Telling the Tales of EMS

Working in EMS can be a hectic experience. Often lost in the shuffle of the daily hustle and bustle are individual stories and backgrounds each employee has to offer.

Alex Rogers, EMT-B, aims to help tell those personal stories. A multimedia project specialist with Parastar Inc., Rogers has begun a project titled “My EMS Story” that gives EMTs, paramedics and other EMS personnel a platform to share their background.

Rogers started filming for the project when he was working full-time as an EMT. His partner (and best friend) shared a passion for documenting their daily life with the squad.

“We wanted to record our lives and every emotion being in EMS entailed,” says Rogers.

Rogers and his partner would set up a camera on the dashboard of their vehicle and record every moment between calls. As he accepted a position with Parastar, Rogers began to record others as well, and asked them to tell their stories.

The main goal of the project is simple: to increase interest in EMS at a time when high burnout rates and low wages are impact recruitment and retention.

“I wanted to share stories and inspire those who aren’t in EMS to make a life-changing decision to become an EMT or paramedic by showing them the most courageous group of people I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside of,” says Rogers.

Another goal is to capture the experience of all different types of EMS personnel, from young men and women who just started in the field to veterans and everyone in between.

As of now, 15 episodes have been recorded of EMS personnel from Ohio and Michigan.

Originally, the project was not intended to expand as far as it has, but people continued to approach Rogers and ask that he help them tell their story on film. Now the intent is to release an episode about once a week.

In the episodes, the subjects are asked a group of standard questions, including any memorable calls, good or bad, that stayed with them.

Rogers says some of these answers are rewarding, but some are difficult for the person telling their story and difficult for Rogers himself.

Rogers says a common theme of this question usually becomes pediatric runs, which touch a special nerve for him.

“I lost my oldest son when he was 2 and a half years old, and I worked him myself all the way to the hospital,” Rogers says. “Hearing people talk about kids makes me relive it over and over, not only as a dad, but being in EMS, you know what to do. I could beat myself up all day about not doing the right things, but I know I did all I could.”

For the most part, though, watching the employees tell their stories is a rewarding experience. Rogers says a lot of the people he’s interviewed are people he’s known for a long time, and he gets to see them show emotion for the first time.

“Actually seeing them breaking down and talking about it, even though the situation has been past for years, is pretty amazing,” Rogers says. “In EMS, people don’t really tend to cope well and push things to the side, and I think that has a lot to do with the suicide rates in EMS.”

Rogers says so far, the general reaction to the trailers has been positive, with a lot of excitement and anticipation.

The trailers have been shared on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and have been featured in a couple of newsletters, as well.

“The push has really been out there,” Rogers says. “I’ve gotten a lot more organic sharing than I’ve ever thought possible.”

As the project progresses, Rogers would like to expand his subject pool to include the corporate side of EMS as well.

Rogers says the first episode will be released soon, and the first two official trailers can be found on Parastar’s YouTube page.