EMS Voices: Steve Heisel

When Steve Heisel became a paramedic in 1989, he knew he’d be one alarm away from natural disasters, debilitating diseases and horrific trauma.
He never expected exploding eggs.
“I was working the night shift in Salt Lake City,” Heisel explains. “Dispatch got a call from a guy who sounded intoxicated. Before he could say why he was calling, we heard a loud ‘bang.’ We wondered if he’d been shot. We got there with PD and found the guy alert, in the kitchen, with remnants of half a dozen eggs in a microwave oven missing its door. Apparently, the eggs had exploded while being nuked. The guy got hit in the head by the door, but he was okay. He just had a big mess to clean.”
A 20-year veteran of Oregon’s Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue (TVF&R), Heisel’s EMS education began as a volunteer firefighter in the mid 1980s.
“I remember seeing the paramedics doing so much more than I could. I thought, I want to do that, so I put in for paramedic training.”
A year after graduation, Steve was part of an engine company at TVF&R. “I always felt it was an honor to be invited into some of the worst moments in people’s lives,” Heisel says. “I think the best way we can respond to that sort of faith is to stay sharp; to learn our trade and keep up with its changes.”
Speaking of changes, Heisel contributed to a significant one after TVF&R determined 7%–8% of alarms don’t require transport, and could be handled by a single responder instead of a four-person crew. “We’re talking about calls for unknown injuries, non-emergent complaints and routine assistance,” Heisel notes. “Why send the big red truck to change a smoke detector battery?”
TVF&R’s study resulted in last year’s purchase of Toyota FJ Cruisers for four stations. The cars are backed up by private ambulances that can be cancelled or expedited by the responding medic. Steve was part of the implementation team.
“It feels a little strange to be riding alone, after so many years on the engine,” says Heisel, who was assigned the first car, “but I still get to be part of the camaraderie at the station.”
As long as he doesn’t try that recipe for eggs, sunny side ballistic.

Mike Rubin, BS, NREMT-P, is a paramedic in Nashville, TN, and a member of EMS World’s editorial advisory board. Contact him at mgr22@prodigy.net.