Last Shift

Kevin Stubbings drives back

to quarters following the last

call of his career..."for now."

I've been waiting to write this until the shift was over because I honestly haven't been able to find the right words to say. Those who know me well know that usually isn't a problem for me.

I lost a good partner today. For nearly three years, we've been a team, working together on the everyday calls EMSers encounter, interspersed with some really challenging calls that define who we are as caregivers. We've seen some really sick patients, backboarded more people than I can count, and gotten more "thank yous" from people than I can remember.

We worked really well as a team, and I truly believe our patients benefited from our ability to seamlessly provide care with little verbal communication between us. We always seemed to know what the other was going to do. Good teams do that, and anyone who's had a partner like this understands exactly what I mean.

We were certainly at very different ends of the personality spectrum, but my partner had a way of bringing out the best in me. When I was feeling out of sorts, his wit would help put me back in better spirits; heaven knows how often he was able to do that. He's helped me through some difficult situations that I'm sure he didn't even know about, and I can't thank him enough for just being him. That stability was what I needed to continue to persevere. Our differences were just enough to balance each other out. You don't find that very often.

Being in EMS full time for more than 5 years is typically a badge of honor; after 10 years my partner's hanging up his stethoscope today. I hope it's only for a little while, for the sake of the patients who need him.

Kevin Stubbings: thank you for your service to EMS, and for putting up with me. Enjoy your time away, but don't stay away too long.