Jesse
Ebersole
Firefighter/MICT
Class of 1987
By Kaili Harrison
When you hear the Rescue
Squad siren speeding up the road, know that someone will soon be getting some
needed medical attention. Jesse
Ebersole has worked for the Hawaii County Fire Department as a Firefighter/MICT
for 15 years and has been an MICT (mobile intensive care technician) for
13. In the course of his work, he has
seen people lose their lives. He
said, “Sometimes it’s a matter someone
being so extremely sick due to their traumatic injury or underlying health
problems that there is nothing that can be done to save them.” In other
circumstances, someone may die because a life saving intervention was
unsuccessful. Luckily, there have been
more cases of saving people’s lives.
Jesse’s
initial EMT training took four months, then after gaining experience working as
an EMT in Honolulu, he underwent one year of intensive training to become an
MICT. This included six months of
8-hour classroom training, followed by a month of hospital clinical
rotations. He then spent seven months
as an intern on the busiest ambulances in Honolulu and on the Big Island. Jesse says “as an intern you try to manage
all the calls under the direct supervision of a certified MICT who mentors,
teaches, supports and evaluates you along the way.” When asked what it was like
to a paramedic he replied: “Working as an MICT is an extremely rewarding career
for me. It’s a physically, mentally, and emotionally challenging job.”
Jesse
feels great satisfaction in his career and is happy to have found a job that he
is passionate about. “I work for an outstanding Fire Department with good
people and have the opportunity to help take care of the people in my community
and make a positive impact during their time of need.”
Jesse
graduated with the class of 1987 from Waiakea High School. He remembers the
good times he had with his friends and says that his teachers and coaches had a
positive impact on his life. Mr. Ken
Yamase’s advanced guidance class led him to his current career. Until then, he had no idea what he was
wanted to do with his life. Jesse is
married to his high school sweetheart, the former Michele Goya, who is an
Assistant Professor at the University of Hawaii at Hilo’s Education
Department. They have two children,
Jamie and Mari.
Other
Waiakea High School graduates who work as firefighters or MICTs at the County
Fire Department include: Curt Oishi,
Terrance Andrade, Jerry Lum, Richard Wells, Daniel Leite, Daniel Dierking and
Christopher Hipsher.