T-30 and counting....

And so it begins... my journey to become a certified EMT here in NJ, furthering my involvement in the Mendham First Aid Squad.

And I'm gonna share that journey with you... because many of you may have had the same reaction I did a year ago, and perhaps by my sharing my own journey, a few more of you will be motivated to join the squad and pursue becoming an EMT as well.

It's no small task, becoming an EMT. NJ state law requires 220 hours of training, and starting in January I'll be dedicating my weekends through May to classes, every Saturday and Sunday from 9am - 5:30pm.

So why am I doing this (and why is my wife putting up with it)?

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A bit of background on me would probably be a good place as any to start this blog. I'm 49 years old, and have been out of school more years than I ever was in school. I've got a full-time job running a technology partner program for a communications software vendor. And I live in the borough with my wife and 8-year old son.

So... I'm not in the healthcare field. I'm not sitting around with oodles of free time. I'm not young, nor am I having a mid-life crisis. And I'm not a glutton for punishment (although some may argue that point).

Again, so why am I doing this?

I probably have a lot of little reasons. But the biggest one, perhaps, is that the members of the squad responded on 3 separate occasions in past years when *I* needed help ... and my volunteering with the squad for the past year as a driver has shown me just how rewarding it can be to provide care and compassion to others.

As for my wife? I can only say that she must really love me, and I'm grateful she's being so supportive of my efforts here.

Thanks for coming along with me on this journey. Hopefully, we'll both learn something from it. If nothing else, you'll get a chance to understand what, exactly, goes in to the efforts made by many of our squad members, young and old, student and retiree alike, to help serve the community of Mendham.

Stay tuned... I'll be updating this blog periodically before, during and after the EMT course, telling you more about being part of the squad, what to expect as an EMT student, and (hopefully) celebrating my successful completion.