Not long ago, Kathryn Johnson was suiting up to play in the Olympic Games Rio 2016 and Lou Stanfill was gearing up for his second Rugby World Cup at England 2015.
The two have come a long way with USA Rugby senior national teams where Johnson is now part of the Women’s XVs player pool and Stanfill has retired. What the two share as Eagles is also matched by a common thread outside the rugby world. Johnson is a firefighter in Minneapolis and Stanfill is an EMT training to become a firefighter in northern California.
And while COVID-19 remains the topic at the forefront of all things, it also adds a new spin to the roles both play on their emergency response teams.
“Since COVID-19, we have to take more precautions with coming in contact with the community,” said Johnson. “We wear masks 24/7 as well as proper PPE for calls. We keep distance while assessing health concerns and send one person in at a time to limit exposure.”
Both Johnson and Stanfill work unique hours. As an EMT, Stanfill has three 12-hour shifts per week while Johnson has shifts ranging from 24 to 72 hours. Each job has its own demands and both do their part to support and protect the greater community.
“We specialize in inter facility transfers (IFT) so we’re often held over 12 hours and transport patients from one hospital to another facility for a variety of reasons,” said Stanfill. “It can be for continuous care, high level of care, or even just taking the patient home.”
“In a regular week we go on all kinds of medical calls as well as fire,” said Johnson. “We’re normally first in and keep the patient stable until the paramedics transfer. If paramedics need more hands, we ride with them to the hospital and assist with getting an airway, compressions, holding pressure on a wound and so on.”
Firefighters and EMTs work closely in conjunction as part of larger emergency response teams. Firefighters are required to have EMT training to provide first aid and CPR as necessary.
While Johnson is already a firefighter, Stanfill is training to become one.
Since his retirement after the 2015 World Cup, having earned 56 caps representing his country, Stanfill wanted a role that was both fulfilling and involved community engagement.
“After rugby, I worked sales and desk jobs for three years,” he said. “They brought me little personal gratification and I knew I needed to be in a job where I did physical, hands on work within the community and within a team setting. Firefighting was the perfect fit.”
And while the process to become a national team player is long and requires a relentless work ethic, so too is the path to firefighting.
“In California it’s quite long,” said Stanfill. “I’m in the fifth month of the hiring process with my local county fire department, so patience is vital.
“First, you need to get your EMT certification and license. This is the most basic qualification that nearly every department requires. Then you must take two separate tests with the Firefighter Candidate Training Center, which is a physical pass/fail and a written scored test.
“Once you’ve done both, you have the basic qualifications. However, many departments require extra qualifications which require more time and schooling. Then it becomes a waiting game for departments to open for hire.”
Like Stanfill, the choice to become a firefighter was simple for Johnson.
“My mom was also a firefighter for Minneapolis and loved it. She is an amazing woman and a great mentor. One of her coworkers approached me after the Olympics and asked what my plan was. I was easily convinced to try out for the next list of potential hires.”
Johnson is currently a member of the USA Women’s National Team XVs player pool, which means when she’s not firefighting, she’s focused on training and competition.
As is known to those in sport, athletes obtain a number of skills when embedded with a team. Those skills, at least for a rugby player, were easily transferable when Stanfill and Johnson selected their career paths off the pitch.
Johnson said, “Just being aware of what i can overcome physically and mentally as well as my limitations helps a lot. Teamwork and physical grind with lack of sleep, knowing that your attitude about things happening around you are in your own hands.”
“Rugby is an excellent sport with many transferable skills as a firefighter,” said Stanfill, echoing similar sentiments. “Not so much the physical skills, but many of the intangibles, such as working as a team, fulfilling one's role, being a good communicator, working within a system and being able to work outside that system to problem solve. Of course being fit and strong surely helps.”
