EMS assistant chief ends 40-year career

By Keith Upchurch
The Herald-Sun

DURHAM, N.C. — Most people haven't saved hundreds of lives in their careers, but Kevin Wilson has.

Wilson is retiring this month after 40 years with Durham County Emergency Medical Services, where his skill and compassion have kept many patients from dying.

Wilson remembers one instance where a medical student was in a serious car crash on Cole Mill Road and was minutes from death. When Wilson arrived, he found the woman trapped and barely breathing. She wore a full-length mink coat and expensive dress which Wilson had to cut apart to get needles into her chest. His quick action saved her life.

"Several days later in the intensive-care unit, I saw her," Wilson said. "Her mother ran up and started hugging me, and said: 'You put my daughter's life above the mink coat. Thank you'."

Cases like that have kept Wilson, 63, on the job despite the stress and long hours.

"There have been people through the years who said: 'You saved my dad's or mom's life' or 'You worked on them and they still died, but you really cared for us'," Wilson said. "That does something to your heart."

Wilson began working with EMS Jan. 1, 1976, when Durham had only four ambulances for the entire county. Now it has 18, and even that is often inadequate to keep up with demand as the population grows, he said.

Wilson, a Wilmington native, started as an EMS technician in Durham and worked his way up. Today, he's an assistant chief of EMS, and teaches those who teach paramedics. Although his duties as overseer of patient care often keep him in an office, Wilson frequently drives to ambulance calls to help out when someone is having a heart attack or stroke or has been in a crash, for example. He always follows up to be sure they got good care.

Wilson also oversees training for those who respond to infectious-disease emergencies, acts of chemical and biological terrorism, and explosions.

The number of 911 calls to EMS has increased nearly 10-fold since Wilson joined the department -- from 350 to 400 monthly ambulance calls in the mid-1970s to roughly 3,300 today.

"Older people are having cardiac events and strokes, and we have a lot of diabetics," Wilson said. "The demand for our services is great, and continues to grow."

In addition to more calls, paramedics have dramatically greater responsibility than they did 40 years ago. They have more medicines to administer, and are responsible for hooking the patient to an electrocardiogram and interpreting it in the ambulance -- a duty that historically was delayed until the patient arrived at the hospital. That quick response is saving lives, but adds complexity to the paramedic's job, Wilson said.

The need for paramedics in Durham is constant, and many opt for a career in nursing where the pay is better, according to Wilson. Those who stay don't do it primarily for the money, but because they're dedicated to helping others, he said.

"I always tell our people: 'I want you to take care of that patient as if they were a family member,' " Wilson said. "Treat them as if they were yours."

Wilson trains paramedics in the classroom, but he's not afraid to get his hands dirty in the field.

"It's easy to stand in a classroom and tell people to do stuff," he said. "It's different to get out in the street, in the blood and guts. I do it to set an example."

Wilson said his theme for the past 40 years has been simple: "Be kind to everybody, and care for them gently," he said. "Make sure they get the best of what we have. Then when you finish, you know you've done all that you can do."

Copyright 2016 The Herald-Sun

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