HutchCC’s Estefany Torres: Student by Day, Paramedic by Night

By Cassidy Peterson
Staff writer
Email: thehutchinsoncollegian@gmail.com

Estefany Torres is a part-time Hutchinson Community College student and full-time paramedic.
Torres is from Wichita and became a part-time Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) in 2018. In 2019, she became a paramedic after she attended HutchCC and took the 18-month program.

Torres works for Sedgwick County and said that her team is usually made up of two paramedics in a vehicle. She has a partner paramedic that takes turns responding to calls with her.

There are different levels of how critical a patient is, the levels include stable (non-emergency), stable but needs an ambulance, somewhat serious, and critical. Paramedics are sent to the more serious situations, as they have advanced training and skill sets like administering IVs, and intubating patients.

She talked about stressful situations when backup had to be called in like when there was a car accident she showed up to on Kellogg Road with four people injured, as her team was treating the patients, another accident took place because of onlookers. Another ambulance was dispatched to the scene and after Estefany’s ambulance left a third accident occurred, that day about 15 people were injured.

She also talked about family members getting upset after a patient died in cardiac arrest and the paramedics had done everything they could, and the danger that the team can be under with people in shock.

In some situations, the police must clear the area before the paramedics arrive. In one case, Torres said an angry person came back into the building to get a gun. Luckily her team was already loading up with the patient, but she had been in several scenarios when the scene had not been cleared like the officers believed.

In order to reduce stress and burnout from those scary situations, she said that each month she switches from a busier station to a “vacation station”, which is a less busy area where there may be days where you get one or no calls. Torres says it is nice to go to the “vacation station”, but it is a longer drive to work when she’s there.

Right now, the most common call that they receive is flu-related mostly in the geriatric population, but it depends on the season.

Torres is working 12-hour shifts, and this semester, she is taking Anatomy and Physiology, a 6-credit hour course that consists of four lecture credits and a pair of two-hour labs a week.

Here is  a basic weekday in Torres’ life.       

9 a.m.: Wake up

“When I wake up all depends on when my work falls cause we have alternating schedules, so Monday, Tuesday, I work then Wednesday, Thursday I am off, then I’ll work the weekend. Then it flips, literally the next week. So, if I’m not working the night before and I don’t have class, so let’s say Monday, I get up around 9 o’clock just to get myself some more sleep before work that night.”

Torres said her mornings consist of waking up, letting out her dogs, Otto and Oliver, and playing with them. Then getting ready for school.

11:45 a.m.: Commute to class

Torres says it takes her about an hour to get to class, so she leaves early and eats her lunch on the way to her 12:40 p.m. Anatomy and Physiology lecture.

3 p.m.: Free time

“I go home, have another meal, take my dogs out, and if I have time that evening I take a quick nap. I also try to work on any homework that might be due that night. By 5 o’clock I’m getting ready and leaving for work.”

5:40 p.m.: Arrive at Work

“We are encouraged to get there a little early, so my shift can start at 5:40. The amount of calls we have just depends on the day. During slow times I am able to catch up on homework, sleep, and study. When we get a call it can be anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour.”

6 a.m.: Shift Ends

“On busy, busy days or if we are short staffed my shift can go past 6 o’clock and if I take a late call, anything past 5:40 is considered a late call because the day shift should be there. I still have to take care of the patient and do all of the documentation afterwards.”

6:30 a.m.: Bed time

“I take my dogs out, maybe around 6:30-ish, I’m back and in bed. Then I’ll sleep till 10, typically I try to sleep till 11 AM.”

“Don’t calculate the time I sleep,” Torres said with a laugh.

Besides working and school, Torres said that her friends and coworkers have started a Friday-night tradition to go out, to either try different restaurants or go bar hopping. The group is made up of hospital employees, firefighters, paramedics, and even a few police officers. She says this is a great opportunity for all of them to relax and debrief after a long work week.

Estefany is working on a bachelor’s in nursing. She originally began before Covid, but took time off after all of the uncertainty. She says she is not in a rush to get the bachelor’s and has been slowly taking some courses for about a year now. She also said she may try to earn a master’s later down the line too.

Torres was nominated for paramedic of the year in 2020, is pursuing a degree, and juggles the most hectic schedule ever.

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