KANAWHA COUNTY, WV (WOWK) – First responders are equipped to respond to any kind of emergency, but oftentimes, the quantity of 911 calls they respond to and the difficult nature of being there for people in their worst moments can make the job emotionally difficult.

The Kanawha County Emergency Ambulance Authority is millions of dollars over its yearly budget, according to its financial summaries. Overtime pay for paramedics and an increase in the cost of purchasing medical equipment were a handful of factors that are making it more expensive to run ambulances across the county.

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Many paramedics and EMTS who’ve devoted their careers toward helping others know the real-time stress of operating while low-staffed, but many say it is a passion of theirs to help – even on the hard days, weeks and months.

Kanawha County Paramedic Jason Wilson begins each day by checking his first-in bag and equipment, loading up a Kanawha County Chase car, and then responding to various calls.

He has worked with EMS in a wide range of jobs dating back to 1997.

“In an eight-hour shift, I have responded to up to 12 or 13 calls,” Wilson said.

Wilson told 13 News that every call looks different. During a ride-along this week, Wilson gave 13 News Reporter Jordan Mead an insight into his life as a paramedic while responding to a car accident in Cross Lanes and a shortness of breath medical call in Campbells Creek.

Wilson said years of experience working in all types of weather and responding to thousands of calls makes you more aware of your community and what goes on in it. You also understand the challenges your community faces.

“Once you drive these roads hundreds of times you know them pretty well. You know the sharp corners,” Wilson said. “It’s always you know finding a way. Adapt and overcome the situations we get into.”

During the ride along, Wilson shared his heart and passion for being a paramedic and why he’s stuck with this career for more than two decades.

“You have to understand that not this entire job is always going to be the car wrecks with entrapment, somebody truly having a heart attack that you’re going to make a difference to. It’s having a conversation with someone that’s going to hospice for end-of-life care. Those are tough things to go through in this job,” Wilson said.

He said every call matters, something he’s learned from years of experience.

“The kidney dialysis patient that needs to go from home to kidney dialysis to doctor’s office appointments because they’re taking care of a loved one at home and they’re bed-ridden, they’re not able to go. There’s a lot of those transfers that happen, but those people’s lives hinge on that.”

Being a first responder and working under stressful conditions comes a toll on mental health, something that experts have noted for years. In Wilson’s experience, this remains true.

“It’s a rough job, physically and emotionally demanding,” he said. “It’s taken us a long time to understand that mental health really needs to be more prominent for all first responder fields. It’s obviously come about at different times throughout my career.”

Those mental health struggles even equate to some first responders developing PTSD, suicidal ideations and even taking their own lives, both on the national and statewide scales.

“For self-harm rates for fire, police and EMS, they’re pretty high compared to general public. We’ve known that, but finding the correct avenue to drive those things, you make a crisis hotline, but they have to reach out to get that help. We have outreach programs, but you have to reach out to get that,” said Wilson.

“EMS as a whole, I think we’re getting better at taking care of mental health of employees. We still have a ways to go, but we are definitely heading in the right direction,” Wilson said.

Even with the mental health toll that being a first responder can take, Wilson said the job is rewarding for him.

“When you have ran a call to a particular person, and then you run out and see them in society, Live at the Levee, whatever, and they recognize you and they come thank you, that’s a pretty humbling experience, and it makes it all worthwhile. All the long hours, all the training, everything that we go through. All the bad calls that we call in,” Wilson said.

He said the real reason behind why so many first responders stay in the field is wanting to make a difference in others’ lives.

“You have to most definitely be a patient advocate. You have to care for people. That’s what this job boils down to. If you don’t care for people, then you probably should not be in this business,” Wilson said. “And all people across the board -from the little ones to the elderly and everything in between. Every race, creed, nationality, everything on there – you have to have a heart for the human race, and it’s so rewarding when you really get down to it. We make differences in people’s lives every single day.”

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