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North to Alaska!
When Glen A. Hofmann, age 42, was 20 years old, he took off from the desert climate of his native Arizona and went sailing. For the better part of a year, he sailed down the coast of Mexico, across the Pacific to Hawaii, and north to Alaska where, as he puts it, "I ran out of money in the port city of Ketchikan." He met his first wife, the mother of his three daughters, the first day and never left. It took nine years to find EMS.
This month, the veteran firefighter/paramedic from the Ketchikan Fire Department in Alaska will be flying to New Orleans to attend EMS EXPO as EMS Magazine's Advanced Education Scholarship recipient. Chosen from dozens of strong candidates, Hofmann wrote in his winning essay, "EMS education is imperative in this day of advancing technology, improved medications and tremendous medical advancement. Without continuing education, we would still be putting MAST pants on all trauma patients."
With high praise for his recently promoted Senior FF/Medic, Ketchikan Chief Richard Leipfert agrees, adding, "Due to budgetary constraints, travel and training dollars are few, but Glen has always sought out educational opportunities that make him a better caregiver."
Located in the rainforest of Alaska's Inside Passage, off the mainland coast of British Columbia, Ketchikan is known as the state's "First City" and is its fourth largest. Situated on Revillagigedo Island (Revilla to locals), it is the southernmost port of our northernmost state. Until 1997, the town had no paramedic training program at all, though patients here come from all over the globe. Up to seven cruise ships stop every day during the tourist season, doubling the population with elderly tourists and often tripling the calls to EMS with heart and respiratory emergencies and trip-and-falls.
The volunteer/career-combined department averages 1,400 calls a year, the bulk of which are EMS-related. The department has one engine, three ambulances and a current cadre of 15 career firefighter/EMTs, three paramedics and around 20 volunteers.
Hofmann began his career there as a volunteer 13 years ago.
"I got into EMS by accident," he says. "I wanted to become a firefighter, but there was nothing available except for an EMT-I class."
He took that and became a volunteer EMT.
"This way I would have a foot in the door and when a firefighter class opened up, I would be guaranteed a spot."
Over the next four years, Glen kept his regular job while training up to advanced EMS levels and becoming a volunteer firefighter, too. He obtained his EMT-II, EMT-III, PALS, ACLS, BTLS, Advanced BTLS and ATLS certificates, became a CPR and first aid instructor, and was voted EMT of the Year in 1995 by the Ketchikan Fire Department.
"Obviously, I fell in love with the job," he laughs.
In 1996, Ketchikan added a third EMS Specialist position to the previously existing two, offering 24/7 coverage on the ambulance for the first time. Hofmann went up against 12 other candidates and was awarded the position. He became an EMT-I instructor immediately after being hired, he remembers, and soon had the opportunity to become a paramedic.
"Our EMS captain got Michael Copass, MD, EMS pioneer and founder of the Seattle Fire Department Medic One program, to sponsor a paramedic class in Ketchikan. We did a year of didactic classes here at the University of Alaska-Southeast and then flew down to Seattle for our clinical hours at Harborview Medical Center and our practical ride-alongs with Medic One. That training was top-notch," says Hofmann.
Hofmann received his state of Alaska and National Registry paramedic licenses in 1997. He also has certificates in Alaska Medevac Escort, Hazmat Ops, rope rescue, auto extrication, emergency medical dispatch and Firefighter-II.
Leipfert adds, "Glen mentors all the new hires. I put them onto his shift so they can watch and learn from a true professional."
He says the entire department will benefit by his attendance at EMS EXPO.
"Alaska's been good to me. I arrived with a dollar in my pocket and now I'm sitting on the porch of my 3,800-sq.-ft. home watching a flock of bald eagles flying in from the sea," muses Hofmann.
Along the way, he is proud to have helped raise three stepdaughters from a second marriage in addition to his own--all between 12 and 18. "My kids are what really keep me going," he says.
"I can no longer say 'Life's good,'" says Hofmann, reflecting on the difficulties he sees every day, "but it sure is amazing."
In addition to this fully funded attendance at EMS EXPO, Hofmann will be honored at the opening keynote ceremony.
EMS EXPO will be held August 23-27 in New Orleans, LA. Visit www.emsmagazine.com, or call 877/EMS-EXPO for more information.
