Stories · May 19, 2020

Detour

Never in a million years did I picture my life the way that it is today. When I graduated high school I always wanted to be in public safety, specifically a police officer. I worked for a police department for almost 6 years and loved every minute of it. However, along the way I got interested in the medical field and became an EMT and it was such a rewarding job to be able to care for people in their worst times. No part of me had this plan for myself. I didn’t think today I would be working as an EMT in an emergency department. I didn’t think that my career path would be changing and that I would be more and more focused on the medical field than that of the law enforcement field. And never would I have thought that I would be working in an ER in the 5th largest city during a global pandemic.

I have seen trauma and I have seen sickness, but something about COVID is just so different. The unknown of our everyday work, and lives is scary and unbelievable. Walking into a patients room not knowing whether they are COVID + or not and trying to use our best judgement based on the symptoms that they are presenting with. Having to gown up, gown down, wear a mask all day, goggles into every patients room is a lot to process. This is not what I would have thought I was signing up for. Wearing the same N95 mask for weeks at a time to make sure that we have enough just in case we have a surge, just in case we need to incubate, just in case. Being in healthcare during a global pandemic is scary, but let me tell you, it is one of the most rewarding careers that I could ever be in. I wouldn’t change my job right now. I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else. I am just so happy that I get to continue to work and help those that are in need.

Without this job, without my patients, I feel empty. This is a part of who I am and I am so glad that I continue to get this opportunity to show up for those that sometimes can’t show up for themselves. I may not have seen myself in healthcare before, but I am so glad that I accidentally ended up down this path. We are going to come out of this pandemic stronger and better than ever, continue to work together as a community, and us healthcare workers will be here for you.