Profile

Bay Area EMT with a passion for emergency medicine and patient care

Currently living in Mountain View, California;
I enjoy a challenge, and love finding creative ways to solve problems; especially when I can use technology to do so.

Interests

Medical Technology: Roles of modern technology in EMS systems
Adult Education: Ways to address multiple learning styles and intelligences
Psychology of Patient Interaction: Exploring the methodology of empathy and information gathering in an emergency situation
Public Safety: Increasing knowledge and access to lifesaving knowledge and technology such as AEDs

Spoken Languages

  • English - native
  • Spanish - basic conversational skills

Hobbies

Hiking California state parks, Kayaking, Camping, Taking things apart to find out how they work.


Adventure is out there!

Technical Skills


Communication
Stress Management
Integrity
Time Management
Incident Command
Ambulance Experience


Outside of work, some other skills I'm polishing up are:

Hiking
Computer Programming
Armchair Psychology

Work Experience

Foothill College EMS Department

2012-Present
Web Services Coordinator
Combined my passion for EMS with my computer skills to create a modern web service and brand to serve hundreds of EMT and Paramedic students and staff. Negotiated the terms of the service contract to provide FoothillEMS with over $100,000 worth of web services annually, free of charge.

Foothill College EMT Program

2009-Present
EMT-B Proctor / Skills Specialist
Assisted in training and proctoring skills exams over the course of nine graduating classes.

Tech Team 2 Go

2011-2012
Desktop Support Specialist
Provided desktop and server support to employees of the Palo Alto Medical Research Institute. Performed on site computer troubleshooting with local business owners.

Apple

2009-2011
Family Room Specialist
Worked at the Genius Bar repairing customer relationships and products.

Education

Learn all your life, said a dude.

Foothill/De Anza College
Graduating 2013

Finishing general education and getting ready to begin prerequisite classes for paramedic school.
  • Was asked to return to the Foothill EMT program as a paid Proctor

Metropolitan Education District CCOC
2007-2008

Attended a Fire Science/EMS academy for over 500 hours of class time.
  • Valedictorian
  • Honors Award
  • Perfect Attendance
  • Letter of Commendation From California State Assemblyman

Prospect High School
2004-2008

While attending Prospect, I spent my senior year in a Fire Science/EMT academy, Graduating at the top of my class
In medicine, the path to education is not one direction nor is it finite. My path is to pursue knowledge, not perfection.

Certifications

Nationally Registered EMT-B

Licensed in the state of California and the Santa Clara County

Hazardous Materials First Responder Awareness

If you do nothing else, call it in and stay upwind!

Incident Command System
(ICS 100, 200)

Learned basic functions of the "toolbox" structure as well as various roles in the Incident Command System"

Review of ICS for Command and General Staff (ICS 300, 400)

Became more familliar with the roles of the IC and general staff, giving me a better understanding of my role in a mass casualty incident.

Emergency Response To Terrorism

Came away with an understanding of basic response tactics for suspected terrorist activity.

  • Be alert to the possibility of secondary and tertiary devices
  • Plan to stage far away from the scene

    • EMS Operations at Multi Casualty Incidents

    Solidified the roles of an EMS responder before, during and after a MCI detailing:

    • Beginning incident command
    • S.T.A.R.T triage
    • Critical Incident Stress Debriefing

Contact

Please feel free to contact me with questions or comments using the information provided below.


Telephone: +1.408.365.4538
Email: kevin@hirekevintully.com
Address: 914 Rich Ave Mountain View, CA 94040
Download my resume:


For a quick message you can use the form below.




Pt. Care Philosophy

I believe the most important tool available to first responders is genuine personal communication and human contact. Sometimes, Handholding is just what the patient needs. Here's why:

I remember one night when I was in grade school. My mom woke me up at about 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning. "It's your sister", she said. "Her blood sugar is low and we can't get her to open her eyes. She's calling out your name. You need to come upstairs now."



I staggered up the stairs as I wiped the sleep from my eyes and walked into a total nightmare. My sister, who was at that time recently diagnosed as a diabetic, had been trying out a new mix of Humalog and Novalog insulin. She was brave enough to give herself her own injections and was very responsible and careful with dosing. Somehow, during the night, her blood glucose took a dive. She started to have a seizure and was postictal when EMS arrived.

Three firefighter/paramedics crowded her now very small room. I watched them take her blood glucose measurement with her meter. She didn’t have enough glucose in her blood to register a reading. The meter simply read "LOW". This was not good. As I sat next to my sister, holding her hand and looking to the paramedics, I asked quietly but in my mind pleaded for something more helpful to do. The medic looked at me and very sternly said, "You are helping her the most right now." I felt sick, but I continued to stay with her. After about 2-3 minutes, or one lifetime (depending on who you ask) the medic pushed Glucagon and I finally started to see my sister come around. She became increasingly groggy and combative when she woke up to all of these strange people in her room, but when she saw me there with her, she settled down and was able to relax a bit more. I was so grateful to have my sister back, and I didn’t know what to say when I went to thank the Firefighter/Paramedics, so I just smiled and waved them goodbye.

8 years later I was an EMT. I had my first clinical at a local hospital and learned after only about 12 hours that there was much more to medicine than what drugs you administer. People who were thriving over illness in the emergency department were being treated not with drugs, but with compassion. The knowledge gained by building and maintaining empathetic rapport between patient and provider is some of the most powerful information you could have. I saw that it made the difference between a patient simply surviving, and a patient thriving. My shift over, I found myself thinking back to that day, 8 years prior when I could do nothing but hold my sisters hand. Suddenly, it dawned on me that what that paramedic said that night was right. I was helping Erin the most that night. After the medics were gone and long after the glucagon left her system, what was left was the care and compassion they gave us. That is the true value and gift of this profession. Though the medicines and technology we carry are valuable tools with an important role in providing care, sometimes a little handholding is just what the patient needs.