As I said, I never had any desire for this career so how did it come to be. Well I took my free EMT class and I was hooked. I loved being on the ambulance, I didn't care if we were just putting fuel in it. Knowing that you had made a difference in the quantity or quality of someone's life can be intoxicating. I developed a sense of pride and accomplishment. I could be a caregiver without a long term committment, a match made in heaven. I also felt like I was giving back for some of the wrongs I had done over the past few years. But eventually I needed more, so came the next step. EMT-Intermediate was the next rung on the ladder and I took the step up. I thought EMT was hard, ha, a walk in the park I was soon to find out. To get my first license required 117 hours classroom time, 16 hours clinical time, and the class was close to home. EMT-Intermediate wsa 140 hours classroom time, 150 hours clinical time, all to be done in Bangor, a mere 90 mile one way trip. Oh, and did I mention the teenage daughter is still at home and has now brought with her a baby boy? It was tough and exhausting but I did it. I worked three jobs and traveled anywhere from two to five times a week to Bangor. So life is good, I have become an EMT-Intermediate, but the satisfaction from that only lasted until I realized there was more. The career I never desired is starting to shape up, only one step left to take, or so I thought, and along the way I have discovered love again. The sun was certainly shining on me.

One free class and what has developed from that? After sacrifice and struggle, the roof is in sight from where I stand on the ladder. Along the way, somebody noticed that I had a knack not only at being a good EMS provider, but at educating those who wanted to become EMT's. Take an instructor class was the encouragement I received. I had barely finished my Intermediate class when I dove into this aspect of emergency medicine. Back to Bangor, this time for a 40 hour class, with one semeser of student teaching. How hard could that be, I was an EMS provider, surely teaching it couldn't be that difficult. Well, I'm here to tell you doing it and teaching it are two different worlds. The preparation, the students, making and grading tests were time consuming to say the least. I made it through my student teaching and became a licensed EMS instructor, no small accomplishment. At about the same time a new paramedic class was beginning. I had been thinking about it on and off, but hadn't really made a decision. After alot of thought and discussion with my partner I decided to go for it. Machias Ambulance was on it's way to having it's first ever paramedic in its' 30+ years of existence. That one step to becoming an instructor, now seemed pretty small to the giant leap of becoming a paramedic.





















A paramedic? Four years ago I had never stepped foot in an ambulance, and now one damn free class for a career I had never considered, has put me in school for the better part of the last 2 years. Now I am going to give another year of my life to this. Fortunately, my partner is also an EMS provider so understood the sacrifice we were about to make. Paramedic school is tough and you can kiss that year of your life goodbye. Regular classroom hours, specialty classes, and hours of clinical time consume you. Paramedic school is also very expensive and with no financial support from the town whose ambulance I worked for, it was tough in alot of aspects. My partner made huge personal and financial sacrifices so I could accomplish this final goal (or so I thought). The end was in sight, the town was recognizing the need for a paramedic, and was willing to negotiate to make it financially viable for me. Have I mentioned yet, we were only getting paid $2.00 an hour as we were considered "volunteers"? At the time it seemed all I had worked for would come to fruition; a new town manager was a hired and new selectmen were elected. They did not see the value in having a paramedic, but were willing to pay me $4.00 an hour if I would stay and "volunteer" for them. I walked away with the infamous kicked in the gut feeling. So now back to Bangor I come, but this time permanently to work where my education would give me a paycheck. In addition to acquiring a full time paramedic job with paramedic pay, I got a job in education for the EMS office in this region. Now with these two positions I have accomplished major professional goals, but at a huge personal sacrifice. My partner can't be here with me due to an aging parent, so we may go a month at a time with only phone contact. Yep, the career I never envisioned is a dual edged sword, that cuts on a daily basis. I can't imagine walking away from it, but I suffer daily from not being with those who mean the very most to me, my personal loved ones. Free ain't always what it's cracked up to be!