05/23/2026
On our final day celebrating EMS Week, it’s important to reflect on the people and moments that shape who we become in this profession. Sometimes the most impactful providers aren’t the ones immediately seen on scene — they’re the calm voices behind the headset, carrying the weight of every call alongside the crews in the field.
A few years ago, our flight crew worked a true “minutes matter” scene flight with one of our dispatchers coordinating the call. While another flight was already in progress, a critical MVC request came in. You could hear in the requesting dispatcher’s voice that this patient needed help immediately. In a world driven by timing, coordination, and constant moving pieces, she recognized what needed to happen and helped ensure the closest aircraft reached that patient as quickly as possible while coordinating multiple aircraft.
That patient survived.
Some time after that flight, our crew was invited to meet him and his family during a high school mock crash presentation. We made sure she was invited too, because she deserved to see the impact she had made. Dispatchers are such an important part of emergency medicine, yet they rarely get to witness the outcome of the lives they help save.
She later shared that this experience was the moment that inspired her to go back to school and become an EMT again.
Not long after, our paths crossed again on another critical multi-patient call. This time, she wasn’t behind the radio — she was on scene. She helped bring both aircraft in and was one of the first providers delivering patient care before handing those patients off to the flight crews.
That full-circle moment is what EMS is all about.
It’s about building each other up. Encouraging people to step into their potential. Recognizing the unseen roles in this profession. And remembering that the support we give one another can truly change the course of someone’s life and career.
So proud of the provider she has become, and grateful for the reminder that kindness, encouragement, teamwork, and trust in one another matter just as much as clinical skill in this job. Happy EMS Week to Heather and to all past, present and future EMS workers. Pass it on.
