ON THE COVER
Out of hundreds of emergency calls over the past two decades one stands out to paramedic Howard Elkins . “ One call that stands out the most for me was one man who had been in jail and gotten out and had his young daughter with him and had been to a party celebrating his release from jail ,” he recalled .
Driving home , the man was in a car accident . The body of his daughter , who was thrown from the vehicle , was found about 70 feet away .
“ We didn ’ t even know she was in the car with him until he finally came around and started mumbling something about this daughter ,” he said . “ We just started walking and looking and found her . That kind of stuff is hard .”
The man was devastated , and the entire scene was heartbreaking , said Elkins , operations manager and a paramedic for Metro Ambulance Service .
“ I have four daughters and it is hard to deal with the loss of a child ,” he said . “ The hardest calls for me , and I think for most paramedics and EMTs , are when children are hurt .”
On any given shift , emergency medical services ( EMS ) workers can respond to a range of calls from heart attacks and drug overdoses to shootings and car accidents .
“ This is a job . You either love it or you hate it . The hours are long . The stress is real ,” Elkins said . “ We do have a lot of turnover from people who get into it and they want to do it but after that one bad call , they decide it is not for them .”
For the past 18 years , Elkins has commuted to Metro from his home in Forest .
Growing up a military child , he spent a four-year stint in the Navy after high school . He then moved back to Forest and joined the Air National Guard at Key Field , where he spent 31 years before retiring this past January at age 60 .
His devotion to service originated with the military and several years spent with the North Central Scott County Volunteer Fire Department .
“ I like the feeling of knowing that I am helping somebody who needs help ,” he said . “ Sometimes it is truly just a hand to hold for elderly patients who are scared and they don ’ t really understand . I like to be able to explain it to them and help them understand .”
When a fellow volunteer fire fighter asked him to take emergency medical technician ( EMT ) training with him in 1997 , Elkins agreed . He completed the basic program at East Central Community College while working at Sara Lee Bakery .
“ I did it to help the volunteer fire department out , but I liked it so much that I decided to switch careers ,” he said .
Elkins worked as an EMT while completing paramedic school through the Alabama Fire College , graduating in 2000 . He is a certified paramedic through the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians .
He worked with ambulances services in Newton County and Carthage before landing at Metro in 2004 as a shift paramedic . Two years later , he became a crew chief / shift supervisor serving in that role until March 2021 when he was named operations manager . He also flew for two years as a flight paramedic with UMMC AirCare starting in 2011 .
Elkins said the emergency services profession has changed since his early days , including significant increases in gun violence and drug overdose calls .
“ The drug issues have increased tremendously . It is probably three or four times as bad as when I first became a paramedic ,” he noted . “ Right now we are dealing with a lot of
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Fentanyl overdoses .” Cell phones also are impacting the profession . “ Now we walk into houses and people are steadily videoing you ,” Elkins said . This puts a lot of stress on first responders who are trying to focus on the patient and help with their distress . Phones can also be beneficial . Cell phones have helped located missing people . “ Family members also have taken photos and videos to show us , ‘ Hey , this is what she was doing before you got here ,’ which might be different than what EMS workers are observing ,” he explained . “ That has helped us to see that something may be going on with the person .”
Elkins understands the risks to first responders especially with so many people carrying guns nowadays .
“ You don ’ t always know when you walk into a residence if you are going to be safe or not , so you always have your eyes open and stay alert ,” he said .
On difficult days , he turns to his girlfriend , Bridget Watkins , who also works in the EMS field , for support .
To decompress from the stress , he likes to fish , do yard work , and watch his youngest daughter play tennis and his grandchildren play ball T-ball and softball .
Elkins acknowledges the nationwide shortage of EMS workers is putting more stress on the system .
“ I am proud of my team every day . They work short-handed . They work long hours ,” he said . “ They are the rock . They are what makes Metro roll .” M
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