[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”on” specialty=”off” _builder_version=”3.6″ next_background_color=”#000000″ global_module=”794″][et_pb_fullwidth_image global_parent=”794″ _builder_version=”3.6″ src=”https:\/\/reno2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2018\/06\/Banner_v1.png” saved_tabs=”all” \/][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”off” specialty=”off” prev_background_color=”#000000″ next_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_post_title _builder_version=”3.6″ date=”off” categories=”off” comments=”off” featured_image=”off” title_font=”Oswald|||on|||||” title_font_size=”60px” meta_font=”Roboto|600|||||||” meta_text_color=”#da7858″ meta_font_size=”24″ \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Explainer Text” disabled_on=”off|off|off%22%22″ _builder_version=”3.6″ text_font=”Roboto||||” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1.9em” custom_padding=”30px|||” disabled=”off”]<\/p>\n
I am a journalism student at UNR and I recently had the opportunity to shadow a local paramedic working for REMSA on his night shift. <\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_video admin_label=”Video: Jazmin Explainer” _builder_version=”3.6″ src=”https:\/\/youtu.be\/23n3BkCilvQ” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”on” specialty=”off” next_background_color=”#ffffff” _builder_version=”3.6″ parallax=”on” prev_background_color=”#ffffff” background_image=”https:\/\/reno2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2018\/06\/Jazmin-3-e1529129634365.png”][et_pb_fullwidth_image admin_label=”Fullwidth Image: Jazmin” _builder_version=”3.6″ src=”https:\/\/reno2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2018\/06\/Jazmin-3-e1529005649578.png” \/][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ specialty=”off” next_background_color=”#5d6799″ _builder_version=”3.6″ background_color_gradient_start=”#221b6b” background_color_gradient_end=”#05001c” background_color_gradient_direction=”360deg” background_color_gradient_end_position=”20%” prev_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row custom_padding=”7px|0px|2px|0px” _builder_version=”3.6″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Story Text” disabled_on=”off|off|off%22%22″ _builder_version=”3.6″ text_font=”Roboto||||” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1.9em” custom_padding=”30px|||” disabled=”off”]<\/p>\n From a young age, Owen Shaw remembers wanting to be a hero.<\/p>\n Shaw, 32, was born at the Clark\u2019s Air Force Base in the Philippines, where his father was serving in the U.S. military. When he was about three, Shaw and his family made the move to the United States.<\/p>\n Shaw grew up in East Los Angeles, CA with his mother. His parents divorced and his father didn\u2019t keep in touch. But the impact his dad\u2019s military career had on him was something he often thought about.<\/p>\n \u201cMy biological father and his side of the family were all military. I felt that I needed to – I was obligated – to serve,\u201d said Shaw.<\/p>\n After graduating from high school, Shaw went on to work at a local veterans hospital and then went on to serve in the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps before becoming a paramedic.<\/p>\n With three specialties in \u201cquad zero,\u201d working for a naval hospital, combat, and dental, Shaw\u2019s military service ended in December of 2013 when he decided to settle down with his wife, Breonna Shaw, in Virginia to start their own family. This was the beginning of the transition from Shaw\u2019s extensive military service and his service for civilian and regional EMS.<\/p>\n A paramedic has the autonomy to administer medication when a patient is in need and shock the heart when necessary – this sets paramedics and their developed training apart from EMTs.<\/p>\n Shaw recently passed paramedic training for the Regional Emergency Medical Services Authority, or REMSA, a month ago. REMSA is the exclusive ground emergency medical services provider for the Reno, NV Washoe County area. Shaw worked the night shift at REMSA for about a year, serving the community from 5:45 p.m. to 5:45 a.m — a 12 hour shift. Shaw\u2019s responsibilities as a paramedic include responding to emergency calls, performing medical services, and transporting patients to medical facilities.<\/p>\n According to Shaw, a person working the night shift for REMSA may average about six to seven calls a night.<\/p>\n REMSA’s Clinical Communications Center gets 195,000 inbound calls per year and their units respond (send an ambulance to) to approximately 70,000 calls.<\/p>\n The majority of calls a paramedic like Shaw will receive are labeled under “Medical.” \u201cTrauma – Non MVA\u201d calls, at 24.1 percent for the Washoe County area, are the second most common, according to REMSA\u2019s statistics. A \u201cNon MVA\u201d call is any kind of trauma accident that is NOT motor vehicle accident-related. This can include falling off of a building, a mountain bike crash, or a penetrating injury.<\/p>\n These calls are reported<\/a> to the District Board of Health each month; the percentages are based on the average of 6000 calls per month.<\/p>\n The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) says emergency medical technician (EMT) and paramedic jobs, \u201cCan be physically strenuous and stressful, sometimes involving life-or-death situations.\u201d<\/p>\n Shaw recounts responding to a particularly dangerous call.<\/p>\n \u201cSo this one time we got a call for a gunshot to an individual. It was unknown if there was any other shooters or if the shooter was in the area,\u201d he said. In situations like those, Shaw and his partner put their lives on the line, risking that the shooter might be hiding behind nearby brush and attack.<\/p>\n For how dangerous and stressful the job is, the BLS says the 2017 median income for an EMT or paramedic is only $33,380 per year, below the $37,690 median for all occupations. However, employment of EMTs and paramedics is projected to grow 15% from 2016 to 2026, much faster than the average for all occupations.<\/p>\n Shaw thinks that to work in emergency medical services, you have to be a kind of thrill seeker.<\/p>\n \u201cThere’s a big adrenaline rush,\u201d he said. And this is partially why he loves his job.<\/p>\n But while he loves some aspects, he also struggles with others.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the hardest part of the job is not being able to help a person who needs or who is requesting the help in the first place,\u201d said Shaw.<\/p>\n The most frightening calls for Shaw are the ones where he and his team have to respond to other first-responders who have been wounded or injured. According to him, there\u2019s a greater sense of immediacy and responsibility in responding to a peer.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the the more critical calls, the ones that give me the chills and a lot of nervousness is responding to police officers who have been shot or firefighters who’ve been hurt,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou want to provide the best care for them and sometimes they\u2019re caught in a situation. It’s more of letting them down kind of thing I’m afraid of.\u201d<\/p>\n To combat the difficult emotions that arise from strenuous situation, Shaw keeps an open line of communication with his team.<\/p>\n \u201cWe share stories with one another. Some calls can be really bad. I know of a particular individual who responded to a baby being born and it wasn’t breathing. So that was very traumatic mentally for her and for what she did. She talked about it with a lot of people who provided some some kind of comfort that helped her out and helped her get through it,\u201d said Shaw.<\/p>\n Shaw finds his work as a paramedic for REMSA sincerely fulfilling in the sense that he has the power and knowledge to alleviate others\u2019 physical problems or pains. While he does not attempt to be heroic in the situations he finds himself in, he simply wants to help others – and that, he finds heroic in and of itself.<\/p>\n Shaw said REMSA won\u2019t be his last stop, either. He is currently attending classes to become a physician assistant. However, he says that he doesn\u2019t plan on leaving EMS and intends to work with a trauma team in the future as a physician assistant until he is able to officially retire, having served and helped others during the entirety of his career, something he aspired to do.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_audio _builder_version=”3.6″ title=”A Night in the Life of a Paramedic” album_name=”Next Generation Radio, Reno 2018″ background_color=”#a3748d” artist_name=”Jazmin Orozco-Rodriguez” image_url=”https:\/\/reno2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2018\/06\/Remsa.png” audio=”https:\/\/reno2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2018\/06\/ParamedicOwen_Jazmin.mp3″ \/][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/reno2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2018\/06\/IMG_0216.jpg” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”3.6″ custom_margin=”10px|||” animation_style=”fade” animation_duration=”500ms” animation_intensity_slide=”10%” \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption Text” disabled_on=”off|off|off%22%22″ _builder_version=”3.6″ text_font=”Arial||on||” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1.9em” custom_padding=”30px|||” disabled=”off”]<\/p>\n Owen Shaw finished his paramedic training for REMSA about a month ago. While he enjoys the work he does with REMSA, Shaw says that it is only a pit stop for him on the way to working on a trauma team as a physician assistant. <\/span>Photo: Jazmin Orozco-Rodriguez\/ Next Generation Radio<\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/reno2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2018\/06\/REMSA-Call-Classification-2.jpg” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”3.6″ custom_margin=”10px|||” animation_style=”fade” animation_duration=”500ms” animation_intensity_slide=”10%” \/][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/reno2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2018\/06\/Jazmin-2.png” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”3.6″ custom_margin=”10px|||” animation_style=”fade” animation_duration=”500ms” animation_intensity_slide=”10%” \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption Text” disabled_on=”off|off|off%22%22″ _builder_version=”3.6″ text_font=”Arial||on||” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1.9em” custom_padding=”30px|||” disabled=”off”]<\/p>\n Owen Shaw explains that his work with REMSA, while significant to him, is a pit stop while he takes night classes to pursue a medical career as a physicians assistant working on a trauma team.\u00a0<\/span>Photo: Maggie Freleng\/ Next Generation Radio<\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image _builder_version=”3.6″ src=”https:\/\/reno2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2018\/06\/Owen-Shaw-portrait.jpg” \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption Text” disabled_on=”off|off|off%22%22″ _builder_version=”3.6″ text_font=”Arial||on||” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1.9em” custom_padding=”30px|||” disabled=”off”]<\/p>\n Shaw explains that while he does not attempt to be heroic in work-related situations, he is trying to better someone else\u2019s situation – and that, to him, is heroic in and of itself. 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