Here’s how Richard Becker spent his vacation in Disneyworld.
“I’m sitting on a park bench, watching people enjoying the rides and exhibits, and here I am on a three-hour teleconference call with executives from my company. That did it for me. This was my awakening. Time for a career change.”
That was 10 years ago. These days, Becker is flying high as a flight paramedic with Lehigh Valley Hospital Medivac and as a paramedic with Goodwill of Pottstown Ambulance.
At the age of 16, while still a student at Boyertown Area High School, Becker first became interested in emergency services, joining Friendship Hook & Ladder Company and Boyertown Lions Community Ambulance as a junior member. At the same time, he became fascinated with computers and enrolled in computer courses. “I love how computers work, the writing of programs, the results of these programs, the problems that can occur and how you go about solving the problem.”
For 23 years, Becker worked for a publisher of industrial directories, put to use his computer knowledge and skills in a variety of positions, including manager of the programming department. “There was no let-up for me,” he said. “I worked day, nights and weekends. It was exhausting.” In his final three years —from 2001 to 2004- the pressure increased. “Computers were becoming more and more popular,” he recalled.. “There was a lot more stress to get things accomplished and they had to be accomplished pronto.”
In 2004, opportunity presented itself to the 42-year-old Becker. “I was in a fortunate financial situation,” he admitted. “Our house was paid off. My wife and I had put our three children through college. I had full support from my family and felt this was the time to make the change.”
Since helicopter rescues invariably involve serious injuries, such as car wrecks, crippling falls and industrial accidents, the treatment of these airborne patients is especially challenging, Becker pointed out. “We’re 2000 feet above ground, going very fast and working in a cramped area. Occasionally, a patient is so distraught that he or she becomes difficult to control. This poses a threat to both crew members and the patient. On these occasions, the patient sometimes has to be sedated.”
When Becker is working the Goodwill ambulances, the emergencies are “less harrowing.” They are non-trauma related calls, such as cardiac and respiratory arrests, strokes and allergic reactions.
One aspect of emergency service work that Becker finds satisfying is the one-on-one relationship he experiences with patients. “It’s more of a personal thing,” he said. “The coolest patients are the elderly. I like listening to their stories, about growing up, their schooling and what they did in life. I once interacted with a patient who had served in the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. He was particularly fascinating.”
