RINCON —  In a profession that never stops changing, Ken Kirby is a constant.

“I’ve been in medicine since ’68,” said Kirby, a 71-year-old Effingham County Emergency Medical Services cardiac technician. “I’ve been in EMS since ’81. Everything is so different from when I started.”

Kirby, a native Virginian, entered the medical professional almost by accident.

“I got drafted in ’68 and joined the Navy out of no desire to be in the Army or Marine Corps,” he said. “I became a corpsman and stayed in the Navy until 1977.”

During his military service, Kirby attended cardiopulmonary school.

“That gave me my background for employment because I’ve never wanted for a job,” he said. 

Kirby is in his 21st year with Effingham County EMS. 

“I came up in ’97 part time for six months and then went full time,” he said.

Previously, Kirby worked at St. Joseph’s/Candler, Memorial and Hilton Head hospitals.

“I also rode Chatham (County) EMS,” Kirby said. “I started there in ’82, I believe, and rode Pooler as a volunteer from ’81 until it closed.

“I don’t remember when that was.”

Kirby, who lives in Pooler and works as a contract employee with a local race track, had no idea that he would last so long in Effingham County.

“I left Memorial in ’97 and told my wife that I was going to come up here for a couple years and work, and then we’d decide what we were going to do,” he said. “Here I am still here.”

Kirby, a father of three and grandfather of five, said there is no such thing as a typical day in EMS.

“There is no rhyme or reason to it,” he said. “Some days are busier than others and there is no rule as to why it’s that way. Some times are busier than others and there is no rule as to how that regulates.”

Kirby likes the random nature of his job.

“I think it’s the appeal of helping people and probably being able to go to the unknown — because you never know what you are going into — and being able to handle it,” he said. “When you come to work, you never know what the day is going to bring.

“It’s like our last shift. We saw a death and we saw a brith. We had a birth at the end of the shift, so we saw the end (of life) and we saw the beginning (of life) in one day.

“It’s pretty interesting if you think about it.”

Kirby said delivering babies is intense and not among his favorite tasks.

“There are so many variables with a child being born,” he said. “You know nothing about the mother prior to seeing her at that particular moment and there are so many things that can go wrong. You have to adjust immediately to whatever situation that is.

“I’d much rather have a medical or trauma call because you know what is going to happen. You can almost predict it.”

Kirby said some unpleasant calls are permanently etched in his memory.

“Some from the early 1980s are just as vivid as when they happened,” he said. “Some things stick in your mind. I can see some children right now who were in a wreck. They didn’t look like they were injured but they were in the car dead.

“I can still see their faces today.”

Because of advances in medicine, the likelihood of positive patient outcomes has increased greatly since Kirby started in EMS.

“Since ’81, the radio communication is so much better,” he said. “Cardiac monitors on the truck have improved drastically. We are able to diagnose more in the field, better in the field, and present that to the hospital before we get there so that we can treat effectively while en route.”

Teamwork with shift partner Mindy Lamaak helps, too, Kirby said. They have worked together for more than five years.

“Being with someone for so long, you know what they are thinking, what they are doing and what their reaction is going to be to a specific call or situation,” Kirby said. 

Kirby and Lamaak, a paramedic, have mutual interests outside their jobs. They routinely swap plants from their yards with each other.

 “We love animals, birds and nature in general,” Lamaak said. “We have a lot in common. Of course, I am a lot younger than he is. “Well, not really.

“They call us ‘the geriatric crew.’”

Lamaak is 62. She didn’t enter the EMS profession until she was 50.

“I haven’t really been here that long, probably 10 or 12 (years),” she said. “I’ve learned a lot from Ken. It seems like I’ve probably been here longer than that because he’s seen everything, done everything, been here and been there.”

Kirby and Lamaak displayed their affinity for wildlife by rescuing a baby raccoon

“I enjoy working with him,” Lamaak said. “I think a lot of it has to do with our maturity and view of things.”

Kirby and Lamaak seem destined to work together for quite a while longer. Retirement doesn’t appear to be in Kirby's immediate plans.

“Some days I think it’s (going to happen) right this minute but I get up and go to work,” he joked. “I really haven’t thought about it.”