As told by Sarah Torzone
I started volunteering as an EMT at the Arundel Volunteer Fire Department (AVFD) in Maryland in 2017 because I was curious about healthcare and wanted to serve my community. For several years, the firehouse was my home away from home and the individuals I served alongside helped me build a strong foundation as a BLS provider. They challenged me to be more confident and taught me about the importance of camaraderie.
When I moved to North Carolina for college in 2019, I wanted to build a community similar to the one I experienced at AVFD, and co-founded UNC Campus EMS, a collegiate EMS agency at UNC-Chapel Hill, where I ultimately served as chief of EMS from 2021-2023. Being a leader in EMS was challenging because I had to make decisions on behalf of an entire group of people, and wanted to do right by my team and by the patient populations we served.
It really was a team effort. We faced a lot of obstacles starting out as a new EMS agency — whether it was budget constraints, expanding our scope to include vaccination amidst COVID staffing shortages, or balancing the agency’s schedule to accommodate training, shifts, and public events. As a team, we turned each challenge into an achievement. It was really the people that motivated me — watching members of my team succeed and accomplish their clinical or community outreach goals with Campus EMS is what inspired me to continue doing it every day.
It was also my colleagues that motivated me to become a paramedic. I started paramedic school in 2020 and have been working as a medic in North Carolina since 2022. Being a medic is daunting at times, but I get to end each shift feeling like I made a positive difference in a patient’s life.
While I ultimately aspire to be a physician, EMS will always hold a special place in my heart. My advice for others is to always contribute kindness to the workplace — you will need a support system no matter what stage of EMS you’re in and everyone deserves to feel included in EMS.
