“I enjoy getting to meet and establish new relationships with the many different people I come in contact within EMS; fellow volunteers, the career staff, and other health care workers. Such relationships, I believe makes me a better care provider for my patients”, says Lindsay Wiecki, who is the Friday night crew leader at the GMVRS. Lindsay went on to say; “Together, we become a support system for each other, which is important in EMS and health care in general.”

Growing up in Prince William County, and graduating form Osbourn Park High School in 2016, Lindsay always enjoyed science with a special interest in medicine. She went on to Washington College, a Division III school, located on the eastern shore in Maryland where she earned her Bachelor’s degree majoring in phycology and behavioral neuroscience with a minor in biology, and graduating in 2020. While at Washington, Lindsay was on their intercollegiate swim team, with the butterfly being her strongest stroke. “I still hold three school records’’, she commented, after saying she started swimming at the age of 5.

While still in college, Lindsay learned about the GMVRS from her “little brother”, Aidan, who had joined the Junior Squad and in class to get certified as an EMT. “He was having such a good experience there, I decided to check it out and joined the Squad in 2019.”, she said. During her summer break that year, Lindsay took a GMVRS-financed class to become a certified EMT-B, and thereby becoming eligible to start her intern program to become an OMD (Office of the Medical Director) – endorsed provider for the City of Manassas’ Fire and Rescue System, which she planned to start as soon as her college schedule would permit. She started interning, but then everything was put on hold when COVID hit in March 2020, and nonessential Station activities suspended, including interning. However, once the restrictions were lifted, Lindsay was able to quickly complete her program and get “cut loose” in September 2020. Also, after completing EVOC training earlier in the year and completing her driver intern program, she was also “cut loose” as an ambulance driver for the Squad in 2020.

Also in 2020, while pursuing her volunteer interests with the GMVRS, Lindsay put her vocational goal of becoming a Physician Assistant in motion by gaining experience as a Clinical Technician in the INOVA Fairfax Hospital’s Neuroscience ICU, and more recently becoming an EMT in the Emergency Department at the same hospital.

Besides running EMS calls, Lindsay became involved in the Squad’s Administration functions, when in 2021, she was elected to became the Squad Secretary on the Board of Directors. In 2022, she was elected Treasurer, a new role that she quickly learned.

When asked what she has learned and advice she would give someone considering volunteering in EMS, she said, “In EMS you need to see the big picture and provide good care for all those you come in contact with on a call, the patient as well as those who affected by what the patient is going through. I experienced this need first hand on a couple of “bad calls”, one a fatal motorcycle accident and the other an infant stoppage of breathing. Being able to recognize all those impacted and to affirm them is important and is often appreciated.”

After reflecting on what she just said, Lindsay said, “It also feels good to hear words of thanks from those we come in contact with, especially after they find out we are volunteers.”