Feeling I needed a since of being I decided to join my local small town fire dept back in 2008 to give back to my community. It was a beautiful fall day, perfect time to pull a fire truck out and wash it. “Hey Chief” I shouted out as he walked in. “Hey CJ, I have a question for you”. Not knowing what it could possibly be I replied “shoot it at me”. my chief then explained the Rescue squad next door was looking for help as they had decreased numbers of volunteers. As I was thinking in my head, I don’t even know how to put a bandaid on, all I know is when I got hurt in the past my mom would kiss my boo-boo and say it will get better.

Chief went into the reasons I should join and help them out. I asked him why me? Without missing a beat he then explained the state test to become certified as an EMT was becoming more challenging and most could not pass it. He followed up with I have the smarts and ability to thrive as an EMT because I show empathy towards helping people. I thought about this for a few minutes, but seeing he was fairly correct. I was working at the time as a mental health therapist assistant in a inpatient mental health facility and enjoyed helping people through their issues. After a few minutes of thinking I responded back to him I would entertain the idea of joining the volunteer EMS department. He replied “congrats, your application is accepted and you start EMT class tonight.”

I was in shock, “tonight?!?!” I replied. He replied saying the state class starts tonight at their building and will last 8 months. So there I was, 7pm standing inside a rescue squad building attending my first EMT class. I have never even set foot in an ambulance before so I was panicked that I may not be able to do this. But I understood out of the dozens of members at the firehouse my chief trusted me that I could make it through this so I had no choice but to jump in feet first.

Little did I know where this journey would take me. I would climb the ranks of EMS certification, ranks of agency bureaucracy, see the true horrors that can happen to people. See life taken for unsuspecting souls, babies perish, pronounce old friends and family dead. This journey I was never prepared for, and I will share the stories of my journey through my EMS career.