What a ride

" Was it all worth it"

Article by: Timothy R. Thompson, NREMT/P

Author Timothy R. Thompson with Engine 9, Chester Gap Volunteer Fire Department in Virginia.

    The year was 1977 and I had just graduated from High School. I had been hanging around the firehouse since I was fifteen years old with hopes of joining when I turned sixteen. Unfortunately to join at sixteen I needed parental consent and it just so happens that they (my Mother and Father) would not do it. But that was okay, I was young and could wait.

    Now back to 1977, I turned my application in the day I turned eighteen and was voted in the following month. When I went home and told my parents I thought the roof was going to come off. But when all was said and done they told me to "be careful". So I started going around more and more and started the training that would take me on a thirty year road trip. And what a journey it has been. To give some of you younger providers as to what EMS was like when I started the first ambulance I used was a Cadillac, and the only certification I had was advanced first aid. This was still the time of "swoop & scoop". In between 1977 and 1982 I worked many different jobs construction, painting, alarm technician, gun store, and EMT. In 1982 something happened that would change my direction in life. That is when I was hired as an EMT with the District of Columbia Fire & EMS Department (DCFEMS). My first year on the job was amazing, I saw more in one year than the average person can see in a lifetime.

    Going to work for DCFEMS was my first exposure to "big city" EMS, sure I worked a private ambulance and as an Emergency Room Tech both in DC. But that was different, in those jobs I worked with the patients after the initial emergency. As an EMT with the Fire Department I got to them first, I was one of the people who began the initial life saving treatment. I also had no clue, I did not realize how many non emergencies I would run. I soon found out that people will call the ambulance for anything, and I do mean anything. I was even dispatched for a broken finger nail in a Federal Office, but it turned out to be not just any broken finger nail, it was a fake nail. You read right, a fake nail. I placed that in the infamous "BS" category, right along side of the paper cut. But I was also there during a major heroin epidemic and the time when shootings reached an all time high. As I said earlier this job changed me, before this job I was timid and shy but after that first year I started speaking my mind and did not care who I said it to or who heard it. This is also the place where I learned about upper management, how they don't care for the "street grunt", so you do what you are supposed to do and try not to worry what the white shirts are thinking and planning. In 1995 I attended Paramedic training and finally got what I was after, my certification to provide ALS.

    Then in 2001 something happened that would forever change the way I did my job and thought. It was September 11 and I was sent to the Pentagon following the attack. I was absolutely shocked when I saw the building for the first time, the hole was enormous and all I could smell was death and destruction. Anyone involved in the attacks that day would be forever changed. When the attacks came I was detailed to the Training Academy as an Instructor with the Paramedic program. The scariest time for me was when my thirty students looked to me for guidance and asked a question I will never forget, "Tim, what do we do now". I was scared and responsible for these students, all of which were experienced providers and some out ranked me, but not then. I had to work with the Officers at the Academy and get my students activated, because we were all about to have the longest and most challenging day of our career. When I finally got home the next morning I was greeted with hugs and kisses from my children. They had slept on the living room floor waiting for me to get home. Still to this day I have trouble talking about that day and the re-runs on the television are out of control. The first few years after the attacks I had to get treatment for anxiety and depression, it would start each year when it got close to that infamous date and would last for a couple months. But now I have that under control and look more towards my family for support, they are my rocks of security.

    I got promoted to Sergeant in 2002 and then in 2003 I was promoted to Lieutenant. From 2001 until 2007 my time on the job was spent at the Training Academy, the FTO office and as a street Supervisor (Medical Quality Officer). Teaching is what I took great pride in and gave 100% to providing quality training to experienced and new providers. During my time as an Instructor I had the opportunity to work part time with some private teaching agencies and gained even more experience, I even had my own EMS teaching business. From time to time I was even contracted to teach classes for The University of The District of Columbia (UDC). Not only were the UDC classes a good experience, I was paid well too.

    In 2005 I lost my Mother to cancer, she was a wonderful women who would do anything in the world for you, and she loved life itself.   This was also the year that I re-married. I met a fantastic women in 2004 who's name is Denise, in 2005 she would become my Wife. She took care of my Mother and they became good friends. We married on September 1 which was the anniversary of my parent's marriage. Denise is my best friend and we are inseparable. She is by far the best thing that has come into my life in years. She is also an EMT certified in MD., DC., and Virginia and along with myself and Son Michael we all volunteer at the Chester Gap Volunteer Fire Department in Chester Gap Virginia.

Timothy and Wife Denise with Ambulance                       Son Michael Thompson (16) with Tanker 9,

9, Chester Gap VFD                                                               Chester Gap Volunteer Fire Department

      In 2006 my ride in the world of EMS came to a halt, I received a career ending injury. I am now going into retirement a few years earlier than I had planned, but I had no choice. The career I took pride in and did to the best of my ability was ending, mentally I was not ready for this. I have now come to accept the fact that I can no longer perform my duties, but I have not given up the fire service. Both my Wife and Son are active members at our volunteer station and I am an associate (non-riding) member.   My next oldest Son Matthew is a volunteer at Brandywine Volunteer Fire Department in Brandywine Maryland where he lives, I guess it is in the blood. Currently Michael has plans to go career in one of the areas many departments.

      So now my ride has come to an end, but another one has begun and I am loving every minute of it. I truly enjoy being with my Wife every day, it is okay that our retirement plans started early. I now pass on my blessings to Michael and Matthew, this is where the future of the Fire and EMS service now lie. It is in the hands of the younger provider's, it is now up to them to make a difference.

      As the title say's "was it all worth it", I have to answer yes. I learned so much and got to do so much. But most of all over the years I made a difference in thousands of lives, that is why we are here, that is why we do EMS, to make a difference.

Timothy (left), with Son Michael