Jack Johnson ’22 has always been passionate about hiking. But it wasn’t until a backpacker suffered a mild concussion on a wilderness trip he was on with the National Outdoor Leadership School that his interest in emergency medicine took hold. The group was backpacking in a remote part of Wyoming in 2017 when one of the students tripped, striking his head on a rock. After watching others treat the injury, Johnson was inspired to train as a Wilderness First Responder (WFR) in the summer of 2018.
 
The following year, in 2019, Johnson earned his credentials as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician (W-EMT). This summer, he has been pulling 12-to-18 hour shifts as a volunteer EMT in his hometown of New Canaan, CT.

While he was at Hotchkiss, Johnson also volunteered with the North Canaan EMS advanced life support service. (North Canaan is a 20-min drive from campus; New Canaan, where Johnson lives, is in southern Connecticut.)
 
“I worked a shift in North Canaan every Sunday, leaving school at 5:30 a.m. I wanted to have as much experience in as many different EMS departments as possible. It is also a great way to give back to any community because you make an actual tangible difference on each 911 call,” said Johnson, who also serves as president of the Hotchkiss Medical Society and the Hotchkiss Outing Club,

When Hotchkiss closed the campus and began distance learning last March, Johnson used his spare time to serve in his own community in Fairfield County, CT. For him, the experience he gains working in what could be one of the most significant public health crises of his lifetime is invaluable, and will serve him well after he graduates from Hotchkiss and pursues a college education in emergency and trauma medicine. 

“Fairfield County has been the most significant hotspot in the entire state based on total cases, cases per capita, and total deaths,” said Johnson.“For a period of time, it was one of the most infected counties in the nation. Every time I treat a patient or respond to a call, I know that the work I am doing is making a difference,” he said.
  
“As a 911 ambulance service, we are primarily exposed to the more critically ill patients rather than stable ones. We have significant difficulties caring for COVID-19 patients, as there is still very little information available about the most effective interventions, and COVID-19 patients can present with a wide variety of symptoms,” he said. “It’s so much more than a simple respiratory infection.”
 
His parents had mixed feelings about having their son in situations where he could get infected, but they also valued how important the work was to him and to the community. To ensure the crew is protected, personnel wear extra PPE (personal protective equipment) on every call. “This includes a fit-tested N-95 mask, glasses, goggles or face-shield, and gloves. On any suspected or confirmed positive COVID-19 call, we wear N-95 or P-100 respirators, goggles and face-shield, and full-body gowns or Tyvek isolation suits. Following a COVID-19 call, we aggressively decontaminate the entire ambulance using hydrogen peroxide and an aerosolized virucide disinfectant machine called a 'fogger'. All handheld equipment is decontaminated using UV-radiation,” Johnson said.
 
During his shifts, he often finds himself in a high-pressure emergency situations or in the back of an ambulance flying down the highway; his work can range from helping to calm down a patient having an anxiety attack to routine vitals assessments and monitoring to performing lifesaving medical interventions and basic drug administration to assisting a paramedic unit with advanced procedures and diagnostics such as IVs, EKGs, and intubation.
 
There is a three-person crew on each 911 call. Johnson is currently being evaluated to be a crew chief, overseeing the team. Alec Montgomery, 59, who works side-by-side with Johnson in the back of the ambulance, said he hasn’t really focused on exactly how old Jack is. “We are both new EMTs so functionally, we are at the same place. But it hasn’t escaped me that he is relatively mature and responsible for his age.

“Jack has been great to work with,” he adds. “He appreciates that no two calls are the same and there is something to learn from every call.  While completely focused and dedicated to the work, he is also easygoing enough to while away the hours at the station between calls.”  

The work can be stressful. But Johnson loves not only helping patients, but also having the opportunity to interact with them on a personal level.
 
“The variety of people who call 911 is incredible, because emergencies and accidents do not happen to one race, age, sex, or socioeconomic status. Every patient has a story, and I have heard some of the most amazing life stories from my own patients.”