The First Time You Heard the Term 'Paramedic'

Do you remember the first time you heard the term 'paramedic?' At the opening keynote at the National Association of EMS Educators Symposium in Orlando, Fla., Ronald Stewart, member of the Order of Novia Scotia, the executive council of Nova Scotia and former minister of health for the province of Nova Scotia, shared the story of how he first heard the word that changed his life. Fresh off the plane from Canada to Los Angeles, he walked up to a group of people in uniform and asked them what they were. When they said they were paramedics, he remembers asking, "What's a paramedic?" Do you have a story?

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Permalink Reply by James Bartus Jr. on August 8, 2012 at 3:01pm

I'd guess it was probably in 1989, when I was 12, from the mouth of William Shatner on Rescue 9-1-1.

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Permalink Reply by Skip Kirkwood on August 8, 2012 at 8:25pm

1969 or 1970,when I was in high school and EMERGENCY! was on TV every Saturday night.

I liked the show so much I would forgo Saturday evening Mass and get up on Sunday morning instead.

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Permalink Reply by Paula Miller on August 8, 2012 at 9:15pm

On TV, Johnny and Roy, of course. I had a crush on Roy and my sister had a crush on Johnny.

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Permalink Reply by Bob Sullivan on August 9, 2012 at 4:36am

When I was three years old, Emergency! reruns were on at noon on weekdays. That's were it all started for me.

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Permalink Reply by dr-exmedic on August 9, 2012 at 9:02pm

Emergency! Where else? :) Reruns for me, too, also at about age 3.

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Permalink Reply by Duncan Hitchcock on August 10, 2012 at 3:40pm

Like Skip, I was in high school when Emergency changed my life.

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Permalink Reply by Daved van Stralen on August 10, 2012 at 5:35pm

It was 1972 and I was on an ambulance response in a bar for a guy who bloodied his mouth eating a glass beer mug (parts of it are edible, it seems). The firefighters from the salvage unit were starting an IV so I asked my partner who they were. He said they were paramedics, LA County Fire had modified some salvage units for medical care. I guess I was very fascinated as it was only later my partner told me we had been in a topless bar, I hadn't noticed (at the time I was new and had poor situational awareness). A few months later I met Jim Page on a scene, he was a Battalion Chief responding to check out the newly opened Squad 39 as a paramedic unit. (As salvage units the early squads kept their blowers on the rig, I would always ask if that was to make them go faster Code 3.) Later, while on LA City Fire, Ron Stewart was my teacher for paramedic training. He later told me he did not know how to teach paramedics so he taught them as medical students and interns. I use his material to this day.

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Permalink Reply by Michael King on September 4, 2012 at 2:03pm

*Tones* Squad 51, Engine 51, Traffic accident...

Thank you Roy and John!

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Permalink Reply by Carissa on September 6, 2012 at 5:23pm

When I was a kid, (preschool) I used to watch documentary segements and TV shows related to rescue, especially Rescue 9-1-1, (instead of watching cartoons, seriously because I am not a cartoon fanatic and my parents are worrying because of my preference of TV shows to watch and they doesn't like rescue scenarios) and being exposed to accident scenarios on the streets. And out of fascination, I used to play rescue scenarios with my preschool classmates instead of tea parties or Lego games.