Hometown Helpers: Paramedic loves to help make a difference in the community
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IDAHO FALLS — Every week, EastIdahoNews.com is introducing you to Hometown Helpers in our community. We want to spotlight a firefighter, police officer, city worker, snowplow driver and others who quietly keep our cities and counties running.
This week, we are featuring Tyson Storer who is a firefighter and paramedic for the Idaho Falls Fire Department. He’s been working in the department for about six years.
“I feel like we can make a pretty good difference in a pretty short amount of time. I just wanted to help people,” Storer said.
He’s a local from the small town of Milo, located between Ucon and Ririe, and he likes to call the area “a little patch of heaven.”
Storer said he loves his job.
“I think my favorite is generally people call the ambulance when they are having a bad day not a good day and I like being able to come out and just help. To know that I made a difference in our community,” he said.
All firefighters at the Idaho Falls Fire Department are cross-trained as EMTs or paramedics, so they respond to fire and EMS calls. Storer works two days straight for 48 hours and then has four days off. He explained it’s a close-knit organization.
“I work with probably some of the best friends. I hang out with them on my days off, I hang out with them when I’m here. It’s just a great place to work. It’s really fun. Everybody is on a first-name basis. Everybody knows everybody’s kids,” he said.
Storer is married with two daughters and two sons. He said it’s awesome to have a second family away from home at the fire station.
Not every day is easy. Storer has had some difficult personal calls in the past.
“It’s just bound to happen that you are going to run into somebody that you know and generally you run into them on their worst day and it’s hard to see people you know and love, suffer. I mean, it’s hard to see anybody suffer but especially someone you have a relationship with whether it be a friend, an aunt or an uncle,” he said.
Though it’s been tough at times, he knows he at least helped them in some capacity and it gives him reassurance and hope on gloomy days.
“Sometimes, just showing up and giving a warm hug is all we need to do,” he said.
Storer shows every day he’s a Hometown Helper by making a difference in people’s lives.
If you know a Hometown Helper that we should feature, please email andrea.olson@eastidahonews.com.