What we cannot calculate or measure is the number of lives Jim affected.
-Gary Ludwig
Five years ago tomorrow, James O. Page went for a swim outside his home in Carlsbad California and the
Jim was the technical advisor for the TV show emergency. For over thirty years Jim was a big, loud, relentless advocate for EMS systems across the nation and around the world.
He served as the EMS Chief for the state of North Carolina, The Director of The Advanced Coronary Treatment Foundation and was one of the founders of JEMS Magazine. Through his six books, 400 articles and over 800 public lectures Jim was a tireless advocate for improved standards of EMS care.
He simply lived the value of wanting EMS providers to be better, every single day. And that’s why he’s one of my heroes.
Regret is a horrible thing to carry around. The opportunities that haunt us most are the ones that we don’t take. In 2002 I received a generous invitation from a good friend, Thom Dick.
Thom was unable to fulfill a speaking engagement on the east coast and he invited me to go speak on his behalf. The topic would be ”People Care”. I had seen Thom give his People Care lecture many times. He obviously felt like I was up to the task. I didn’t. Worse than that, I would be lecturing on the same stage with James Page. That’s when I let doubt and fear take over. Instead of grabbing the opportunity and stepping up to the task, I did the safe thing and politely declined.
I never got to meet Jim Page.
I wish I had that opportunity back. And I wish we had more leaders like Jim Page. He was fearless.
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