It started when I was very young. The thrill of watching Johnny and Roy rescue people on the TV show Emergency was enough to hook me on how I wanted to spend my life...helping people. Some of the scenes on the show seemed a little silly and over the top though, I always thought that they were added for spice..it was Hollywood after all. After working in the field for 30 years now, I realize that the things portrayed happen all the time. Thats right, 30 years. I started fulfilling my dream of emergency service when I was 13 years old as an Explorer for the Russellville Fire Department. We had an excellent program that allowed us true hands on experience, a chance to really get a feel for a career in firefighting. I tinkered in firefighting on and off for years after that, into adulthood, but had a desire to go even further. When I was still just 14 or 15, I joined another explorer post at Pope County Emergency Medical Services and found my calling. I enjoyed the environment and the challenge involved in emergency pre-hospital medicine.
I shared doing fire service and emergency medical services simultaneously through out high school, but knew that EMS was where I was heading. My first year of college, I worked midnight shift as a dispatcher at the Dardanelle Police Department, went to college during the day, and EMT school in the evenings. Things got a little tight at times, and sleep was a luxury. It worked out though, finished EMT school and tested out, gaining my certification to save lives. I was hired to work part time for Yell County EMS that was a struggling, troubled ambulance service at the time, with a director that we wondered if he had a clue as to what he was doing. But I was a new EMT, with a desire to save the world, so of course I did it. The service was different than what I was used to, having cut my teeth at what was considered to be one of the best Ambulance Services in the state, I had no idea what to expect. I was impressed with the people that worked at this new service, and their ability to do the very best with what limited means they had, and to be proud of it.
I then went to work at The Arkansas Department of Health in Little Rock, working for Emergency Management because I needed a full time job to pay the bills. I continued to drive back home on the weekends and work in Yell County part time, but there wasn't anything full time available. There were only 5 full time employees, and one of those was a secretary. A new EMS director was brought in, and the winds of change followed him. He called me in Little Rock one day and offered me a full time spot, he was excited about the direction he envisioned the service growing in the future and I saw a chance to get in on the ground floor of something great. I packed up my stuff in the big city and moved everything to Dardanelle to begin a new chapter in my life, and boy was it a ride. to condense this story, and leave out all the good parts, the service has grown since 1990 from 5 employees and no buildings of our own and Ambulances parked out in the weather all the time, to a full time staff of around 30 or so with nice stations in 2 cities and a training complex. From 2 ambulances to a fleet of 8 now, sometimes running 5 or 6 at the same time. The service grew with the leadership of our director Sidney Ward, and the hard work of some very dedicated staff. I am very proud of the service I work for, and still enjoy going into work everyday. I'm not going to lie, its been really rough at times, but overall...I am living my dream. I heard someone say once.."find a job you love doing, and you will never work a day in your life". Well that is me. I find myself answering the same kind of calls that I watched Johnny and Roy answer on Emergency, and have collected a mass of stories that people would not believe. That is what this blog will be about, the everyday experiences of me and my co-workers and the real life stories of humankind, good and bad.
So come along with me on this ride...the names and locations have been changed to protect the innocent, but the stories and the people are real. You cant make this kind of stuff up!! Oh yeah, you get bonus points if you know what KMG 365 means.
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