Where does your story begin?

I believe everybody, especially every caregiver, has a story. Mine starts when I was 16 years old. On Halloween day, I was walking home from school with my classmates and was hit by a car as I was crossing the street. The car was going about 45 miles per hour and I was thrown about 30 feet. My right leg was basically internally amputated. It was holding on by skin and tendons, and I was knocked unconscious. A New York City police officer radioed for a helicopter, which landed in the school soccer field. The paramedics and EMTs who were first on the scene essentially scraped me off the ground and saved my life.

The doctors weren’t sure if I’d ever use that leg to walk again. But thanks to their wonderful care, I was able to keep my leg. It took me two years to recover. And with the help of some really great physical therapists, I learned how to walk all over again. I remember that standing on my tippy-toes was one of my biggest accomplishments. I remember that being my goal. To stand on my tippy-toes again.

How did this experience shape your career direction?

Up until the accident, I never had any thoughts about working in healthcare. My family owns a trucking business and that was going to be my path, too. But during those two years, I spent nearly all my time in hospitals and physician’s oces, working with nurses, doctors and physical therapists. My friends during that pivotal time were healthcare workers.

What was your first opportunity to care for others?

During my recovery, I met the paramedic who saved my life. He was the first one on the scene to respond to the accident. I said, “How do I get into this line of work?” He introduced me to an EMT school. And that’s how I became an EMT.

One of the instructors at the EMT school was a New York City police officer and a volunteer paramedic. He just happened to be the officer who made the call to bring in the helicopter to rescue me.

What did you learn during your time as an EMT?

You only have a small chance of living if you get hit by a car going over 35 miles per hour. So I consider myself to be a very lucky person. I loved working in the EMT field because I was helping people. In my eyes, I was paying it forward. I was doing something where I was giving other people the same opportunity I was given.

How did you start working in hospitals?

While I was volunteering as an EMT, I started nursing school. There weren’t many men in nursing at the time. I was one male in a class of 45 students. But I wanted to work in the hospital. And nursing was definitely a calling for me. I’m proud to say I was at the top of my class in nursing school. The teachers loved me because I was already an EMT, I had some background in the medical field, and I was able to do a lot of heavy lifting.

At one point, one of the other nursing students hooked me up with a job at St. Francis Hospital in Long Island. And I started working as a striper nursing assistant, transporting patients and doing bedpans. I was able to prove myself to become a full-fledged nursing assistant and, eventually, I started doing venipuncture and EKG interpretation.

How did you get into cardiology?

While at St. Francis, I saw a help wanted sign on the door at the arrhythmia center. They were looking for an EKG scanning tech. I ended up spending five years there, and I must have scanned about 7,000 Holters because that was their main scanning test.

After St. Francis, I spent almost seven years working at Memorial Sloan Kettering in Manhattan as a cardiac technician, scanning and doing 12-lead EKGs. Eventually I worked my way up to managing the EKG department.

In this role, I worked with vendors more closely because I was choosing which ones to use, and I was working on integration teams and project management teams. That’s when I started to understand the impact vendors can have on patients across the care continuum.

What did you bring to the vendor world from your experiences in healthcare?

Eventually, I saw an opportunity to drive change at a higher level. I realized that working on the vendor side of things would allow me to impact caregiver teams throughout the country and the world. What I brought with me from my caregiver role was the idea that workflow is everything because it has a direct impact on the patient. You want a quick turnaround time; you don’t want patients waiting long. You want physicians to have the data they need to accurately diagnose a patient. So workflow is always at the top of my list.

What impresses you about Spacelabs?

It’s such a positive place to work. I’ve met some of the most inspiring people. There’s a huge emphasis on the needs of the patient. I appreciate that because I understand patient vulnerability firsthand.

What guides your discussions with healthcare providers?

I think it’s about empathizing and understanding their needs, rather than telling them what they need. It’s about asking good questions. Talking less. Listening more. I think too many companies push their products saying, “You need this. This is a solution for you.”

How did your early experiences affect what drives you now?

If I can help make a patient’s day a little bit better, a little bit more comfortable, or just a little bit more relaxed, it’s more than fulfilling. If I can work directly with clinical administrators, clinical managers and physicians to help shorten turnaround times, provide quicker access to records, and facilitate better diagnoses, then I’m still having an impact on the life of the patient. This is where I want to be. I always feel a need to help.

Looking back, how did the accident change you the most?

It taught me to have empathy. As a young patient in critical condition, I discovered an appreciation for so many people I hadn’t really thought about before — the EMTs, surgeons and PTs who saved my life and helped me recover. They were my world for two whole years, and they inspired me to join their community so I could be there for others in the same way.

When I went into healthcare, I saw it as an opportunity to give the people around me my best effort. To try to understand what others are going through.

Given all that I’ve experienced, personally as well as professionally, it’s helping patients through their own healthcare journeys that drives me. If I can help people,
then I’m doing some good in the world. I’m very thankful.