“Having the community’s support as their public servants is paramount to us feeling like we are doing a job that matters.“
Chief Mindy Gabriel spent 18 years in Upper Arlington, Ohio as a Firefighter/Paramedic in charge of all community outreach. She recently earned a promotion to EMS Chief of Operations at Westerville Fire Department when she beat out 24 other candidates for the position.
Her first six months on the job as EMS Chief of Operations have been anything but normal.
“I didn’t have ‘Handle a Global Pandemic’ in my first quarter goals.“
Chief Gabriel wants YOU to know that firefighters and paramedics are absolutely dedicated to community support. They love their jobs and what they’re tasked to do. With that said, it is incredibly difficult work that requires constantly learning how to relate to the public.
Fun Fact: Less than 4% of calls that firefighters respond to are fires (Statista.com).
Here’s how a recent 24-hour shift went for one of Westerville Fire Department’s battalion chiefs…
The morning began when the chief had to respond to a 13-year-old who had committed suicide. What he remembered most was the guttural scream from the child’s parents.
“We’ve heard that guttural scream so many times from people who are hurting — yes, people.”
That same shift ended for the battalion chief by sitting with an older gentleman whose wife had just passed away. With no one near to comfort him, the gentleman turned to the battalion chief for comfort.
Mindy spoke about the uptick in violence toward firefighters in recent years. This is due to an increase in violence and rampant mental health problems. This forces her and her colleagues to be ever more diligent to keep themselves safe.
“We’ve had to do a mind shift to understand that some people may want to hurt us. But I think being able to understand those risks helps you live more fully.”
Despite the stress and difficulties, she is very passionate about firefighting.
“Firefighters, on the whole, really enjoy their lives. I am a mother of three young children. I would not like to leave them in this world yet. We have many more adventures to take and lessons to learn together.”
Chief Gabriel’s words of wisdom to other firefighters focus on adapting and learning every day:
“Have a growth mindset. Stay calm and make decisions. You must be open to learning every day. You can’t ever sit on your laurels. The target is always moving and you must stay energized and keep positive.”
“A firefighter’s mind is one that has captured all of humanity; this is both beautiful and terribly sad. We need to take care of one another.”
Chief Mindy Gabriel
Mindy is a champion of the “community medic” strategy. Some patients need support, not a 911 call. It’s not until the first responders can ‘push the pause button’ and get the patient some actual help that the patient’s issue can actually be resolved.
She shared one of many stories she has to highlight the importance of community medic support.
Her department would receive calls all the time from a patient, John Doe, who was difficult to deal with. He usually seemed angry, unappreciative, and sometimes they didn’t even know why he called.
Over the course of a year, Mindy as Lead Community Medic, took the responsibility of getting to know John and understand his backstory. After sitting down with him, she was able to provide proper care for him.
She discovered that John was a Vietnam veteran who developed PTSD from the terrible things he had experienced. He had lost all of his family members and he had been homeless as a result of his alcohol addiction which he leaned on to battle depression. Furthermore, he couldn’t feel his feet because he had suffered frostbite. So when he would fall, he wouldn’t want to explain why he fell and he would then get angry with the first responders who were trying to figure out why he kept falling.
Chief Gabriel connected him with primary care and transportation so he could get around. John’s only friend was his neighbor, whom Chief Gabriel’s fire department began to work with. John ended up developing cancer and the days before he died, his neighbor called Chief Gabriel.
John wanted to thank her for treating him like a human; for seeing him behind what he had become.
John was dismissed by all of society, but Mindy’s efforts as Lead Community Medic offered him the compassion that he deserved and desperately needed.
Mindy Gabriel | Upper Arlington, OH
- Category · Featured Firefighter
- ·ㅤPublished ·
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- ·ㅤCategory · Featured Firefighter
- ·ㅤPublished ·
Chief Mindy Gabriel spent 18 years in Upper Arlington, Ohio as a Firefighter/Paramedic in charge of all community outreach. She recently earned a promotion to EMS Chief of Operations at Westerville Fire Department when she beat out 24 other candidates for the position.
Her first six months on the job as EMS Chief of Operations have been anything but normal.
Chief Gabriel wants YOU to know that firefighters and paramedics are absolutely dedicated to community support. They love their jobs and what they’re tasked to do. With that said, it is incredibly difficult work that requires constantly learning how to relate to the public.
Fun Fact: Less than 4% of calls that firefighters respond to are fires (Statista.com).
Here’s how a recent 24-hour shift went for one of Westerville Fire Department’s battalion chiefs…
The morning began when the chief had to respond to a 13-year-old who had committed suicide. What he remembered most was the guttural scream from the child’s parents.
That same shift ended for the battalion chief by sitting with an older gentleman whose wife had just passed away. With no one near to comfort him, the gentleman turned to the battalion chief for comfort.
“We’ve had to do a mind shift to understand that some people may want to hurt us. But I think being able to understand those risks helps you live more fully.”
“Firefighters, on the whole, really enjoy their lives. I am a mother of three young children. I would not like to leave them in this world yet. We have many more adventures to take and lessons to learn together.”
“Have a growth mindset. Stay calm and make decisions. You must be open to learning every day. You can’t ever sit on your laurels. The target is always moving and you must stay energized and keep positive.”
“A firefighter’s mind is one that has captured all of humanity; this is both beautiful and terribly sad. We need to take care of one another.”
Chief Mindy Gabriel
Mindy is a champion of the “community medic” strategy. Some patients need support, not a 911 call. It’s not until the first responders can ‘push the pause button’ and get the patient some actual help that the patient’s issue can actually be resolved.
She shared one of many stories she has to highlight the importance of community medic support.
Her department would receive calls all the time from a patient, John Doe, who was difficult to deal with. He usually seemed angry, unappreciative, and sometimes they didn’t even know why he called.
Over the course of a year, Mindy as Lead Community Medic, took the responsibility of getting to know John and understand his backstory. After sitting down with him, she was able to provide proper care for him.
She discovered that John was a Vietnam veteran who developed PTSD from the terrible things he had experienced. He had lost all of his family members and he had been homeless as a result of his alcohol addiction which he leaned on to battle depression. Furthermore, he couldn’t feel his feet because he had suffered frostbite. So when he would fall, he wouldn’t want to explain why he fell and he would then get angry with the first responders who were trying to figure out why he kept falling.
Chief Gabriel connected him with primary care and transportation so he could get around. John’s only friend was his neighbor, whom Chief Gabriel’s fire department began to work with. John ended up developing cancer and the days before he died, his neighbor called Chief Gabriel.
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