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When Izabella Lambert turned 16, she knew exactly what she wanted to do — take a first step toward becoming a first responder and police officer via the emergency medical technician course at Region 10 Technical High School in Brunswick.
“The last few years, especially with COVID, there haven’t been enough people in the first responder field,” said Lambert, who lives on Harpswell Neck. “I really want to contribute to my community.”
Lambert and a group of her classmates gathered at the Orr’s Island firehouse in early June to put the skills they’ve learned in the classroom to work in the field. Donning the purple gloves that are a hallmark of EMTs, they launched into imaginary scenarios with real-world implications.
Extracting a seriously injured driver from a truck crash, treating a heart attack victim, diagnosing a woman suffering a diabetic emergency — the aspiring EMTs encountered patients who needed help, and quickly. Volunteers from the Orr’s and Bailey Islands Fire Department played the patients.
Rachael Chase is a paramedic who is in her second year of teaching the EMT class at Region 10. Last year, all five of the students who sat for the rigorous national EMT exam passed and earned the right to become licensed emergency providers. This year, Lambert and her classmates hope to follow their lead.
Chase said the opportunity to try out their knowledge and instincts at an actual firehouse is invaluable. “We’re really fortunate to have this opportunity,” she said. “A couple of them said, ‘This is my first time in an ambulance.'”
Greyson Williams, 17, said he has dreamed of learning medicine and practicing it for the benefit of his neighbors.
“That’s been my passion for a long time,” he said. “Today was so nerve-wracking. But I felt such pride in all of us, working as a team in a collective effort.”
People as young as 16 can be licensed as EMTs in Maine, and Lambert is eager to qualify for that role. Her grandmother was an advanced EMT in Vermont and came home with stories that intrigued her as a child. Her mother studied criminal justice in college and loves to watch true crime documentaries with her daughter in their Harpswell home.
“I always wanted to help the people in the documentaries,” she said. “My mom used to buy me the little doctor kits and I would pretend I knew what I was doing.”
Now — at least when it comes to providing the vital first steps of medical care — she doesn’t need to pretend.
