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<br /> <br /> <br />~ ALLINA. <br />MEDICAL <br />~1. TRANSPORTATION <br /> <br /> <br />Allina HosPitals & Clinics <br /> <br />Keith Witte, Paramedic <br />Allina Medical Transportation <br /> <br />1. Why did you decide to become a paramedic? <br />First aid is something that had interested me since my Boy Scout merit badge. Then after 10 <br />years of retail, two friends, who are medics, urged me into paramedicine. <br /> <br />2. Career length? <br />I've been in EMS since 1991. <br /> <br />3. What is the most important asset of a successful paramedic? <br />You need to have good investigative skills. We enter the unknown everyday and must gather <br />information from our surroundings and the patients' signs & symptoms quickly to start <br />appropriate treatment. <br /> <br />4. Have you ever delivered a baby? <br />I have delivered four babies. We try to get the mother to the hospital before delivery happens. <br />However, there are times the baby just can't wait. I have delivered two babies in living rooms <br />and two babies in the back of the ambulance. <br /> <br />5. What is the most preventable emergency that you see over and over again? <br />There are a couple. People still don't use their seatbelts while driving. We see lots of banged up <br />patients because of non-seat belt use. The other is an injured person where alcohol has been <br />involved. <br /> <br />6. How has your job changed since 9/11 ? <br />I have become more aware of my surroundings and scenes. Safety is of the utmost importance. <br />Weare entering into the unknown everyday and need to be alert at all times. We now carry <br />helmets and respirators for personal safety. <br /> <br />7. What is the most frightening situation you have been in? <br />I have had to enter an unsecured scene to get a shooting victim where the shooter was still in the <br />building. It is unusual for paramedics to enter an unsecured scene, but when it is <br />necessary, it is done only with a police escort. <br /> <br />8. How do you work with police officers and firefighters? <br />We answer on average 125 calls for help each day in the communities we serve. Police and Fire <br />are an important link in the EMS chain. It varies from community to community on who first <br />responds with us to calls. Our first responders assist us in initial patient care and transfer into the <br />ambulance. <br /> <br />9. Death is a part of your job, how do you deal with that? <br />Unfortunately not all of our patients live. Some days I go home and hug and kiss my wife and <br />kids and thank God for every day I have. Our partners are our second family and we talk during <br />our shift about the calls that bother us. <br />