EMT – First Responder Insight

While many FCHS students spend their free time sitting in front of a computer, senior and EMT volunteer KJuan Payne spends his sitting and waiting for a call. 

Every Monday and Friday afternoon, Payne volunteers for the Lake Monticello Volunteer Rescue Squad, working four and a half hours on Mondays and anywhere from 12-24 hours on Fridays. Payne says that during shifts he sits at the station and waits for 911 calls, then heads off in the ambulance to the call. After assessing the patient, Payne and his fellow EMTs make the decision to transfer patients needing further medical care to the hospital. 

To get to where he is now, Payne had to take a six-month EMT class and then pass both a practical and written exam. 

Being an EMT has its negatives, from sitting around for hours without a single call, to seeing some disturbing things. Still, Payne says that his favorite thing about being an EMT is “knowing what I did could have saved a life and knowing that I made an impact in my community.” He notes the most valuable thing he has learned volunteering is that life can change at any moment and that tomorrow is not promised.

After graduating from high school, Payne plans on pursuing a career as an EMT, preferably with the University of Virginia’s Medic Five in Charlottesville. “I myself have been in the back of an ambulance before because I struggled with anxiety. Seeing how they made me feel made me want to reassure others that everything is going to be okay,” he said.