Not afraid of challenges

Some people would shy away from going back to school after forty years of working. But Andrea took on the challenge.

Working as an onsite medical service assistant in Worms, she completed additional training to become a paramedic. She passed her final exam in March. “It’s one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done,” says the 54-year-old. Her training included 160 hours of school and two lots of 160 hours of practical experience in a hospital and with the ambulance service. “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do,” she says. Beyond fulfilling a lifelong dream, this has also equipped her for day-to-day work, “I wanted to be ready to help if something happened.” Accompanying paramedics on their call-outs made an impression on her, “They shoulder a huge amount of responsibility. They always showed compassion when dealing with people – there’s a story behind every case. I still think about that now when blue lights pass me by.”

The onsite medical service deals with emergencies ranging from circulatory problems and contact with chemicals to suspected heart attacks. Preventive care is a central part of day-to-day work. One of the service’s tasks is to provide occupational health checks; employees have the option of getting hearing, vision and blood tests as well as electrocardiograms. During the pandemic, the team took on another important function, namely the carrying out of a major vaccination drive against Covid-19.

Orthopedics, general medicine, diabetology; Andrea has worked in various areas since qualifying as a medical assistant back in 1983. She has been part of the onsite medical service at Röhm since 2013. Her many years of experience have taught her how important teamwork is, “This job isn’t one where you can work on your own.” She can fully count on her colleagues, who also filled in for her as much as they could during her paramedic training. In Andrea’s personal life, it’s her husband she can rely on, as well as her grown-up daughter, who moved to the Hunsrück region last year. She enjoys traveling to far away places with her husband. They’ve already explored Singapore, Cuba and, most recently, Canada together. With friends, they spent close to 3 weeks traveling across Canada by camper. To recover from her adventures, Andrea spends time in her garden, where she likes relaxing with a good book in her hammock, and enjoying the warm weather from her new hot tub.

Thanks to her training as a paramedic, Andrea is now well prepared to work in an ambulance

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