Scotch Plains Rescue Squad
Submitted by Karoline Hocevar
Joining the Scotch Plains Rescue Squad has been one of the best things I have ever chosen to do. Being in a work environment that relays fortitude, kindness, and communication is vital to growing as a professional and person. Being able to ask for help as a first responder and have an understanding ear in return is something that many EMTs and first responders can’t say they have. The Scotch Plains Rescue Squad has an environment that brings out the best in people. It cultivates good EMTs, and most of all, cultivates a family.
When someone first decides to take the plunge and join the field of healthcare, whether they realize it or not, they are presented with odds. The odds of failing or succeeding, loving what they do or crossing their fingers with the hope that a call won’t come in. The most challenging of all is whether they will be one of the unlucky ones who experience a toxic work environment.
According to the National Institute of Health, close to 50% of front-line healthcare workers in the United States say they have experienced a toxic work environment at some point. That’s the severity of the odds with which people are faced.
As a 16 year old joining the field during a pandemic when the bridges of our noses still suffered from the dents left behind by the masks that protected our world, I felt so burdened by the fear of not being able to overcome the statistics. Now, three years later, I can confidently say I did.
I’d love to take all the credit, but as the saying goes, it takes a village. If it weren’t for the others who were in my class, the crew chiefs who taught me so much, the life members who were able to answer any question in the book, the auxiliary members who made me feel loved, and chief Dan Sullivan who always pushed me to continue to grow, I wouldn’t have beaten the odds.
I wish I could go back in time and calm my anxious self as I waited in the parking lot before walking in for my membership interview. I would tell her that inside the walls of the Scotch Plains Rescue Squad, there are no odds to beat. There aren’t 50% of us who find working in healthcare miserable and/or who fear coworkers and superiors. There’s no fraction of us who wish we could be anywhere else other than right here, helping our community.
