Brandon Keith’s mother inspired him to become a paramedic.
She was an acute-care nurse, and he saw firsthand the impact she had on people.
Keith’s impact is now being felt by a rising number of COVID-19 patients.
Like many first-responders, the 30-year-old Keith is putting his own well-being at risk to treat those who contract the deadly virus. But that effort shouldn’t be glorified, he said.
“This is overwhelming for everyone and not just for people like me who are on the front line,” Keith said. “I’m just a person doing my job and I’m not doing anything out of the ordinary.”
But friends, coworkers and his mangers continue to shower him with praise for being in the trenches of the COVID-19 fight.
Over the last two months the number of COVID-19 patients entering his ambulance has grown, he said. His increased contact with these highly contagious patients worries his family. He is slightly concerned but doesn’t want to fixate on it.
Instead, he focuses on things he can control, like being aware of his surroundings. The pandemic has made him and his colleagues more “vigilant with keeping things clean and following evolving” guidelines from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, he said.
Keith said before the pandemic, he would decompress after stressful days at work by watching sports. But with sports leagues of all varieties canceled, he’s learning more about himself. He’s reading more books and going on walks around his Morgan Park neighborhood.
“I’m just taking it one day at a time and I keep telling myself that this will eventually go away,” Keith said. “We are all going to come out of this.”
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