For my LINK internship, I went to Los Pinos Fire Department, in Ignacio, and was able to get a feel for what they do on a daily basis. One of the skills that were most helpful for me was that I am able to step back and allow other people to take control of situations. This was extremely helpful when we get a call, and since I have no way to be helpful in that situation, I was able to allow the people to do the job that they were trained for. 

There are a few skills that I developed throughout LINK. One of those is being able to listen and take in information. I am more of a hands-on learner, I was able to get better at learning without my hands during my internship. Teamwork is also another skill I learned during LINK. I am more of an independent person, so collaborating with people is sometimes more difficult for me to do. Being able to work with other people, especially ones that I don’t really know. But I was able to overcome it slightly and start to grow that skill. 

Throughout the three-week-long internship, a couple of challenges that were encountered was that there were days that they wouldn’t receive any calls while I was there. That was a challenge because that meant that I couldn’t go on a call and gain experience by watching the professionals. To overcome this challenge, I instead watched the training that each of the groups did on their shift. An example of this is that one day they did a training on how to “throw a ladder.” Throwing a ladder is a term used for getting a ladder and raising it. During this training, they had practiced using terminology that would be used on an actual call. They practiced doing it slowly so that people watching the practice could ask questions. Their reasoning for doing this is so that they can take the time to correct and answer any questions so that they don’t waste time doing this on calls.

LINK Internships, are really helpful because they allow people to explore a potential career, and find one that they feel is or is not a good fit for them. I think that interns are a great thing to have, as it allows them to explore and gain experience that they otherwise wouldn’t have. Some people urgently want to go into a career and get an education, but then they realize that they actually don’t like that career. Then the person stays in that career because they got the education for it and they would rather use the education or they are scared of changing their career now that they have it. This is important for FireFighters and EMTs/Paramedics because of everything that happens. The calls could go from a car crash to a kid with seizure activity. You never know what will happen while responding. 

My internship has helped me plan for my next steps because this has helped me really learn how it really works and why it is important to be able to do these internships. Exploring the career of FireFighting and EMT/Paramedic has been the highlight of my junior year. My college plan so far is that I am going to go to San Juan College in Farmington to get my EMT certification(s) and the training necessary. After that, I think I will go into the career and get more experience before I get the education and training for anything higher.