When Randy Owen says he’s not one to sit around and do nothing, he really means it. Although he is enjoying a short time off at the moment, Owen said he will be officially retired from Vance -Granville Community College on November 1. That also happens to be his first day at his new job as a paramedic at Rex Health Care’s catheterization lab.
Owen spoke with John C. Rose on Town Talk Wednesday, and he said the afternoon’s activities involved playing a little golf. When November rolls around in a couple of weeks, however, he will be working 12-hour shifts several days each week, which he said he looks forward to.
His first career began when he joined the Henderson Fire Department back in 1990. What began as a job as a firefighter and EMT morphed into becoming first a part-time instructor at VGCC and then a full-time instructor and coordinator of fire and rescue training.
“I fell in love with the instruction part of it,” Owen said. He got a certificate to teach CPR and then got his EMS certification. He credits Ranger Wilkerson, Danny Wilkerson and Curtis Tyndall with getting his career off on solid footing.
His second career will be challenging, but it’s a challenge he said he looks forward to. “I love a challenge,” he exclaimed. “I’m really, really looking forward to doing some patient care.”
Whether it’s caring for patients, co-workers, family or his community, Owen does so with a smile and great enthusiasm.
He said he is grateful for the support that he and his family have received in the past few years since his daughter Reagan’s diagnosis with acute myeloid leukemia. There have been fundraisers and many other expressions of support as medical bills continued to mount.
“It was very, very stressful,” he recalled, when Rae Rae spent eight long months at Duke for treatment. Community support “touched us in such a special way,” he said. Right now, she’s doing well, although she faces a pulmonic valve replacement in the future. “She should be put in line pretty soon,” he said.
In his new job, he’ll work fewer days, but longer shifts, and the schedule is more flexible. This is another aspect of the job that appeals to Owen because that means he can donate his time to help with other organizations.
Amanda Riggan, founder of Hungry Heroes, called him recently and asked whether he could help with an upcoming event in the area. “I just jumped on board and said, ‘most definitely!’”
“It’s amazing what she does for our public safety people,” he said of Riggan and the organization that provides meals and stocks kitchens for first responders like firefighters and rescue personnel.
Offering food to those who serve in their community is a little “give back,” he said. “One little thing we can do is feed them.”
In his role as coordinator for the fire and rescue training program at VGCC, Owen saw to it that the 50-plus agencies in the four counties that VGCC serves had the appropriate training classes.
One program that he remembers well involved helping first responders deal with stress.
The idea was to debrief after a traumatic event like a fire or a car accident, let folks explain their role and “get it off their chest and grieve about it.”
It’s important for supervisors and chiefs to monitor their team for signs of stress and get on top of it quickly, he said. “Stress is a big part of this job – It takes a special person to do it.”
Owen should know.
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