The Effects of EMS

I started in EMS as an EMT in 2001. I'm coming up on 10 years. It really has gone by fast, and even though the clientèle has changed the job some, it's still enjoyable, even with a personal career change still on the horizon.

Working on an Ambulance is a different beast. You can have a shift where you don't do much, or anything at all, to one where you're going constantly and never have a chance to see the station. I'm just now getting into bringing food to work. I haven't done that before short of bringing left overs for a meal. It becomes convenient to hit fast food because you're driving around, and you may not make it back to the station to get food.

Me and my buddy, Bradley, in fall 2006.

So many in EMS are overweight. It's not the easiest job to maintain fitness. 24 hour shifts, night shifts, eating out. It's actually kind of a vicious cycle because you gain weight, and still have to lift the same patients that weigh more than you. When you're not in good shape, it can lead to injury. When I started, I probably weighed 160-170.Once I finished Paramedic school at the end of 2005 and early '06, I was pushing 230, by far my heaviest. I was 145lbs when I graduated High School.

Over the years since high school and the first semester of college, I ran only occasionally. In March of 2008, my brother-in-law Jered started running. It was just what I needed to get started myself. I joined him on April 16 and started doing the Couch to 5k plan that incorporates walking and jogging over a 9 week period building up to being able to run a 5k (3.1mi) race without walking. I set my sights on a 5k only 3 weeks out (May 10) due to scheduling constraints. I got into better shape, but by race day I hadn't yet run the whole distance. I ended up running the 5k with a time of 24:17 or 7:48 per mile.

By the end of 2008 I had run a couple more small races, the 4th of July 5 mile race in Mt. Shasta, a half marathon in San Francisco and the Shasta Regional Medical Center Turkey Trot. Overall I lost about 26 pounds by running and around 40 total including diet changes.

November 2008 before my first half marathon

November 2009 at the finish of my 2nd half marathon

Presently I sit at 184 pounds. I'm working to get to a lean and mean 175, and maintain that weight and build muscle. I've been running since 2008 and plan on continuing as long as I can. I feel so much better when I'm running. It's better for my health, better for my family, better for my career, etc.