By James Tyree
The Oklahoman
NORMAN, Okla. — Norman paramedics Mike Maddry and Randy Pickard, who will receive Star of Life awards tonight from the Oklahoma Ambulance Association, defy the odds every time they report to work.
Robert Frantz, medical director of Norman EMSStat, said at this year’s Norman Public Safety Banquet that the average career span for a paramedic is seven years. Yet Pickard is going strong after 19 years, all in Norman, while Maddry is closing in on 15 years overall and 10 in Norman.
“I remember in my first year, my foot would literally shake on the gas pedal,” Maddry said. “But now you’ve seen everything out there — although every now and then it’ll throw a curveball at you.”
Both said those occasional curveballs, along with the individual nature of routine calls and the camaraderie among colleagues, have kept them energized at their jobs.
Pickard said “when we come to work, we don’t know what we’re going to do each day.”
Today, each can expect to get a Star of Life, an award shaped like the blue six-pointed star that symbolizes emergency medical services. Association President Bob Hawley said the award is presented to emergency medical workers who demonstrate commitment to excellence and to patients.
“The OKAMA Stars of Life are men and women who go above and beyond to get the job done,” he stated in a news release. “They sacrifice their own comforts, desires and needs, sometimes even their own safety, to make sure Oklahomans get the best possible emergency medical care.”
Biggest differences
Maddry and Pickard said the biggest differences between being a paramedic in the 1990s and today are that paramedics now are allowed to do more medical procedures than ever with equipment that is safer and more technologically advanced.
Maddry is a paramedic for EMSStat, which is administered by Norman Regional Hospital, and a full-time member of the Norman Fire Department. With EMSStat, he also updates maps and is in charge of equipment battery care.
Pickard was born and raised in Norman and intends to keep working here because “it’s just the community I grew up in.” He started with the Norman Police Department Emergency Medical Services in 1991 and became an original EMSStat paramedic when the hospital took over the system in 1995.
“He’s been to 12,000 to 15,000 calls in his career by my count; it could be more,” Frantz said of Pickard. “But this guy has managed to stay positive the entire time, and he looks exactly the same now as when he started.”
Copyright 2010 The Oklahoman, All Rights Reserved