Growing up in and around Cadiz, Wylie Oliver wanted to be an emergency medical technician — but he never could find the chance. Two children, family life and a good job in manufacturing management suited him just fine.
And yet, the itch remained. So at the ripe age of 57, he scratched it.
Tuesday afternoon in the Trigg County Hospital cafeteria and surrounded by his laughing co-workers and a half-eaten cake, he embraced retirement — aged 77, and after 19 ½ years with Trigg County EMS.
It’s a job that gave him a second wind, and one he won’t soon forget.
He couldn’t remember any bad times, because even the bad situations usually turned out well in the end. There were the non-emergent runs for hospital transfers, dialysis and treatment, and the transition from urgent care to palliative or nursing home arrangements.
He apparently “taught half of Trigg County” cardiopulmonary resuscitation, responded to accidents and other rapid response indicators.
And as he experienced and described it, Trigg County EMS goes 24/7, 365 days a year — no matter what.
Arriving in an ambulance, Oliver said he often knew he was getting involved in people’s worst moments, and he was “there to help them” as best as he could.
He knows they sometimes saved lives.
At one time, Oliver and his son were the only father/son EMT tandem in Kentucky, and the first in Trigg County.
Furthermore, he still thinks about one encounter with a former patient.
Oliver went through an original six months of training that involved 120-to-130 hours, then had to be re-certified every two years.
His advice to anyone wishing to get involved with EMT: never stop your education, don’t stop at being an EMT, go on to paramedic school, advance if you “can and want to,” and just enjoy it.
