SHIFT 30...Rick's ReFlections of his 32 years
career
in the Fire Service...
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| Paramedic School...Class of 95' |
Childhood,
a happy enduring marriage…both have been some of life’s greatest pleasures.
Included with these is the ability to say, “I love my job”. In a culture where
many have a difficult time just pulling themselves out from under the sheets in
the morning…I can truly say that this is not my experience. But that which was
good became even better, if you can imagine that. In my first seven years I had
already had many great opportunities being a member of the Water Rescue Program
and also getting to play some with medicine as an EMT 2. Then in 1993 the Port
decided after a 13 year hiatus of sending folks to the OHSU Paramedic Program,
that if I’d like, they wanted me to attend. “If I’d like?” “Are you kidding
me”. “Well, let me think about this”. “Yes!” And that one decision has been
life changing in so many ways.
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| Rick & Karen at 95' Graduation with John Sito |
I say
“yes”, but in all honesty, as I look back it was a bit more difficult of a
decision for a couple reasons. For one we had lived though a number of rough
years including the death of both my mother and mother-in-law. But two, I had
tested for a position as a Lieutenant and had been selected as number one on
the list. In our department until just this past week in fact, Lieutenants
could not take on both the role of a Paramedic and Lieutenant. As I considered
these two options, what influenced my decision more than any was the thought
that if I take the Lieutenant position I will likely never have an opportunity
to become a Paramedic again. But…become a Paramedic and Lieutenant…it could
follow later. So…Paramedic is what I choose…a decision I have not once
regretted.
The
department kicked me loose for the entire year allowing me to focus completely
on my studies. Our classroom on ‘the hill’ at OHSU was in the greatest of
locations, though some might not think so…as next door was the autopsy room. A
lecture would be going on and we could hear a bit of grinding taking place. How
cool is that? The year was divided into four sections: didactic, labs, multiple
rotations and a three month internship (which I’ll talk about in further detail
in the next post).
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| National Paramedic...the 1st time! |
Some of
my favorite memories include our instructor who took us through a grueling, but
very memorable two weeks of Pharmacology and EKG’s. The day before our exams in
these two sections he brought in three bags, two with snacks and soda, and a
third with several VHS tapes (remember those things) of the 1970’s show
‘Emergency’. Another memory near the top was my OR (Operating Room) rotation. I
had an incredible anesthesiologist who taught and mentored some amazing
procedures. Then just being part of the OR experience, the surgeries, the skill
observed was simply amazing in itself. And a concluding memory (though definitely
not the last) was our final week of school, our own ’hell week’ as we would
call it. Typically you would take the school, the State and the National exams
within a two or three month period. Since there happen to be a State and
National exam the same week as our OHSU final, five of us submitted a request
to take all three exams the same week, which the school cautiously agreed to.
All of us gathered together at one of our homes in the Portland area and spent a
very long day continuing into the middle of the night testing each other with
questions and the practicing the skills of the exams. Our goal was one fold…all
of us was going to pass each exam and do it the first time. It was awesome to
discover that this is exactly what we did.
Having
had the privilege to be a Paramedic for a majority of my firefighter career,
I’m at a crossroads of where to go from here. It was a long road to get this
license, now what role, if any, does it play in ReFirement?
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