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03/30/2022 08:30 AMEver since Mike Walston was in high school, he knew what he wanted to do and despite those who said he would never be able to succeed, Mike was able to forge a 40-plus year career in the town emergency services departments. Mike has just retired after this decades-long stint and reflected on the many calls he experienced and many people he forged bonds with as an EMT, paramedic, and Captain for the Guilford Fire Department.
According to Mike, he knew from a very early age exactly what he wanted to do with his life.
“I started in 1978 as an explorer scout, which was kind of part of the Boy Scouts and part of the Fire Department back then,” Mike says. “As a kid we used to watch that show called Emergency on Saturday nights and there were two paramedics on that show that worked with the fire department and when I saw that I said. ‘That’s what I want to do when I grow up.’”
Unfortunately, Mike didn’t initially get positive feedback with that decision. According to Mike, he was afflicted with severe cataracts as a child and the surgery that corrected the problems also led to vision issues that made many question whether he could actually perform the skills required for such a demanding job.
“I was born with cataracts and had them removed in 1963, but when they took the cataracts out, they obviously couldn’t put lens in back then so I ended up with these thick glasses as a result. So, everyone said I’d never be able to be a firefighter or a paramedic. I remember several people telling me to stop hanging around the firehouse. Even my dad told me that I had to move on to something else and think about having to raise a family someday and that this career was impossible. But I said no, I’m going to do this and get on an ambulance. Even counselors in high school said, ‘You’re never going to do this,’ and I said I am going to do it. I eventually joined the Guilford Rescue Squad and Eagle Hose Company on Whitfield Street. By the time I was 21, I was running the organization.”
Overcoming his vision issues and the wall of doubt was an integral part of Mike’s career, he says. The determination and confidence he built ultimately served the community well.
“Everywhere I turned seemed to be a ‘No,’ but Chief Herrschaft [long-time Guilford Fire Chief and Fire Marshal Charles Herrschaft] was the one who believed in me and pushed for me to get hired. If it wasn’t for him, I never would have been hired,” Mike says. “I got hired in 1988 as an IV tech, as we didn’t have paramedics yet, but I eventually became one of the first paramedics in town, even though they kept telling me, ‘You’ll never make through med school—drawing up the meds and starting IVs is something you’ll never going to be able to do,’ but I proved them wrong and I eventually became one of the best IV starters in town.”
Becoming certified as a paramedic is not simple. Many who have achieved this designation describe it as training for becoming both a doctor and a nurse in half the time.
“It wasn’t easy. It was a year-long or so class and we really got tested and the practical work isn’t easy either. In the end, we get signed off by a doctor. It was a great feeling to achieve that,” Mike recalls. “I went on to become a paramedic field trainer myself. It is a great feeling to share that with other paramedics, some of whom are still working today.”
Mike became lead paramedic in the ‘90s and then moved on to the Rescue Department, working in several different capacities.
“I eventually took the captain’s test and passed the captain’s test. I became the captain of A-shift and that’s where I stayed for the rest of my career,” Mike says.
Like most emergency personnel, Mike has experienced many tragedies during his service. House fires, car accidents, and other incidents are indelibly imprinted on his memory, but there are also many positive memories as well, according to Mike.
“One of my worst calls was a young child who was stung in the mouth, who was the same age as my son at the time. We tried to get this baby breathing again, and this was such a critical situation, but sadly this baby didn’t make it,” Mike recalled. “With my son being the same age, that really impacted me and I actually wasn’t sure if I wanted to do the job anymore. But friends talked me back into it and told me to keep going. So, I bounced back. But that was probably the toughest call I ever had.”
Despite witnessing death so intimately, Mike says there are positive moments that help ease the pain of some of the more tragic incidents.
“I taught the CPR program in town and taught that skill to boy scouts and cub scouts and I remember in the early 2000s the chief taking me into his office and telling me that a cub scout was able to save his grandmother at Thanksgiving using the Heimlich maneuver, so that was a real rewarding feeling. One of the highlights of my career for sure,” Mike says. “We had some great saves over the years, too. Getting someone back and breathing is very rewarding. It doesn’t happen all that much, but when we bring someone back from cardiac arrest, it’s special.”
Mike says he will miss the action of his job, but is looking for forward to a new position at Yale in Guilford and spending time with his family on a schedule that doesn’t include nights and weekends and holidays. Even in retiring, Mike was reflecting on his colleagues and community.
“It was a great career. I know I’m going to miss it, but I’m getting too old to be running into burning buildings. I would feel horrible if one of my guys got hurt because I couldn’t pull my weight. So, I got another offer and decided that I had to take this when I can,” Mike says. “It was time to take care of my family. It’s a big change, but I’m happy to have the opportunity.”