Meet Marple Paramedic Sean Johnston

Marple Newtown Patch wants you to get to know your first responders. They do dangerous work and Patch would like to recognize them. Meet this first responder who is a member of the Marple Ambulance Corps.

Name: Sean Johnston

Age: 39

Hometown: Upper Darby

Rank/Title: Career Supervisor for

How long have you been with the Marple Ambulance Corps? Since 2009.

What do you like about your job? We are probably the most-faceted in the healthcare industry that is untouched unlike hospitals. You get a full line of credit that you need immediately with us. Our job is to serve the public at any moment’s notice. There are hardly any positions or careers that can do that immediately. You can change someone’s life forever and you would never know it because it’s just your job.

What do you dislike about your job? The long hours—you get away from the family. This type of work is a vocation. Your family and friends are usually on board with you when you choose this kind of vocation. To ourselves, we’re not heroes. We provide a service. Generally, this is a thankless type of job.

What inspired you to become an EMT/paramedic? When I was very young, my mother was a very brittle diabetic. Back then, you could call the police and these people would show up–they would open up a box of toys and in minutes my mom would be fine. And I was amazed. My father was a fire chief. I was in emergency services when I was younger. I always wanted to be in EMS because when I was very young I saw those things happen.

What do you like about the Marple Newtown area? I spent 11 years with Catholic Health and Mercy Health in Darby. What I like about working in the Marple Newtown area is that there are not that many restrictions at this point with no budget constraints and having the most progressive care imaginable—we have top of the line equipment here. Our ambulance is new and our equipment is leading edge. The Marple Newtown area is known for a lot of renown people. There are a lot of good people here and a lot of local heroes in this area that came out of this service. It’s just the area—the quality of people is very high. You have everything from interstates to back country roads. There's a plethora of nationalities and educational backgrounds and I think that’s what this area is all about.

What do you want the general public to know about the Marple Ambulance Corps? We are there for them 24/7, seven days a week. It’s their emergency and our emergency. We ask residents to make sure their address is shown well–make sure your backroads and addresses are well identified. This is the only thing we do. We are public servants because we are there to serve them. Do not to second guess calling 911 in an emergency. We have some of the best people here in the Marple Ambulance Corps. The public should feel well wrapped in our service.

We are one of the first units in the county who are non-hospitals to carry Therapeutic Hypothermia. We brought it on board here in 2011. After cardiac arrest, we help cool the body temperature down to prevent brain swelling. We’re into saving lives. With the increase of strokes and heart attacks and uknown heart problems, if someone has a cardiac arrest, police are equipped with AEDs (automated external defibrillator). We have everything imaginable when it comes to health emergencies.