Jackson Community College
Academics Faculty HighlightBen Vincent
An early experience in Ben Vincent's life set him on course toward a career in emergency medical services. Vincent, professor of emergency medical services at Jackson Community College, was a junior in high school when his mother was involved in a serious car accident. She was hospitalized for a year afterward, and Vincent learned that the ambulance workers did a poor job in taking care of her immediately after the accident. He wanted to do what he could to prevent a similar situation from happening to someone else. With a positive experience in a high school health occupations cooperative class, his course toward becoming a paramedic was set. For 25 years, he served as a full-time paramedic, and he's been teaching for various colleges and private educational institutions since 1979. He ran his own business doing training programs for a few years. Vincent has taught part-time at JCC since 1989-90, and has been full-time since 2000. "You can make, as an individual, decisions that can affect someone's life, and you are there in a crisis and can really help someone," Vincent said. "I don't think people realize the amount of responsibility that EMS workers have in making those decisions." It's important for EMS workers to work toward perfection in all that they do, with people's lives depending on them. "What they do is of critical importance. You must do it well, or someone will pay a price, and you can't allow that to happen." Though physical limitations now limit his ability to work in an ambulance, he gets great enjoyment out of educating students. "Now, though I'm no longer doing that field work, I am training other folks to help save a life in my place." |