Volunteer EMTs serve Sisters

As Sisters has grown, the Sisters-Camp Sherman Rural Fire Protection District has tried to keep up.

The district now has paid professional Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) - what most folks know as paramedics) on staff 24/7. But even with professional staff on board, there's still a need for volunteer EMTs and that's a role John Pagano and Rita Hodge have filled in Sisters for many years.

"I've been a department member for 20 years, and I think I've been an EMT for about 19 of those 20 years," Pagano said.

Pagano, a skilled computer technician in his regular career, didn't set out to become a firefighter or full-time paramedic.

"I have no desire to fight fire," he said. "It was more a help-your-neighbor kind of thing."

And he has helped his neighbors in good times and bad for nearly two decades.

For Hodge, a 17-year volunteer, being an EMT is an extension of her regular career as a registered X-ray technician.

"I have just been around the medical world for so long, and I liked the emergency medicine aspect of it," she said of her motivation for becoming a volunteer EMT. "It just kind of gives me a different facet of medical care for patients."

While the work is rewarding, it's also demanding. Volunteers have to keep up their qualifications, and getting to your "real" job after a night of runs can get tough. And, as Pagano notes, EMTs see a little too much of the end of life.

For Pagano, being in at the start represents the best possible act for an EMT. He once came within five minutes of delivering a baby, and the idea still brings a smile.

"I'd love to bring a life into this earth," he said.

Pagano notes that the volunteers don't go on as many calls as they used to, what with full-time staffing of the paid EMT staff. But he's plenty happy being on hand to help out at the Sisters Rodeo or at Outlaws football games - "just helping your neighbor."

For her part, Hodge has enjoyed watching the department grow and become increasingly professional. The volunteers and staff are like family to her, and they have served as role models for her son Matt Hodge, who is working on becoming a professional paramedic.

For both, their volunteer service means a lot, and they plan to stay on.

Trauma works, "makes you think on the spot," Pagano notes.

"I've been doing this a lot and I still enjoy it."

That goers for Hodge, too.

"It's just something special that I really love doing," she said.

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.

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