Student Profile: Will Adams, WEMT Student

This week the focus is on our students. We’re starting off with former Remote Medical student Will Adams. Read his story below.

Remote Medical alumnus Will Adams has always loved the wilderness, but he didn’t always think wilderness medicine was for him. “Before Remote Medical, I owned a bar. But once I volunteered in New Mexico on a mountain rescue team I saw that all the EMTs and paramedics got to do all the cool stuff.” His friends noticed that Will was pretty into the work and recommended be become an EMT.

Will spent a lot of time outdoors as a kid and thought that working with a wilderness education company would be a great way to blend his love of mountaineering with his interest in wilderness medicine. All the jobs he found required a minimum certification of Wilderness First Responder. When he found Remote Medical, he read about the Wilderness EMT course, determined it was what he was looking for, and signed up.

Will returned to New Mexico after completing his Remote Medical course,. He volunteered with a county fire department to get ambulance time. He discovered that he really enjoyed the work and the remote location really challenged him to use all of his Remote Medical training.

“The hospital is about a forty-five minute drive. We would have to fly some of our patients out. In the spring there were often really high winds and that wasn’t possible. We would have to transport for a really long time, so I got to see a lot of continuing-care.”

After working in New Mexico, Will decided that the emergency medical field was where he really wanted to work. He wanted to become a paramedic, but, according to Will, “In New Mexico, the EMS academy is really the only one in the state. The wait list was pretty long.” Did that stop him? Of course not. He moved to California.

Will found a job as an EMT in Oakland and is attending paramedic school. “I just finished the didactic portion and I’m going to finish up back in Washington State.”

His journey from bar owner to paramedic is almost complete and it started at Remote Medical International.

If you have a student whose story you feel should be highlighted on the blog, e-mail ecoltrera@remotemedical.com.