Thank You, Thom Dick

 I've been fortunate to meet many people who have inspired my career over the years. Some have been partners on difficult calls, others have been educators, supervisors, and members of brother services. But one person who I've found has inspired me most often I've only met once for the briefest moment in time: Thom Dick. Many of you may know him as the author of regular columns in industry periodicals; he's also authored a book entitled "People Care." If you get a chance, pick it up; it's a fantastic read. I had the opportunity to meet Thom at the EMS Today Conference in Baltimore, Maryland back in 2009. He had been honored with the James O. Page award and was signing autographs and meeting EMSers in the exhibit hall that afternoon.

The 45 seconds or so I spent were like standing next to a legend for me. Why? His attitude toward taking care of patients. As he outlines in "People Care" and his regular articles, this job is all about people taking care of people. His manner of describing how to put a personal touch on this job has been a teaching tool that I've used with new EMTs for years. He takes situations that are often the butt of jokes in our daily work and makes you realize that regardless of the types of patients you encounter, they're still asking for help; they're still human. His articles provide an "attitude adjustment," if you will, for providers who have forgotten that the patients we encounter have names, emotions, and lives that are usually bigger than the reason you were called.

I keep my copy of People Care close by and sometimes, when I'm feeling off, will take a few minutes to re-read a chapter or two. It will put me back into the proper frame of mind so I can head off to take care of the next patient and give them the best care I can give. I look forward to opening my mailbox and finding a magazine that has an article, anxious to read the next words of wisdom from Thom.

I hope that you will be fortunate enough to find someone to inspire your care the way Thom has inspired mine. He's a rare gem among us, and we're lucky to have this guiding light providing words of wisdom to make us all better. Thank you, Thom Dick!