Hello everyone! 

It's been a little while since I updated the site, so I thought I would give everyone an update.

First of all, I've been working really hard lately to update the jocofire.com website.  I've worked on the history page, getting some photos added, etc. and also have been working on the appearance of the site.  Here are a few of the most significant changes:

- I have changed to a new site for photos.  I am now using Flickr and everything after April 1st, 2013 is now on Flickr.  At some point, I hope to go back and move all photos over.  Flickr is so much easier to use. 

-  I have added photos to the history page.  This is a work in progress and I am in BIG need of Johnston County Fire Department historical photos.  This can be of incidents, apparatus, personnel or stations. 

-  I have created a jocofire.com Facebook page.  This has proven to be really popular.  You should be able to get to it, but if not I will gladly send you an invite.

-  I have created a Youtube page so I can post videos.  This page is "JOCOFIRENEWS" and can be found at the following link:  www.youtube.com/jocofirenews.  It is a work in progress but I hope to add many videos to the site for you.

As some of you may have noticed I am responding to more scenes than usual.  I have recently incorporated my own business, "Thompson Media Group, LLC" because I do sell my photos from time to time.  A couple of local media outlets have expressed interest in my photos and I am thrilled to be able to help them out.  From an emergency responder prospective, I can't contribute any photos to the media when I am working, and I am avoiding anything related to Town of Clayton business as well.  If you see me on scene, please act natural and continue your good work.  I am not there to get in the way; and I will check in with command to let them know I am there and find a good place for me to set up.  Anything that goes to the media from me is from a "public" point of view and will be from behind the scene tape.  Anything I take inside the tape and "up close and personal" is for YOU the responder.  I want each of you to be able to use these photos for training or personal use.  My intent is that you have a photographic history of your journey in emergency services that you can be really proud of one day when you look back.  Having worked on both sides of the scene tape through the years, I understand the importance and integrity of not releasing some photos and will not post anything that even remotely crosses that line. 

Please check out all of the new updated sites, and be safe out there!!

Ran into an old EMS friend

Yesterday, I worked a shift at Four Oaks EMS.  As usual we ate breakfast at King's Restaurant.  While eating I was shocked to see an old EMS friend come in the door with his wife.  It was Larry Hobbs.  Larry was a member of Elevation Fire Department for over 21 years, a charter member of 50-210 Rescue Squad and a former Assistant Chief of both!  Larry was always known as a down-to-earth country fella who had a heart of gold and always went above and beyond to help others.  Larry was one of the two first full-time employees at 50-210 EMS along with Sharon Roberts - both were EMT-I's at the time.  Larry worked in the ER at JMH (Now JMC-Smithfield) for many years, and also worked with MidSouth Ambulance Service. 

Larry is doing GREAT!  He works as the draw bridge operator at Surf City, is happily married and is loving life.  He returns to his homeplace in the Elevation community regularly to take care of yardwork, etc.  He says he hopes to retire in April of next year!  He loves life at the beach, loves his Lord and his wife. 

What a pleasant surprise to run into someone who I consider a big influence in how EMS evolved in Johnston County in the 1990's.  Larry was present for the transition of 50-210 from EMT-Basic Level through EMT-I Level and got out of EMS just prior to the squad becoming paramedic level.

New Website! www.jocofire.com

I hope this blog post finds everyone doing well.  I wanted to take some time today to let you know about my new website.  I have been working very hard over the last few weeks to develop a comprehensive website that covers Emergency Services in Johnston County.  The site is www.jocofire.com and I developed it with the hopes that it is somewhere that all Police, Fire and EMS folks in Johnston County want to visit EVERYDAY to get updates and see new photos of their departments in action and not in action. 

I have my camera with me at all times now and intend to take as many photos as possible with the focus being on personnel and apparatus.  One of my biggest regrets in the last 20 years of my career in 911 and EMS is that I have very few photos.  I especially lack photos from the 90's.  I wish I had a picture of EVERY ambulance I ever rode on, every police officer that worked with us, every partner I ever had on the EMS unit and every Fire Engine that responded with us.  I have had the honor of riding on some awesome and not-so-awesome pieces of apparatus and wish I had a photo of the extierior and interior of each.  I also wish I had photos of some of our equipment as well. 

I hope you all will visit my site, and visit it regularly!  I also hope each of you will dig through your old files, records and drawers and find me photos!! No matter how insignificant the photos are, I would love to have them if they involve any type of emergency service in Johnston County or one of our mutual aid departments.  I especially would love to have photos of JAS, Midsouth, Metro and the Lion's Club Ambulance Service of Smithfield.  I also want to collect histories and apparatus rosters from each department that currently operates in Johnston County.  I have a brand new vest with "Photographer" on the back and I hope to see you at your incident scene soon!!

Updated Ramblings...

Well, as most of you know, it's about time for an update!! I've not blogged in a while - and honestly, I've not had time. That's finally changing and you'll see updates from me more often now.

So, what's new? I left the 911 Center in late August to go to work for a local hospital in the cardiac catheterization lab. Wow, whan an experience. I learned more in just a few months than I have in YEARS about cardiology and worked with some top notch cardiologists and met some great people. Y'all know there is a "but" in here somewhere, so here it goes. But, I just didn't like it. In the particular cath lab I went to work in, I was the only paramedic employed there. There were a couple of former EMS people, but they have since long been out of the field and I just didn't fit in. I didn't spin nor get excited when patients coded or became worse - I responded like I do in the field - calmly - and well let's just say that my calm demeanor didn't fit in with the rest of the crowd. My primary motivation for leaving Johnston County was the money and for a change in pace. Of course, hindsight is 20/20 and I should have stayed and explored options within the county government.

So, effective this month, I am returning to Johnston County to work in the field again as a paramedic. I know the county well geographically, from my years of 911 and EMS time. I love shift work, especially night shift, because that's what I have primarily worked most of my career in the 911 industry. I think it was definitely time for me to make a change, but in hindsight I should have made it within JoCo instead of leaving completely. I am thrilled to returning to the field and most appreciative to Selma and Four Oaks EMS for giving me the hours and ability to work.  I love this County, the citizens, and my coworkers and look forward to each day at work now serving the citizens.

Now for the next biggie! I ran a successful campaign this fall to win a seat on the Clayton Town Council! Serving on the town council has been a life-long dream of mine. I used to joke with my schoolmates about being the mayor one day - well I'm not the mayor, but I have joined him in serving our wonderful town. For the last 20 years I've responded to calls from citizens and entered the homes of those who often times could not help themselves. I've responded to the elderly who can't afford to run their air conditioner in the summer because of high electricity rates and I've responded to the poor who cannot afford medications. I've delivered babies in houses with no electricity at all. Now, I feel like I am in a position to do something about it! My primary motivation in filing for town council was to put myself in a position to help those people out who can't help themselves. I want to be a voice and advocate for the elderly who are on fixed incomes. I also want to be a voice for the minorities who often have nobody willing to speak up for them. EMS has given me a unique perspective, as it is a profession that CANNOT descriminate. Whether you have insurance or not, are rich or poor, foreign, minority or American, EMS will respond to your call and provide assistance. Working in EMS has afforded me the chance to serve EVERYONE and see their needs. Now I want to be a voice for those people who have never had a loud voice before. I am super excited to begin this new adventure and be a part of the management of the best town in the United States.

Anyway, that's enough of an update for now. Thank you for listening and look for frequent updates from this point forward.

Serving Since Tuesday!

A veteran firefighter in a neighboring "big city" recently referred to some of the EMS providers as having nameplates that say, "Serving Since Tuesday." In a metropolitan EMS system, that somtimes isn't a bad thing because the ambulance Paramedics and EMT's have backup from Advance Placement Paramedics (APPs), System Supervisors, Administrative Staff and they have the best, most experienced firefighters around on their worst calls. That approach works great in a large system - but in a smaller suburban EMS system, we cannot afford to have "Serving Since Tuesday" on our front-line ambulances responding to calls alone with a partner who has been "Serving Since Last Tuesday." Consolidation of EMS resources coupled with the demise of many of the traditional "Rescue Squad" EMS providers has led to the rapid growth of County-run EMS systems in our region of the state. Government-run EMS systems are initially very attractive to many EMS recruits. They have decent benefits, retirement, nice equipment and flashy uniforms. Often the County providers tout themselves as "the best" and often times contracted EMS agencies (the former Rescue Squads) are looked down upon because they don't have the funding or resources to have "the bling" and the "flashy" trucks. The government-run systems attract many new EMTs and Paramedics and often have mass-hirings to "put butts in seats" to ensure units stay in service. Thus, "Serving Since Tuesday" may be the front-line response to many EMS emergencies in a large system. I'm "ok" with that because they do have contingincies in place and veteran providers available just a radio call away. I do not agree with smaller, suburban government-run EMS systems hiring with the same philosophy. Often in our area, a single paramedic ambulance is the ONLY responding unit to some really bad calls (no first responders in some areas, no APPs or abundance of system supevisors). Thus, "Serving Since Tuesday" isn't the best that we can do. Our contracted EMS agencies recognize this and hire accordingly. The government-run system MUST adhere to the same standard. When a member of my family becomes ill, a "driver" and a "Serving Since Tuesday" are NOT who I want to come to my family member. You heard it correct - "Driver." It seems there is a trend lately to hire new EMT's who work as firefighters to fill the role of ambulance EMT. I have NO problem with this if they are proficient in ambulance operation. Often times, they are not. They have never filled out a PCR, never driven an ambulance (the operate differently from fire apparatus), and don't know what to say on "the call-in" or even what to do in the back of the truck by themselves. Folks, we need to be hiring CLINICIANS not TECHNICIANS. A technician can fill the seat, but a CLINICIAN can perform patient care adequately, complete the report and operate the unit with little help. Now, as for the government-run agencies touting themselves as "better" than contracted agencies, I agree and disagree. They may be better in that they have more employees, and often better benefits and retirement. I disagree with the notion that patient care is better provided by government-run providers. The contracted agencies in our system have the most experienced providers. If my dear friend Lisa and I work on an ambulance together - our patient receives 40 years of EMS experience caring for them. This is the "norm" for a lot of contracted providers rather than not. There are VERY few times that contracted agencies have less than 5 years of combined experience on a truck. Often it's 10+ years on almost every unit. "Serving Since Tuesday" and "Serving Since Last Tuesday" on a truck together have NO place in a suburban or rural EMS system that does not have the back-up contingency that our big cities have. Many days I see 20+ years of EMS experience on our contracted trucks and then see a 1 month paramedic and a 1 year EMT on a County-run EMS unit. Who would you rather have come to your mother? Contracted agencies may not have the size or the administrative overhead of a government-run system but they do have a lot to offer: 1. Excellent clinical care with years of experience on most units 2. Nice equipment (I work for an agency with 2 nice, new Horton ambulances). 3. Compassionate care - Contracted providers often interact with the same people/geographical area every day. They learn the area, know the people and become attached to the patients. I LOVE riding with new providers. I've been a preceptor in our county since the very first "preceptor class" was ever taught here by guest instructor Steve Gardner from Wake EMS. I enjoy riding with new people because I know my years of "street smarts" and their new "book smarts" even each other out. I can depend on them for quick drug calculations and they can depend on me to "figure out how it works" or how to get a person disentangled from a situation. In conclusion - -"Serving Since Tuesday" should be coupled with a veteran provider, not left alone with a new EMT. It's the right thing for the patient. -Hire Clinicians not TECHNICIANS. I want an EMT who can perform all of the EMT functions assisting the paramedic helping my family member - I don't want a steering wheel holder or clip-board holder coming to our aid. -Don't put down the contracted agencies. Often they have the most experienced clinicians that can be found, nice equipment and SPOTLESS units that you could eat off the floor of. Another thing they have is their customer service which generally far exceeds that of a government run organization that doesn't have to rely on those customers when it comes time for fundraising or making a capital purchase. I have NO problem with any government-run EMS provider in our area. I work for the government myself. I applaud Wake County's initiatives and the dilligence that has been given to their special programs, the APPs and keeping system supervisors responding to calls. Unfortunately, in a rural/suburban system that doesn't have the funding for "extra hands" we must place the most experienced providers available on every unit. We should support our contracted agencies and applaud their efforts serve their communities at a lesser cost.

Updates and Ramblings

Well hello everyone! As most of you know, it's been over a year since I've blogged. It's not for lack of wanting to, it's just from plain laziness I guess. Well, what's new since last time?? A few things:

I stepped down from Clayton EMS as Operations Chief effective Jan 1, 2010. There were many factors involved in this decision, but overall it was time for me to look after ME! I also have the goal of pursuing higher education by completing a bachelors program. I remained part-time for about a year and ironically the last 2 calls I answered were a pediatric cardiac arrest and a ball-game standby. I say ironically because that is how I began my career as a cadet - ballgame standbys and a pediatric arrest.

I walked away completely this year, closing 20 years of some of the best and worst memories of my life. I had the blessing and privilege to save many lives in this 20 year span. I also helped carry many out of this world as well. I made many, many friends, and quite a few enemies during this time. I contributed to some community milestones:
-Supervising some of our first paid employees
-Hiring many wonderful employees
-Adding the county's first paid second duty crew
-Adding the county's first paid third duty crew
-Building a new station in 2004
-Advancing to the Paramedic level of care from Advanced Intermediate
-Adding a substation
-Purchasing quite a few Ambulances - some good ones and a couple of lemons!
-Seeing the retirement of our first volunteers with 20 years of service
-Seeing 911 implemented in our County
-Being a part of EMD implementation and one of the first EMD certified in our County

I think more than anything, becoming an instructor and seeing so many people that I taught far surpass me in their careers is one of the best feelings in the world! Clayton EMS will always be special in my heart, and I NEVER regret the 20 years of my life that I gave to it or that the organization gave to me. I feel like that chapter in my life has ended for a reason and now I am moving forward into a new chapter.

So what now? Well, I moved back into downtown last year. I moved right next door to my parents on the same block that I grew up on and am thrilled to be back within walking distance of everything again. I continue to serve our County government supervising at the 911 center, only now (with my arm twisted behind my back a little) I work dayshift! Yes guys, you heard it, Jason is working DAYSHIFT. What I have found from this adventure is that I actually have an opportunity to have a LIFE again. I don't get off work and go straight home to sleep anymore. Now I have time to do things that I want to do. So overall, I am happy with dayshift and glad I made that change.

I recently was voted into my third term as Vice President of the Johnston County EMS assocation and look forward to taking the Association in a new direction. We are going to make it less about chiefs and administration and more about the line-level staff and EMT's who make up the front line.

I continue to teach ALL OVER the southeast. I teach in Charleston, SC about once every couple of months which has been very nice. I also teach within the state quite often. I have made many friends and am SO thankful for the happiness given me, and the connections I have made teaching others.

I do continue to work on the ambulance some. I have THOROUGHLY enjoyed working at Four Oaks EMS a lot more lately. They have a GREAT organization and quality leadership. Their volunteers and paid employees are wonderful to work with. I have enjoyed each and every shift. I have also started working in Princeton some as well. I LOVE working in the smaller towns. The call volume isn't too bad, the citizens that call really need you and they are very appreciative of the care you give them. Smaller towns still appreciate their rescue squads and the contribution that is given by their personnel. It seems the bigger towns just expect you to show up and do a "job" whereas smaller communities realize that for many of these young rescuers they have literally given blood, sweat, and many tears to earn that EMT certification and to leave their families alone at night to come serve the citizens.

The last thing I have to add is that I could not keep moving forward if it weren't for having the best friends in the world and a wonderful family. When life seems to knock you down and the Devil tries to pull you under, I can always walk out and sit on the porch with my grandaddy or hop in the car and ride over to Four Oaks and sit with my dearest friend Lisa and things seem to stabilize. Everytime I feel like I'm about at the end, I can get in the back of an ambulance and talk to a war veteran who is a double amputee and provide him a great BLS transport for wound care, or help stabilize a small child whose reactive airway disease and respiratory infection have him lethargic and audibly wheezing when I walk in the room. The patients are the reason I continue serving others.

My hope is that all new EMS providers will keep that same focus. Make it about your patient, not about you. I have held many titles through the years from Sergeant to Captain to Chief, but the title I appeciate and am most proud of is that of EMT!! The paramedic part of my certification is secondary. Above everything else, I am an EMT and am proud to serve each and every patient.

The Patients We Cannot Save

I have not blogged in a little while now, so I am going to try to catch you all up with some miscellaneous ramblings.
Yes again, I have I had to pull a lifeless teenager from their motor vehicle. A few nights ago I responded to a multi-vehicle accident and found one of the victims to be deceased. As there were multiple victims and I was there in a supervisory capacity, I sent someone immediately to confirm the DOA and assisted with triage of the other patients until the last was transported. Then I remained on the scene for a while later to ensure the deceased was transported appropriately by our contracted service. If they weren't going to respond timely, I was going to arrange to transport him myself via ambulance, but since we had multiple ambulances tied up alread, I didn't want to go this route unless I had to.

I never saw the deceased until some time later when I was tasked with removing them from the vehicle while awaiting our transport service. I realized quickly that this was another teenager. For the first time in a long time I had to take a second look. This particular person resembled a close friend of mine. I then looked back at the vehicle and at the person's license and knew that this was a stranger to me, yet the resemblance shook me. I could only imagine in my mind the feeling this child's parents would feel when the patrolman delivered the news to the family. I looked into this particular victim's eyes, looked at their hair, their teeth and for the first time quite a while, I felt terrible inside knowing I could not help this child. I guess in recent years as the sheer volume of fatalities has increased, I have become slightly hardened and have not felt that personal "connection" with each one as I did in my early years of EMS. For some odd reason this one was different. I truly felt the loss and wished more than anything that I could have done something to help this poor child. This victim was no longer a number. They had a name, a face, distinct facial features and they stuck in my mind.

Perhaps as I wind down my EMS career each one will become more and more personal. I remember my father saying after 20 years in Fire and EMS "I don't care if I never go to another wreck" recalling how so many times it was someone he knew, or the parents or children of someone he knew. I guess perhaps I am starting to feel what he did.

One thing I did today that I have always done is I read this child's obituary. I read the names of the parents, siblings and the short biography that accompanied the photo of the face that I remember all too well. My advice to new EMTs is to do just that. It helps remind you that each DOA you encounter was a real person. They had a family that loved them and friends who will miss them. For many years I have gone to the funeral visitations of fatal accident victims if they are local. I have a feeling that tonight I will make that trip once again. I generally go alone, and find that the travel time to and from the funeral home or church gives me time to think about my life, my family and the ones that I love. This time helps me to realize just how lucky I am. It also helps me reflect on how priviledged I am to work in the best profession in the world. I realize each time that my job as a paramedic is NOT always about the ones that I save - but about the ones that I couldn't save and the lessons they teach us all.

So many young EMTs and Paramedics focus on saving lives and feel they are a failure when they are unable to save a life or if they are not given the opportunity. I do not feel that way at all. Each patient we encounter, whether dead or alive is a patient to me. Though I may not can physically help them, I can ensure they are treated with dignity and respect. I can also guarantee to them that in their last minutes of life, a paramedic cared very much, treated them with dignity, and assisted their family in dealing with the loss. We cannot and will not save every patient. We must remember that we can impact the lives of the dying and their families.

Thank you for listening - I know I feel better.