THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 24, 1996 TAG: 9601230261
SECTION: MILITARY NEWS PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHARLENE CASON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
Like father, like son. The adage works for Navy Hospitalman Lawrence ``Bill'' Payne IV, who went on a couple of ``ride alongs'' with his dad during the five years Larry Payne worked as a volunteer with the Virginia Beach Rescue Squad.
Young Payne liked the challenge and action he saw, so about a year and a half ago he became a volunteer himself at Oceanfront Station 14. The 22-year-old hospital corpsman from Seattle was recently named Virginia Beach Rescue Squad Rookie of the Year for 1995.
Part of the reason Payne received the award was for the hours he volunteered with the rescue squad - more than 800 in a single year. The average civilian works about 2,000 hours at his or her full-time job in a year.
``When we have duty in the Navy, we work 24-hour days, so it's hard for me to say exactly how many hours I worked at my job last year,'' Payne said. ``But I sacrificed a major part of my off-duty hours to work on the rescue squad.''
Giving up a big chunk of his weekends wouldn't have been possible ``without the extreme support'' of his fiancee, Jennifer Wright, and his command at Portsmouth Naval Medical Center, he said.
So why would a young sailor give up free time to work 12-hour shifts in a fast-paced, stressful volunteer job?
``When I was back home in Seattle, my mom used to ask me, `How was your day? What did you do today?' and I wanted to answer her with something besides, `I went to school' or `I went to work,' '' Payne said. ``I wanted to say I'd done something that had made a difference. Now I know that at least once a week I put on a uniform and go out of my way to make a difference.''
While the majority of calls received at Station 14 aren't trauma-related, he said, ``it's still an adrenalin rush. When I get a call at home at 3 a.m., I definitely wake up quickly, not like the way I do when I have to get up at 6 for work.
``Volunteering is rewarding,'' he said, ``even if all we end up doing is picking up some elderly person who fell out of bed and didn't have the strength to get back in. The service is essential - for safety reasons, for economic reasons, for the public's peace of mind.''
According to Julie MacKinlay, an emergency medical technician for the past 17 years, Virginia Beach, with 11 stations, maintains the largest all-volunteer rescue squad in the United States. Station 14 - which covers the area from Dam Neck, along the Oceanfront, to Great Neck Road - handles about one-third of the more than 9,000 calls in the city each year.
Once a volunteer passes a background check and a physical and has his driving record verified, he's given 120 hours of training to become an emergency medical technician. Then, the newly certified volunteer must pass hands-on tests during a 6-month probationary period.
Payne did all that was required, plus became a field training instructor, in about a year and a half; that level of accomplishment generally takes three years.
``Bill Payne is very mature for his age,'' said MacKinlay, 51, who has four children about the same age as Payne. ``He has a natural gift for the job: his self-assurance, his ability to stop and assess without getting excited and not rushing in. It's kind of remarkable for someone of his age and experience level.''
MacKinlay, like most rescue squad volunteers, works a full-time job. She is the office manager for a law firm.
``For a young man, Bill has his stuff together,'' she said. ``He's a self-starting person who will go places, whether it's in the Navy or doing something else. I absolutely trust him in the life-threatening situations we've seen together.''
Payne, meanwhile, has his own way of coping with the stresses of the sometimes life-or-death work.
``. . . I don't follow up on people once we get them to the hospital,'' Payne said; ``I don't try to find out what happened to them. I guess that's my way of dealing with it.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
DAN C. GAY/U.S. Navy
Navy Hospitalman Lawrence ``Bill'' Payne IV, who was named the
Virginia Beach Rescue Squad Rookie of the Year for 1995, volunteered
more than 800 hours for the year.
by CNB