Texas Paramedic Wants to be Oldest Tenured Medic in State
Oct. 18--There are people who bring experience to the table, then there are people who bring three decades of experience.
That's exactly what paramedic Roy Castleberry does for Huntsville-Walker County Emergency Medical Services. If he has a say, he'd like to stretch that number to a couple of more.
Castleberry was working with his father in the logging business in Timpson when he first got the bug to learn more about first aid in the early 1980s.
"I heard about about this thing called EMT class, a first-aid class on steroids," Castleberry said with a chuckle. "I went through it, became a basic EMT and started volunteering with a local ambulance. I really enjoyed it."
Castleberry continued to take classes around his work schedule, hitting the books on nights and weekends to become a paramedic. He finally completed his certification in 1986 and that opened the door for his next profession.
A few years later, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice beefed up its emergency medical services and Castleberry landed a job and moved to Huntsville.
"I was actually getting paid to do it," Castleberry said. "That was a concept I had to get use to."
Aside from a five-year stint working at the Scotts Company, Castleberry has worked in the EMS field ever since, whether it be with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the University of Texas Medical Branch, a private emergency medical service, or Huntsville-Walker County EMS, where he recently went back to working full time after retiring from the state.
"He lives and breathes EMS," said John Nabors, director of Huntsville-Walker County EMS. "We utilize him a lot because of the experience he brings. He has worked for UTMB and in the private sector. That experience is something you can't put a price tag on."
Castleberry admits he "truly" loves the profession. He enjoys being able to help others and hopes that he can make a difference in someone's life, even if it is just "one out of 200 calls."
He likes the "human aspect" of the job.
"I do definitely believe in a higher power," Castleberry said. "It's kind of a strange way I think about it I guess, but I think we are all on intersecting pathways. In EMS, you intersect pathways with people who are usually having a really bad day. Every once in a while you get that call that that you can touch someone or say the right thing that helps them. It's amazing."
When Castleberry is not working a shift at the New Waverly Fire Station, he finds time to get involved with the youth in the community, passing on his first-aid knowledge to future generations.
He and his wife Sabrina have a 12-year-old son named Brayden, a great-nephew they adopted when he was a baby. He's now enrolled in Boy Scouts. Castleberry went through training and serves as an assistant scoutmaster with Troop 114.
Castleberry said his goal was to be the "oldest tenured and oldest active" paramedic in the state when he finally does decide it is time for him to retire. He hopes that is in another "10 or 15 years," at least as long as his body will allow him to do it.
He can't imagine doing anything else.
"I think I can hit 50-plus years doing it," Castleberry said. "The people who stay in this business truly enjoy it. I have just been so blessed, not only with my job, but my family and my friends. The good Lord has looked out for me."
Copyright 2015 - The Huntsville Item, Texas
