EMS Week Profiles: Former EMTs at Henry Schein EMS

In support of National EMS Week 2021, Henry Schein Medical asked five team members of its EMS business five questions about their time serving as EMTs and what it meant to them:

• What role were you in and for how long?
• What did your time in an EMS role teach you?
• What did it mean to you?
• How has it shaped your life?
• What does it mean to you to be able to serve current EMS professionals today?

Here’s what they had to say about their experience.

Alan Espinosa, EMS Field Sales Consultant

Former EMT and Paramedic; Former EMS Program Director, Florida Gateway College

• In summer of 1969, at age 16, I became an American Red Cross Lifeguard and CPR Instructor. I began volunteering with my local fire department in 1980 and my firefighter training in 1981. I became increasingly interested in medical response, so I completed my EMT Basic training in 1983, and then paramedic training in 1986. I continued to rise through the ranks, and I was appointed EMS Program Director at Florida Gateway College from 1998 until my retirement in 2006.
• I gained unique insights into the human behavior in the presence of illness, injury, and death. Being an EMT taught me the importance of remaining focused and on task, and the need for empathy when interacting with patients and their loved ones. 
• As an EMT, I had the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of thousands of people directly and indirectly through the work of alumni.
• Being an EMT made me want to be a better person.
• Many of the chiefs and directors I have the privilege of working with today are former students or graduates of my program. I feel a deep sense of pride witnessing their growth and rise through the ranks. I am extremely grateful to be able to further help them in my role at Henry Schein.

Steve Ray, EMS Field Sales Consultant

Former EMT, Paramedic, and Navy Reserve Hospital Corpsman

• I began my EMS career as a Medical-Explorer Scout while in high school. I then worked as an EMT-Advanced for 4 years with a private EMS provider in Charlotte, North Carolina, and worked for 3 years as a paramedic with Mecklenburg EMS Agency. During my college years at UNC-Wilmington, I served in the U.S. Navy Reserve as Hospital Corpsman.
• I was taught the skills to care for the sick and injured in an environment that was unpredictable. Working in the EMS field also taught me to have compassion and understanding for the people we were trying to help.
• Without question, working in the EMS field showed me how precious life is and how quickly it can be taken from you.
• I left the EMS field with the knowledge that accidents don’t just happen to other people, they can happen to you, and being prepared makes all the difference.
• I find it tremendously gratifying that I have been afforded the opportunity to serve the EMS/public safety community. Each day I am given the opportunity to help those who help others. I can’t think of a better job.

Laura Meaders, EMS Account Manager

Former First Responder and EMT

• I became CPR certified at the age of 12, as a requirement for my first job as a childcare attendant. I then became certified as a first responder in 2005 and employed as an EMT from 2006–2009. I served with a private EMS agency in the Reno area, providing patient care at special events and BLS calls and supported medical supply logistics and maintenance coordination.
• My time in an EMS role taught me that teamwork, communication, and community partnership are essential. You can learn a lot about a situation by remaining compassionate and mindful of others during their most vulnerable times. Many 9-1-1 calls entail multiple agencies working together to work a scene. Communication is key to ensure that everyone is safe on scene.
• Your partner and fellow first responders become your family. You spend countless hours together on shifts, then spend most of your free time with the same folks outside of work. They are there for you through personal successes and hardships. It’s not just a brotherhood/sisterhood. You become family. This isn’t just a job; it becomes a passion to help others.  
• I am passionate about my community and making it a better place. I have a huge respect for all first responders, from supply coordinators, to dispatch, to those who serve in the field. Each job is essential to make the community a safer place.
• It’s an honor to play a role in providing supplies to first responders keeping them safe and providing their communities the best patient care possible. It is an honor to support North America’s first responders.

Jaime Greene, EMS Field Sales Consultant

Former EMT; Former EMS Captain and Chief; Former EMS Education Program Director

• In 1974, I started as a basic first aider. I then became an EMT, captain, and chief. From there, I became an EMS education program director and then on to medical sales consulting.
• Regardless of a person’s station in life, at their time of need I am the one called to provide care and help. It is a calling.
• It was/is my opportunity to be of service to others. A somewhat famous quote in EMS says, “These things we do that others may live.”
• This wasn’t the course I had planned for my life, but I would not have wanted to have done anything else than to help others in their time of need.
• While I may not be on an actual ambulance directly rendering patient care today, I am helping those who are rendering care by providing them the supplies and equipment they need to provide the best care possible. At Henry Schein we call it “The Continuum of Care.”

Crystal Cradeur, EMS Field Sales Consultant

Former EMT and Paramedic

• I served as a Nationally Registered Paramedic. I started riding on the ambulance at the ripe young age of 15 and I became an EMT at the age of 18. I became a paramedic by the time I was 21 and I worked in EMS for nine years.
• I learned many things while working in EMS. As an EMT, I learned the important role of working with a partner and I learned what teamwork should be like. Working as a paramedic, I learned what it’s like for people to count on you on during one of the worst days of their life. So, it is important to do the job right.
• As a child I always knew I wanted to be a paramedic. I wanted to help people and save lives. I wanted to be in the action and drive an ambulance with the lights on. I’m thankful at a young age I became a paramedic because it has molded me into the person I am today. I couldn’t think of a better way to start my career and I would do it the same way all over again.
• Working in EMS has given me an appreciation for life. It has taught me to live life to the fullest because you never know what day will be your last.
• I’m honored to support the men and woman in EMS who get up every day not knowing what that day is going to bring them. You work when it’s raining, snowing, blistering hot or freezing cold. When everyone is gathering their families and evacuating for hurricanes, you are staying behind to be there for people who may need you. My hat's off to every EMS professional out there. You are all truly appreciated.