Ready to go

Rushing to the scene of an accident or a medical emergency, sirens blaring, is the stuff of television shows and movies. Unless you’re Anna Borenstein ’15. Then it’s willingly part of your daily life.

She’s an emergency medical technician for the Rockville Volunteer Fire Department in her hometown of Rockville, Maryland. As a first responder, Borenstein confronts situations that most of us can’t imagine. But in that blur and stress of emergency work, she finds a sense of focus and calm — which makes her good at her role.

“I came to learn that I function pretty well in high-stress situations,” said Borenstein, who earned her bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from the Case School of Engineering. “It calms me down and gives me focus. So being able to push everything aside and focus on what I need to focus on was definitely a skill that enables me to work in this environment.”

Borenstein, who recently moved to Stamford, Connecticut, with her husband Cameron, has served off and on as a volunteer EMT in her hometown of Rockville since she was 16 years old. Montgomery County in Maryland has a long, uncommon history of incorporating volunteer firefighters and EMTs into its full-time staff. That opens up opportunities for residents to get involved in a critical community service.

Anna Borenstein’s brother, Jacob, is a volunteer firefighter for Rockville. It was a high school classmate who first encouraged Anna to give it a try.

“I was always interested in the medical field and it was kind of exciting to give back,” she said. “You’re with people at their time of greatest need. It gives me a sense of purpose to be able to do something in my community and do it for a long time.”

Volunteer EMTs cannot be responsible for a person’s life until they turn 18. So for her first two years, Borenstein assisted with tasks like filling out paperwork and splinting limbs. Before ascending to higher levels of responsibility, she had to complete a certain number of emergency calls and certain types of calls. Once fully trained, her volunteer work became even more satisfying.

“It’s wonderful being able to provide support and hopefully calm during people’s biggest time of need,” she said. “This is an emergency. It could be something very simple. But being able to be the person they trust to help them through that process is meaningful. I would want the same thing if I was in that situation.”

She works for Medtronic as a principal field training and education specialist and takes EMT shifts in Rockville, where her parents still live, whenever she’s in town. Those opportunities are getting more difficult to find, as she has a newborn son, Alex, to care for. But she hopes to volunteer as a first responder for years to come.

“Sometimes you hear that there’s a brotherhood amongst first responders, and it’s true,” she said. “There are people in the department who I don’t know well. And I know if I needed something or if my family needed something, like this instant, I could call them.”

John Canale is a freelance writer from Northeast Ohio. To comment on this story, or to suggest a candidate for an Alumni Adventure, please email casealum@casealum.org.