In recent years, there has been a push to expose students as young as eighth-graders to occupations that don’t necessarily require traditional college educations.

James Avery probably wishes that idea had been around when he was in school.

“I really didn’t know what I wanted to do after high school,” Avery said. “I was thinking at first about the military because that’s what a lot of my friends did. But I decided to go to college, Mississippi State, and got my degree there. I had a few jobs after I graduated, but they weren’t really what I wanted to do.”

It was another friend who ultimately steered Avery to the job that would become his life’s work.

“I had a friend, Duane Hughes, who had just got hired as a firefighter (at Columbus Fire & Rescue), and he told me I should think about being a firefighter,” Avery said. “I put in an application, but there was a waiting list. I had to take the written exam twice. The first year, I made a 98. The next year, I made 100. I got hired after that, in 2000.”

It’s fair to say it has worked out well for the two friends. Hughes was promoted to chief this spring following the retirement of Martin Andrews.

Avery, meanwhile, has been a firefighter for 22 years and an EMT for 20 years. He was recently recognized by the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians for achieving 20 consecutive years of National Emergency Medical Services (EMS) certification, a distinction held by few EMS professionals. To maintain his status as a Nationally Registered EMT, Avery completed, on a biennial basis, the most comprehensive recertification program for EMS professionals in America.

“It’s a lot of work getting the certification,” said Avery, 52. “You have to stay abreast of all the changes, not only with firefighting procedures, but with the hospital you work with, which for me is Baptist. The certification process is time-consuming. It’s not just filling out a form or something. It takes work.”

As his 20-plus years of service indicated, Avery has found his niche as a firefighter and EMT.

But the job isn’t for everyone, he says.

“There have been many times over the years that I’ve seen some things you can’t imagine, things you only see on TV or in movies,” he said. “I’ve seen head wounds where the damage is done to the bone. I’ve seen gunshot victims and arms and legs torn down to the muscle and massive amounts of blood.”

That part of the job takes some getting used to.

“I remember the first time I saw something like that,” he said. “It was early in my career. When I got back to the station, one of my captains said, ‘You’ve been on a bad call, huh?’ I asked him how he knew. He said he could see it in my face.”

Those calls still aren’t easy to deal with, but over time Avery has conditioned himself to respond to the situation calmly.

“What being a firefighter and EMT means to me is that I know that I’ve helped, that I’ve actually saved a life, Avery said. “We get letters from time to time from people who thank us for helping their mother or aunt or father and that’s something we all appreciate.”

Avery said he also loves working with kids during visits to schools.

“I like talking to the kids about fire safety, what to do in an emergency, things like that,” he said. “One of the things I like is when I’ll be out in the community, at Walmart or something, and kids recognize me even though I’m not in uniform. They’ll say, ‘That’s the fireman who was at our school.’ It’s good to know I’ve made an impression on them. Who knows, maybe they’ll become firefighters, too.”

Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].

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