In a report from U.S. News, John Schretlen, 26, was a brand-new emergency medical technician (EMT) who was immediately moved into the bunk room of the Pikesville (MD) Fire Department station. However, he remains there because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Maryland resident completed training as an EMT last fall and was fully cleared for duty in February. He says that nearly his entire career thus far has been during the coronavirus pandemic.
Schretlen has volunteered to ride in the ambulance practically every day, which allows other EMTs to take a “back seat” during this crisis.
Schretlen stated that, at first, things were slow, but the station was near many retirement homes and assisted living facilities, so the virus hit rather quickly, and the department was working constantly.
His first call with a COVID-positive patient was eye-opening: Schretlen was locked in an aluminum container with a middle-age patient who had a dry cough and breathing issues, but who wasn’t in obvious distress when the ambulance picked him up at an urgent care center.
In another of many cases to which he has responded took place in a nursing home with an elderly woman suspected of contracting COVID-19. The woman was unresponsive when the ambulance arrived, and she had a “do not resuscitate” order, which puzzled Schretlen. When the woman was being taken to the ambulance, a man standing outside asked from which room the woman had been taken. When Schretlen responded, the man said, “That’s my mom,” and started to sob.
Schretlen, who also has a degree in applied economics, had worked as a management consultant and a carpenter before deciding to pursue something that neither career path offered: the opportunity to be with people in moments of crisis, fear, or pain. His work during the coronavirus pandemic has already given him a lot of that.