by Carole Robinson • Originally published in the Williamson Herald as part of the publication’s “Surrounded by Heroes” special section —

When a medical emergency call is dispatched, the first responders are likely to be men and women with Williamson Health’s EMS ambulance service. Ambulances and medics are staffed at almost every manned Williamson County Fire & Rescue station. One of those responders is Brian Skok, an Emergency Medical Technician/Paramedic.

Skok always wanted to be a doctor, but it wasn’t in the stars for him. He attended Mississippi State University and graduated in 2004 with a communications and journalism degree – about the time when many newspapers were going by way of the dinosaurs.

“I put my resume out on monster.com,” Skok said.

He found himself in the restaurant business at Ryan’s Steak House as the general manager. After five years he went to Dominos and then Arby’s. He was the GM at each one. During that time ObamaCare went into effect, he said. Most restaurants weren’t making enough to provide health care insurance so they cut back employee hours to 30.

“It got hard to hire people,” he said. “I talked with my mom and she reminded me that I always wanted to be a doctor to help people.”

While medical school was out of the question, Skok had another idea. It took time, but in 2015 Skok earned his Basic EMT and then Paramedic certifications.

“Being a paramedic is almost like being a doctor,” he said. Over the last seven years, “we’ve had some real good saves.”

Skok married a nurse in 2010 and they have two children. Their youngest, Grayson, is autistic. When he gets rattled they use gadgets – small rubber toys he can fidget with and calm himself.

Some children and adults on the spectrum are nonverbal or have difficulty communicating. That impacts interactions between first responders and the patients they’re transporting as they work out where they may hurt, how they feel and personal information such as name and allergies.

Skok, whose son is verbal but understood well the challenges, designed a nonverbal communications board. It’s a simple but very handy “lifeline” for those individuals at a critical time. It allows them to communicate vital information and “help us understand their needs quickly and accurately, reduce anxiety and improve patient care,” wrote Skok for a Williamson Health newsletter.

The communications board has an array of clear images that are concise and universally recognized. Patients can point to and relate “crucial information to paramedics.”

Skok also made calming boxes just like Grayson’s for the ambulances to calm frightened children whether or not they’re on the spectrum.

“We have one at home and in each of our vehicles in case [Grayson] needs to calm down,” Skok said.

Every Williamson Health ambulance, more than 20, are equipped with a communications board and a calming box resulting in quicker, more accurate care and reduced anxiety while en route to the hospital.