It’s a day that wishes it were sunny but can only muster clouds that hint of rain as I sit in the kitchen across from Rod Koehn, Winthrop Ambulance paramedic. One would never guess that this personable, yet at the same time, unassuming mustached man has been a paramedic for 43 years in May. Rod was a flight paramedic in Iowa before moving to Maine in 1993, working 28 years for Northstar and 25 years for Winthrop Ambulance.

Rod was in the construction business first and worked as a cabinet maker in Iowa. He soon learned, however, that being a construction worker outside during cold winters was not for him. He thought about becoming a first responder. Or a mortician, he chuckled – “They don’t complain about bumpy roads or the radio.” Ultimately, he became a first responder and developed a love for the work. He pushed through school and then pushed through the fear of going to his first call — he was an introvert who initially found it difficult to ask patients the needed questions.

As he progressed over 43 years, he developed a “duck skin,” letting things roll off his back, but eventually noticed changes in himself that pushed him to go to a counselor. Rod had a “closet full of boxes”—bad calls, stress, exhaustion, no desire to work.  Calls would make him anxious. That counselor “Bought me a few years to get through. A counselor must be the right fit, adding, sitting back in his chair, “We’re a different breed. We’re not ‘normal’. We need to talk. It has to be someone who understands the workload and stress.”

Rod thinks a “safe place” for healing from the stress and trauma “depends on the situation.” Anything other than an institutional setting is beneficial. “A closed office feels like punishment.” He prefers the outdoors and pushes his stress into his woodworking. “There are different kinds of stress. I shut off the texts and alerts when I’m not on call and retreat. I try to clear my head. A healthy paramedic must be aware of their demons, have confidence in their work, and be willing to seek help. When I’m on call, once I’m awakened, I’m awake for at least another hour, thinking about whether I covered everything. What else could I have done? We all do that. On-call for 24 hours doesn’t mean we don’t get to sleep, but it can mean that we don’t get to sleep. Every shift is different.”

“I don’t share work with my family. I don’t want to burden them, and it’s not good. My kids are oblivious and think, “That’s dad’s job.” I hold a lot in. I know that’s not good either. I get together with co-workers. Retirement has helped.”

Rod’s closing message addressed the paramedics’ needs and personal perspective. “The public needs to be aware there’s perception vs. reality. We aren’t ‘capes and swords. COVID helped to change the profession, recognizing staff shortages and increasing pay. When they hung the capes over us, the public looked at us as something other than human—we became heroes. Being a paramedic isn’t about heroism. Paramedics are human, like everyone. We get tired and stressed. We have good days and bad. We aren’t perfect. Like everyone, we make mistakes. People ask about being on 24-hour call. Sometimes, we’re never called, but we sleep “coiled up like a rattlesnake, ready to be fully dressed and out the door in a minute. I’m not courageous. I do what I need to and try to remember that the patient’s perception of an emergency may differ from mine.”

Even though retired, Rod continues to work part-time for Winthrop Ambulance.

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