related, however: receiving a Phoenix Award for a cardiac arrest call I ran.

I picked up a man once who was having chest pains while I was an EMT. He was convinced there was nothing wrong. I talked him into being transported to the hospital, where he was told that he was having a heart attack. He told me in broken English, “I thank you, my wife thanks you, my children thank you, my grandchildren thank you. You saved my life.” You couldn’t touch me after that.

The 07:00 OB call. The patient was lying in the middle of the living room floor saying, “it’s coming.” The mother was at the end of her second trimester. My partner and I delivered a baby boy by normal delivery with good APGAR scores. As I was wrapping the newborn up, my partner said my name. I looked at him, but he was looking down at the mother. I saw a pair of small legs. I placed the first infant on the floor and delivered a second infant by feet first breech presentation. The baby had slow respirations and pulse. I immediately began CPR. Fortunately, a division of forestry officers arrived on scene and used my portable radio to call for a second unit to transport the mother. My partner placed infant 1 on the stretcher with blow-by oxygen while I continued CPR on infant 2. The second unit arrived just before we pulled away. When we arrived at the ER, the nurse freaked out just a little because my partner accidentally said on the radio that we had two 6-month infants; not 6-month preemies. Luckily, the second infant’s condition had improved. The neonate team from a regional hospital was called for the transfer. I lost contact as to what happened to them, but some 18 years later, I found out that both boys had graduated from the same high school I had graduate from. Very recently, I found out both have families and are doing well. This is the call that made be proud to be a first responder and that I had chosen the right career.

One night my wife and I had just finished dinner and walked into the kitchen to deposit our dishes in the sink. We were having a great conversation. My wife was up against the counter, picking the last morsel of food from her plate. At one point, she became silent and her posture changed. Since I was standing behind her, I never did see her face. I asked if she was OK. She shook her head no. She was taking gasps of air so small even standing that close to her, I could not hear them. I asked if she wanted my help. She shook her head yes. Instantly, I reviewed in my head the correct way to hold my hands and their location on her body. I positioned myself behind her and wrapped my arms around her in a way I had not done in 34 years of marriage. I picked her up and proceeded to do the Heimlich maneuver. After three compressions, the little piece of food that almost ended my marriage popped out and into the sink, where it disappeared into the drain. I realized I had chosen the right career when, with all that we have available to us when we call 911, it was up to me and my training to save the one I had pledge my life to. Technology and toys would not have worked there. The wonderful gift of recertification and endless continuing education has once again brought forth the gift of life, even in my own family.

Most people outside of our field will never understand the constant toil and pressure to serve that we in EMS and emergency medicine felt as the world shut down. We were faced with reminders of our work, even during our downtime. Our staff and crews are remarkable, and need to be reminded and treated as such. The “safety net” system is not just a net, but more of a support beam for our society. We need to ensure that we continue to work as one. We must treat each other with respect and kindness so that all of us who make up this “safety beam” of society can continue to be the strong support the country needs and expects us to be.