Jacey Stone named SC Paramedic of the Year
By Samantha Lyles, Staff Writer, slyles@newsandpress.net
An emergency medical responder for almost 24 years, Jacey Stone was recently honored as the South Carolina Paramedic of the Year by the EMS division of SC DHEC. Stone says she knew from the time she was a little girl that she wanted to follow in her fireman father’s footsteps, to be one of the people who rushes to help when others are in need.
“He is my hero,” Jacey says of her dad, retired Darlington Fire Chief Jim Stone. “As a little girl, I used to run behind the fire truck, chasing lights and sirens.”
Jacey Stone, South Carolina Paramedic of the Year
Her path took a different route in the beginning, as Stone started off her medical career as a nurse working in a hospital.
“After a while I realized that being outside and chasing those lights and sirens was more where my heart was,” says Jacey.
She joined up with Darlington County Emergency Medical Services as a part time EMT-Basic in 1994, achieved Paramedic certification in 1999, and became a Paramedic Supervisor in 2007. Though the work proved engaging and exciting, Stone notes that providing first-on-scene care for seriously injured people can be incredibly stressful.
“It’s very difficult when someone is badly injured, especially if you know the person,” says Stone. “It can be very rewarding as well, being the first person there. A lot of people don’t even know who we are. They just know that they are sick or hurt and need help…paramedics are so highly trained that we can do pretty much any kind of emergency care, but sometimes it’s just as simple as holding somebody’s hand when they’re scared.”
In 2007, Stone began working part time as a flight paramedic with LifeNet 2, and that transitioned into a full-time gig in March of 2013 with Air Methods Corporation of Camden.
“Early on in my career, I just knew that I wanted to fly in that helicopter. I thought it would be so cool, but I never thought that I could do it. I was persistent and kept my education up – studied hard and worked hard – and was able to get there,” Stone says.
Working with LifeNet of South Carolina Air Methods as a critical care flight paramedic and evaluator, a typical day for Stone might include flying practically anywhere in the state to provide transport and care for trauma patients, heart attack and stroke patients, and facility transports from hospital to hospital.
Stone says that while she is honored to receive recognition as SC Paramedic of the Year, the appeal of the job remains the same as it was in the beginning – getting the chance to provide expert medical care, along with aid and comfort, to people in need.
“I’ve dealt with everything from delivering babies to actually being there when people die. You get to deal with every emotion, from being really happy at seeing a new life come into the world, to being compassionate to those who are leaving this world,” says Stone. “To be a good paramedic or EMT, I think you need to be well-rounded, to have the education and training, but you also have to be compassionate and do your best as a good person.”