San Mateo County Honors Future Rescue Workers with Scholarships

From the Office of Warren Slocum, San Mateo County Supervisor, 4th District:

Redwood City, CA - San Mateo County Supervisor Warren Slocum and Brad White, Regional Director of American Medical Response (AMR) proudly congratulated Carlos Garcia and Nereyda Guzman of Redwood City, the very first awardees of the newly created “Save A Life” Scholarship Program that provides two full-ride scholarships to attend the College of San Mateo’s Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)-Basic Training program, provide a mentor to help complete the EMT coursework and cover the cost of the examinations for certification. After successful completion of the EMT Program coursework at College of San Mateo, AMR intends to offer part-time employment to the scholarship awardees.

Brad White, Regional Director AMR explained, “Our intent is to offer young people interested in the emergency medical services field a pathway forward. We hope to cultivate a local, diverse base of qualified EMT applicants for the industry, to enhance the quality of life for San Mateo County residents, and make an economic impact in the lives of local residents. Supervisor Slocum and his staff were instrumental in helping us bring this opportunity to Carlos and Nereyda.”

San Mateo County Board of Supervisors President Supervisor Warren Slocum remarked, “I’m am thrilled to work with AMR to be able to provide this kind of opportunity to deserving young adults in Supervisorial District 4. Carlos and Nereyda are outstanding and will set a precedent for others to follow. They are enthusiastic, determined and hard-working. And I believe this scholarship will make a real and immediate difference in their lives.”

The “Save a Life” program, the first of its kind in the nation, is designed to bring opportunity, education, and employment to the lives of young adults in underserved communities. In Slocum’s words, “With AMR as our partner in this venture, scholarship winners will have the chance to learn from the best, save the lives, and be introduced to a rewarding career with many options.”

To be eligible, scholarship candidates had to reside in District 4 (East Palo Alto, East Menlo Park, North Fair Oaks, and Redwood City), be 18-24 years old, and proficient in spoken and written in English. The deadline to apply for the scholarship program was June 17, 2016.

American Medical Response (AMR) San Mateo County provides 9-1-1 emergency and non-emergency medical transportation services. AMR San Mateo employs approximately 250 Paramedics and Emergency Medical Technicians, and handles approximately 70,000 calls for service annually. AMR has a national reputation for high quality emergency medical care and they are honored to support youth initiatives and serve San Mateo County as its 9-1-1 ambulance provider.

The AMR 2016 “Save a Life” Scholarship Awardees – in their own words (excerpted):

Carlos Garcia – 18 years old

Ever since I was young I always wanted to be a Firefighter. I admired the men and women who risked their lives every day to protect ours, and I vowed that one day I would do the same. I have trained diligently every day both physically and mentally to try and reach my goals. I am eighteen years old, but I have known this was my path ever since I can remember. I am very dedicated to my career in fire services. I have joined the Explorer Program at Menlo Park Fire District Explorer Post 109 where we meet bi-weekly to become well educated and trained in the fire-fighting skills that will prepare me for the Fire department.

I have had a lot of hands on experience through training that has been organized by the many advisors in the department. We are taught essential skills that include, but are not limited to, medical skills training, ladder and host handling classes, auto extrication, rope rescue and many more. I am very passionate about helping my community, and in efforts to give back to it, I also frequently volunteer in toy drives, where children of low income families get to receive donations. For the past two years I have worked hard to reach my goal, and I am dedicated to keeping it and to keeping people safe.

Nereyda Guzman – 22 years old

My name is Nereyda Guzman.I come from a hardworking family that decided to move to California when I was 10 years old. In Mexico I lived in a farm far from the city. I never had the opportunity to go to school because there were no schools and I had to work hard helping my family around the farm.

When I came to Redwood City, I was illiterate. Taft Elementary school was my first school that I ever attended. I then moved to Selby Lane School followed by Sequoia High School. I was able to learn fast because I put a lot of effort in doing so. I was able to take IB classes in high school. Even though I haven't been a straight-A student I am very proud of my academic accomplishments. In high school I struggled a lot with my health but I still manage to graduate and be active in my community. I was able to get a lot of scholarships. I started being involved in my community when I was in middle school. I started helping at the preschool at my school. I then started being an assistant soccer coach at my local church and continued to do so until the end of high school. I also participated in various other programs.

Helping out my community was very important to me and very rewarding. I participated in the North Fair Oaks Queen of the festival scholarship program and won all thanks to the help of my community. I then went off to Notre Dame de Namur University and started working part time tutoring at SAL. When I was in my second semester in school I found out I was pregnant. This news changed a lot of things for me. I wasn't able to receive the second part of my scholarship from the North Fair Oaks festival. This was very devastating for me because I had put so much effort and so did my community. I felt like I had let down a lot of people. Instead of reaching out to the people that had believed in me I avoided them and didn't reach out. I knew that being a young mother would be very challenging but I knew that I could do it.

I knew I wanted to keep going to college that I didn't just want to stop just because I had a baby. I put off school for a while and I finally was able to go back last semester. It wasn't easy working, being a mother and going to school, but I did it and I am very proud of myself. I know that I can do it and my son has become my greatest motivation. I want to be able to provide for him and be an example. I also want to be an example for my younger sisters and for all the other young adults like myself. I want to show everyone that even though you might make some mistakes along the way that you should never be ashamed and that you should move forward. I feel like this opportunity would be very beneficial and it would really help me out. I have always been a hard working individual and will continue to be.

Images via the Office of Warren Slocum, San Mateo County Supervisor, 4th District