Peace, Contentment, and Vision

It’s been about 36 years since I responded to my first emergency call.  It was a car wreck up on Laidlaw Rd in NW Portland.  I was a 15 year old Explorer Scout with Washington County Fire District #1.  I vaguely remember rock’n rollin in the back of the fire district rescue/ambulance, as they drove to the scene.  I distinctly remember not having a clue as to how to ignite the flares the paramedics gave me and told me to set-up down the road.  I remember it was dark out.  I never did see the car.

About three years later, while going to college, I served on the College Place Volunteer Fire and Ambulance Department.  My first call there was for a construction worker who fell 25 feet off a wall.  It was a fiasco.  After putting the unconscious man on our stretcher, we realized he was backwards, so we put the stretcher in the ambulance backwards – then we piled a bunch of people into the back of the 1966 Pontiac ambulance to hold the stretcher in place.  That was my role – I was one of the people keeping the stretcher from rolling around while drove warp-9 to the hospital.In 1980, at age 21, I was hired at Buck Ambulance Service in Portland. I was an EMT-basic, and despite my years of emergency experience (see above), they put me in a van shuttling transporting wheelchair patients around town.  I worked hard, washed ambulances, cleaned the station, and learned company protocols.  Although they told me it would be months before I would move to an ambulance, in just a few weeks I started working on the stretcher-car, transporting non-emergency patients to and from nursing homes and hospitals.

I remember my first emergency call with Buck Ambulance.  On short notice, they’d asked me to fill in for someone who called in sick.  This was waaay back when mere EMTs could still work on ambulances in Portland.  As we rolled out of the station, located at NW Broadway and Glisan, my heart pumping with adrenaline, I grabbed the microphone and nearly shouted, “81 Responding!!“  My partner, Steve, looked over at me, casually.  I saw the look though, and I realized that I was being a little dramatic.

It was with sadness that I left Buck Ambulance.  I had been offered a firefighting position with Washington County Fire District #1, but at the time, firefighter/paramedics didn’t have a very good reputation – and there was some tension between the public and private EMS agencies.  However, the pay was pretty poor for private ambulance medics back then (I made $6000 my first year at Buck – which is about $15k in today’s dollars) and I would have to pay for my own paramedic training.  I made $28k my first year with WCFD#1, and they paid for all my paramedic training.

While I never really thought I’d stay with the fire district more than a couple of years, I ended up working there 15 years.  In fact, when I left, I was the EMS operations manager and very involved with the local EMS community.  I didn’t leave because of any bad experience, I just felt led to complete my bachelors degree.  It was one of the hardest decisions of my life – and one of the best.

After 20 years in emergency services, I left the safety-net behind, sold my house, and moved to Southern California and attend La Sierra University.  Two years later, in 1997, I obtained a BA in Business Administration, then moved to SW Michigan and began working on a masters degree.  It was during this time that I met my wife, Jennifer, and soon we were married.  Two years ago, I had the opportunity to return to the Portland area, so we moved here with two kids in tow.

Through the years, several people have asked me if I ever planned to return to EMS of firefighting.  I never really gave it any serious thought.  When I left Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue in 1995, I let all my certifications lapse.  I really never planned to come back – that’s what made this so hard.  EMS had been my life ever since I first saw Johnny and Roy use the “Jaws of Life” on TV.  It was very hard to sever the ties.

But then I lost my job this past Summer.  It’s been a horrible time – as regular readers of this blog already know.  It was as if I’d been sucker-punched with a frying pan.  As a 50 year-old father, with very young children, a house payment, and a great life – I began to search for what was next in this journey we call life.  In the past few months, I’ve considered writing, becoming a social-media consultant, going back into heavy equipment operating, or ______________________ – what?

I never really considered EMS though.  Somehow I thought I’d have to re-do the entire two-year training program.  But when my friend Ray suggested I become a paramedic again, I immediately felt impressed to check out the requirements.  At this point, less than two months later, I’m about half-way done with the requirements.

I’ve already completed the ACLS and PALS certification classes, and this coming week I’m going to Hermiston to take a required 48-hour paramedic refresher program and PHTLS certification.  When that is complete, I will be eligible to take the NREMT-paramedic exam.

I’m actually quite excited about this. The idea of returning to the streets and working as a paramedic again, sounds really good.  I was a good paramedic, I enjoyed the job.  The thought of returning, with nothing to prove, and being non-testosterone-driven, sounds really good.  I believe that I can bring a wealth of knowledge, experience, and wisdom to the scene.

Things are very different now – I know that.  But I’m looking forward to it.

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