Member-only story
Beginnings
I got involved in EMS because my mom moved to Florida. Needing a job to support my sudden, non-rent-free lifestyle, I answered an ad in the newspaper (it’s how employment was often procured pre-internet).
There was a small notice offering free training with the promise of future employment. It was a desperate bid to get a huge influx of naive do-gooders to join the ranks of the city’s ambulance service, which at that time was run by NYC’s Health and Hospitals Corporation. The ranks of ambulance organizations are perpetually short-staffed as I have come to discover, but at this time the City Council had created a stipend training program to rapidly increase the number of ambulances on the streets of New York.
I quickly took the bait. Having been a fan of the “Emergency” television series back when TVs only had 5 channels, I welcomed this opportunity to be like Johnny and Roy, intrepid pioneers in a new medical field. I looked forward to an exciting job of “saving people”, at least until I could get my life together and do something else.
I passed my 3rd grade level reading and math entrance exam, took a physical and joined the training academy shortly thereafter. Our education started with CPR. When I received my coveted provider card, it was with the mindset that my newfound skills were the catalyst towards changing dismal outcomes for the better. To say I was excited was…
