NOTE: Throughout the month of July, BrownwoodNews.com is publishing stories daily on 40 standout citizens under the age of 40 making a positive impact and contribution within the Brown County community.
A chance occurrence during her eighth-grade school year has led to a career that resulted in her being named Brown County’s initial First Responder of the Quarter in July 2021.
Miranda Peters, a Priddy native who works for Lifeguard EMS in both Brownwood and Comanche, reflected on the day she decided to pursue a career as a paramedic.
“When I was in eighth grade, my grandma was a first responder there and I was helping her with some inventory at the feed mill and she got a call,” Peters said. “The ambulance there is out of Goldthwaite so I went with her to help, and that’s how I got started.”
The First Responder of the Quarter program was designed to recognize first responders in Brown County for going above and beyond to serve the citizens of Brown County. Co-workers, in nominating Peters for the award, described her as, “A hard worker who works extra shifts if needed, cares deeply for her patients and consistently goes above and beyond the call of duty.”
Peters, 31, said of receiving the accolade, “That was awesome, it was an honor to get that award. It means so much to see that the people of the community recognize us in EMS in general, but to see that they thought I deserved that was an honor to me.”
Peters began her education at TSTC in Abilene and once the paramedic program at TSTC in Brownwood resumed, she pursued paramedic training there.
Peters received her paramedic certification in 2019 but has worked in the EMS field since 2014.
“You have different levels of EMT,” Peters said. “It starts out as an ECA (Emergency Care Attendant) and then your EMT basic is on the ambulance and that’s what I was before I was a paramedic. Then there’s an EMT advanced that can do a little bit more skills that they are allowed to perform. Then a paramedic is what I am now and you have your cardiac monitor, you learn more about the cardiology and the heartbeat and the rhythms and medications and airway and stuff like that.”
Peters intends to one day gain her flight paramedic certification.
“That’s probably my next goal,” Peter said. “I moved up pretty quickly once I got my medic. I became an FTO almost six months later, and six months after that I became supervisor. Right now I’m working on my flight medic class and I’ll see where that takes me.”
The most rewarding part of her job, according to Peters, “is just being able to be there to help. It’s scary, they are depending on you, but it’s rewarding to see the relief on their face when you walk in and being able to help with any emergency they are having.”
There are challenges that come with the job, however.
“For me it’s talking to the families after they lose a loved one and trying to be there for them any way you can,” Peters said. “It’s pretty emotional. Another hard part is we work a lot of hours and it’s overnight and I’ve got kids at home and I miss out on a lot.”
Peters credits her three children and one step-child, 14-year-old Landri, 10-year-old Antin, 5-year-old Arlee, and 3-year-old Aiken, for being “the reason why I keep going.”
She continued, “I have a really good support system and without that support system of my family I wouldn’t be able to do this job that I love because of how hard it is in general and then with my kids. We live in Brown County, and I love taking care of the people of Brown County because I feel like they are my family, I feel close to them.”
As for anyone pursuing a career in the EMT field, Peters offered the following advice:
“I would just say I would hope they would keep their compassion for people. Not every call is going to go the way you want it to go. Look for the little rewards you get with every call.”