Feature “You don’t want to ride with me!” jokes Kristine Yaroschuk, a Civilian Helicopter Pilot for the Maryland State Police Frederick Barrack. Not because she isn’t highly experienced—she had nearly four years of “blade time” before joining the force—but because most of us hope not to find ourselves on our way to Shock Trauma inside Yaroschuk’s “ambulance in the sky.”
If you do experience an emergency, Maryland has a network of highly-trained professionals like Yaroschuk who can be on the scene within minutes. “Certified First Responder” is a general term for those designated and trained to respond in a fire, safety, or medical emergency but training can be highly specific depending on the role. It’s also a career field seeing more and more women signing up to serve and protect their communities. Katie Kent is a firefighter and EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) in Howard County and she always arrives an hour before her shift begins to prepare for the day or night ahead. “The station runs over 3,000 calls a year,” she says, which aren’t just for fighting fires but all
manner of rescues including water and active shooter situations. “The term ‘firefighting’ does not capture the complexity of the job. It’s not only physically demanding, it’s mentally challenging. You do not have time to look up what to do, you must know every aspect of this job back and front.” Many First Responders work twelve hour shifts that run around the clock. “Always ready, day or night,” says Yaroschuk whose typical shift might include an airlift to Shock Trauma, a search-and-rescue in mountainous territory, or assisting local law enforcement with aerial tracking. Both Yaroschuk and Kent will tell you that emergencies don’t break for holidays, and neither do they.
first response By Lindsay Smith Rogers
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