A critical incident that set me on my path and helped me uncover how I wanted to make a difference that is larger than senior project takes place in my position as an ER volunteer. It was the first time I had been there when the red phone rang. In every 911 receiving ER in New York City, there is a red analog landline phone that is only used for notifications from incoming EMS units. If the red phone rings, there is a critical patient coming in that needs a trauma team waiting for them at the front door of the ER. This particular note was for a cardiac arrest. As a volunteer in the ER, I do not have any clinical responsibilities, so I had to sit there helpless, just watching as a patient was successfully resusitated by the ER team. This was the point that I knew that I wanted to somehow be in that kind of a situation. The only way (that I could find anyway) short of going to nursing, or medical school, to do that was to become an EMT. So I did for many other reasons as well. This interest is one that has always been with me and I had been training in CPR and every other prehospital certification I could get my hands on since I was 12. This helped me discover that I am able to keep very calm in stressful situations, a necessity for this kind of work. This all brought me to my purpose statement. My purpose is to use my skills to treat others in a healthcare setting so that everyone can have equal access to quality healthcare. I am not sure what form this will take yet, whether I will be utilizing my credentials or not or I will be doing something different entirely.