Participants at this year’s EMS Today conference were witness to a special presentation on March 9. On the last day of the conference, after all the regular awards had been handed out, retired paramedic Jeff Lucia came on stage to deliver a final tribute. Speaking from the heart, Jeff honored his mentor, Ben Jones, who received a Lifetime Achievement Award from JEMS and the James O. Page Charitable Foundation. The standing ovation when Ben came on stage to accept his award spoke volumes, a recognition from everyone in the room who had benefited from a mentor in their lives.
Ben’s story shows how leadership can take many forms. We hope it inspires you to be a mentor, to find one, or maybe do both. We present here a transcript of Jeff’s speech and urge you to share your stories about a mentor who made a difference in your life.
Some of you may recall an article I wrote in JEMS about older paramedics. That article told the story of Ben Jones, who had become an EMT, and then a paramedic, in his mid 60’s. He did this shortly before retiring from his day job as chairman of a major insurance company in Massachusetts.
By Jeff Lucia
Updated June 2015
Ben worked the gritty streets in Springfield, Mass., for several years. He also became the first paramedic for the town of Shelter Island, N.Y., where he still volunteers to this day. He also serves with Stuart Fire Rescue in Stuart, Fla., where he lives with his wife, Betty. He served as a first responder at Ground Zero at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001; in Florida after Hurricane Andrew; and just recently in New York during Hurricane Sandy. And thousands of other calls in between.
There are a number of folks here today who’ve pulled shifts with Ben over the years. And you can ask any one of them and they’ll tell you the exact same thing: Ben Jones is one hard man to keep up with. He’s the first one on the rig when the tones go off, and the last to complain when you’re 20 calls into a 24-hour shift. He makes a personal connection with every single patient, and he makes every one of them feel like their well-being is the most important thing in the world when they’re under his care.
And he does the same thing with every partner he works with. In every department he’s been a part of, whether urban private 911, volunteer or union fire department, he becomes the in-house mentor, career counselor and guru on life.
He’s encouraged countless people to step up, to do the right thing, to advance their education, to take on new challenges, to advance their careers, to become everything they’re capable of being. Before I left my full-time paramedic job to take a position as an editor at JEMS, I told Ben I was having some second thoughts. I said, “I don’t know if I’m ready for this.” I said, “I feel like I’m needed here.” And I’ll never forget what Ben said to me in response. He said, “Buddy, we need you there.”
Ben Jones didn’t have to get into EMS. He could have retired very comfortably. But he wanted to make a difference, a real difference, in people’s lives.
By the way, that article I mentioned? It was published in 1991. Today Ben is 90 years old and still actively taking care of patients—and EMS practitioners.
When you ride with Ben, you stand a little taller, straighten your uniform a bit more, share a little more kindness. Treat the people around you with a little more respect. Act with a little more humility.
My hope today is that all of us, the next time we show up for work, whether we’re taking calls or taking care of patients, taking care of paperwork, taking care of policy, or taking care of EMS practitioners—my hope is that all of us ride with Ben.
And today we honor him for making a difference, not just for patients, but for all of us. Ben … buddy … we need you right here. And we thank you.
Jeff Lucia is a partner at The RedFlash Group.
