“I went through a period where I was dealing with depression. I had a lot of bad feelings about myself. At the time, I didn’t really know why. But I came to understand that it was due to traumatic situations.

“I used to be a volunteer firefighter for the City of Mont Belvieu. I love firefighting. I like helping people. But I think I saw too much, too fast. I did it for about 10 years. The fires, they didn’t bother me at all. It was the car wrecks. It was the death that I saw.

“The incident that pretty much put me over the edge happened one Friday evening. I was sitting at home when my pager went off at about 10 o’clock. There was an accident involving a motorcycle. So I started heading to the fire station. About halfway there I could hear the radio chatter. It said there was a confirmed DOA. Something inside of me said, ‘Ken, turn around.’ But then something also told me to keep going.

“When I reached the scene, I ran into a fellow firefighter. He said, ‘Man, there’s nothing you can do.’ I thought about turning around again, but I just had to go up there to the scene. And it was devastating. It was two people on a motorcycle, and they both were gone. It bothered me so much that after I got home, I couldn’t sleep that whole weekend.”

The post Traumatic situations open door to depression appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“After I earned my associate’s degree in health education, I started an internship at Memorial Hermann. That led to a job in the Trauma Center working under Dr. Red Duke.

“There were other firsts and other EMS positions, but in 2004 I became the first female to hold the position of director of operations for a Harris County Emergency Services District.

“I went through a lot as a kid and it most certainly impacted me. But later in life, I realized that the things I endured made me the right person to do the job that I do. It’s a job that I love and am very passionate about.

“There are times I think I’m going to break. It can be quite draining. Then I say to myself, ‘You are a winner. You can do this. Failure is not an option.’

“So I get up every day before dawn to make sure every life in this district has the best chance for the best outcome in every situation that arises. I do this not because I am paid to do it, but because I truly care.”

— Christy Graves

Related:

• Following abusive start, her life begins anew

The post ‘Failure not an option’ for first female EMS director appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“Coming from Brownsville and moving up here, we would run into accidents all the time and just feel helpless not being able to do anything. So I was like, I’ve got to learn some of that. I’ve got to learn how to help people. That’s where it started.

“I’ve been a firefighter now for 20 years and I’ve been doing EMS for 11 years. There are so many stories. One thing I can tell you is that as a first responder you never forget your very first patients, especially the hard ones. Those are the ones where you remember every detail of what happened. If you have somebody in need and you do everything you’ve trained for, and you’re still not able to help that person survive, it’s pretty devastating. That’s where a lot of medics and firefighters kind of stop and choose a different career.

“Communication is the key. Just talk with somebody. Don’t keep it in. I have a lot of medics that I train now. I always tell them, look, whenever you get to that point, come talk to me because that’s the hump that you have to go over. If you make it over that and you understand that you can’t blame yourself, you did everything that you could, you did everything right, then you’ll be able to help the next person. No doubt about it, it can take a huge toll on you. But if you get stuck in that place, you won’t be able to be there for that next person who needs you.”

— Ralph Errisuriz

The post First responders never forget their first patients appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“It can be pretty chaotic. Like Sunday, my first call was a homicide. There are people on the phone screaming and you’re hearing them talk to EMS and saying, ‘He just stopped breathing. He’s dead.’ Listening on the phone to someone dying is the hardest thing.

“Once, I had a woman just scream and scream, and she’s basically not listening to me or EMS trying to tell her she needs to do CPR on her baby that drowned. She just can’t focus. But while you’re listening to all of that, you have to be the one who remains all calm and soft. Sometimes when you lower your voice, they’ll lower their voice because they’re so scared.

“When you start this job, they immediately throw you in talking to people. There are some who have gotten up and said, ‘I can’t do this. I can’t handle it. It’s too stressful.’ We have chaplains in and out of that communications room all the time asking us, ‘How are you doing? How are you handling that?’

“I don’t believe just anybody can do this job. I don’t even know how I’m able to do it. Maybe it’s because of my military background or that I feel the Lord has put me in a place where he knows I like to help people and he knows I can do it. Because I didn’t think I could ever do something like this.”

— Crystal Keeler

Related:

• 911 dispatcher enjoys doing something selfless

The post Military background prepares her for 911 role appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“I’ve been in the health care business for about 25 years, mostly on the customer service side of things. Currently, I’m an EMS community liaison for Houston Methodist San Jacinto Hospital. I work with about 15 different EMS providers that could transport patients to us.

“Being in this field makes you stop and think. I mean, I could complain about things in life. I’ve got an old car that needs replacing and we have some home improvements we need to do, but that’s about it. It’s really insignificant compared to the health issues a lot of people are facing. It makes me appreciate how fortunate I am to have my health and my family.”

The post With health and family, no real complaints appeared first on The Baytown Project.