Peeling the onion

Just when I think I know someone, I’m surprised. This is good. People always have more story. From time to time, we’ll peel a layer off the onion. First case: Kelly Trombley, NCPR’s development assistant. Ellen Rocco, ed.

On Becoming An EMT…

If you had told me as recently as a year ago that within a year I would be getting up in the middle of the night to pick up an elderly woman who had fallen, or an intoxicated college student, or  a middle-aged gentleman experiencing a heart attack (who coded and then was brought back), I would have told you, “no way!”

But here I am. An EMT.

I go on calls now and it’s like an out-of-body experience. Who is this person in my body taking care of these people? How did this happen? Okay, it’s a cliche, but it was meant to be. It’s that simple.

I was mowing my yard last June, thinking that I needed more than my day job. My kids are grown and gone, my significant other is busy with his hobbies, and I’m bored. I’ve always wanted to do something in the medical field. Okay, I can become a doctor, I thought. Uh, at 50, maybe not. I know! I can join the Potsdam Rescue Squad. I can be an EMT.

I signed up for the EMT-Basic course at SUNY Canton in the fall of 2009. I didn’t have a clue. It was one of the biggest challenges I ever encountered: hadn’t been in a classroom for 30 years, the course was tough, and I was in a classroom with 20 year olds. But I loved it. I was hooked immediately. I worked hard and passed with flying colors. Am I bragging? Yes!

Before this study, I thought EMTs just picked people up and took them to the hospital. It’s so much more. We go to peoples’ homes, places of work, the McDonald’s on the edge of town, the store on Main Street, concerts, ballgames, everywhere. We assess the situation, perform physical exams, get medical histories, radio the hospital, provide treatment EMT-Basics are permitted to do, THEN take people to the hospital. And the paperwork…

You have to understand this: I had never so much as touched a stranger before I became an EMT. Now, I’m holding hands, wiping noses, taking blood pressure and pulse–and more: I’ve protected someone from an abusive husband, picked a passed out drunk up off the barroom bathroom floor…and loved very minute. I love it so much that I also volunteer two nights a week in the Canton-Potsdam Hospital Emergency Department. They thank me for doing it–and I thank them for letting me.

Being an EMT and volunteering at the hospital opened a door for me: I love taking care of people. And, taking care of people takes care of me, too. Oh, yes, and this year, Mike is mowing the lawn.

What do you do beyond your day job? Surprise us. Peel a layer.