September 28, 2018
Nick Smithers trains his basic Danville Life Saving Crew skills in a Junior training session.
When people think of a first responder, they usually think of adult men and women on a rescue squad, but Junior Nick Smithers defies what people normally think.
“I decided to join the Danville Life Saving Crew because I have an interest in medicine,” said Smithers.
Smithers’ dedication to the Danville Life Saving Crew goes beyond the bare minimum of two shifts per month. He is the Junior First Lieutenant for the Danville Life Saving Crew’s Junior members and pulls for the call team, which means if the duty gets overwhelmed with calls, the call team has the opportunity to help.
“Running calls is astonishing. The adrenaline rush is a feeling like no other. I never know what to expect because every call is so different, so it keeps me on my toes,” said Smithers.
Since Smithers is the Junior First Lieutenant, he has multiple job requirements to meet, like making sure all the Junior members meet their individual duty requirements of two duties a month.
“Another part of my job is to make sure that Junior members are confident and capable of treating patients the correct way,” said Smithers.
If any of the Junior members have questions about how to do something on the truck or with a patient, Smithers uses his knowledge and resources to provide answers to the Junior member in need.
“Patients receive different types of care for different scenarios, so if one patient presents signs of chest pains, the team would take different steps to stabilize them than if a patient is having a drug overdose,” said Smithers.
Keeping the patient stable and alive is the main goal Smithers strives for.
Smithers is not the only one in his family to run calls for the Danville Life Saving Crew. His mom and step-dad are Emergency Medical Technician – Basic, or EMT-B.
Because of his love for the Danville Life Saving Crew, Smithers wants to pursue a career to be a nurse practitioner or a physician’s assistant.
“The Danville Life Saving Crew prepares people for the medical field by giving basic knowledge before going into the field of medicine,” said Smithers.
The process to be apart of the Danville Life Saving Crew is fairly easy, but a long process.
“The process of joining the Danville Life Saving Crew is somewhat like applying for a job,” said Smithers.
The application has information about the requirements, such as the person applying needs to complete CPR and have a good standing in school. Since the Danville Life Saving Crew does a background check, the process takes about a month to be completed. After the background check, anyone applying should receive a phone call to be asked in for an interview.
“Anyone who is interested in the medical field, I highly suggest joining the Danville Life Saving Crew because it will prepare you for basic medical knowledge, and even if you are not interested in the medical field and just love helping people, the crew is a wonderful way in doing that,” said Smithers.
The Danville Life Saving Crew’s Junior members are not all work. The Junior members have active
training days. The Junior members most recent one was at Anglers park, where they ran through a scenario of a woman in a bicycle accident on the trial.
“Training sessions are a great way to learn new medical ways of treating patients,” said Smithers.
Being a part of the Danville Life Saving Crew has impacted Smithers’ life, and he hopes to continue and be captain next year for the Danville Life Saving Crew’s Junior members.
Your donation will support the student journalists of Tunstall High School. Your contribution will allow us to purchase equipment and cover our annual website hosting costs.
Paul • Oct 2, 2018 at 12:23 pm
I very thankful for the Danville life saving crew and their dedication in helping the Citizens but furthermore their interest in todays youth.
Nick Smithers is my grandson of whom I am a very proud grandpa. Nick has always been a good person but his tenure with the Crew there is a noticeable change in going from a teenager to a responsible young man.