On call
By Joanne Bratton Photos by Kevin Pieper
Paramedic Christy Dewey serves the community one call at a time
S
ometimes it takes time to discover a life calling. ❚ For Christy Dew- ey, that happened 10 years ago when she became a volunteer fire- fighter with the Gassville Fire Department and later began her ca-
reer as a paramedic. ❚ “When I pursued it, I knew that was my calling all along,” said Dewey, 42, of Gassville.
The thought to become a volunteer
firefighter began even longer ago, when she was 20, after a tragic two-vehicle crash killed her best friend, Tonya (Cox) Wassam. Wassam died the day before her 21st birthday, but her 10-month-old daughter survived. The driver of the other vehicle also was killed in the crash. “I had heard at the time how wonder-
ful the EMS and fire crews were and I knew that was something I wanted to pursue,” Dewey said. “I knew they were compassionate and caring, and I knew that was something I wanted to be for someone else.” That thought remained in the back of her mind while she and her husband, David, raised their two children, Hailey and Chris. In the meantime, she worked
20 ❚ SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2018 ❚ LIVING WELL
with children in a daycare setting and as a paraprofessional in self-contained special education at the Cotter School District.
When she felt it was the right time, she obtained her Emergency Medical Technician and paramedicine technical certificates at Arkansas State University Mountain Home. She has worked about four years as a paramedic with Baxter Regional Medical Center. “If I can go back to school in my 30s,
anyone can,” Dewey said. “It’s never too late.”
First response
Dewey appreciates the varied re- sponsibilities of each day, because each
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