I have been writing for FIRE CHIEF magazine for about a decade. At the start of each year, I pause to appreciate what came to pass in the previous 12 months and contemplate the prospects for the next 12 months. Such reflection usually draws on the wisdom gained through experience, which is used to carefully contemplate how to bring our vision for the future to reality.

Yet, even though we preach the value of goal setting and strategic planning, the rate of change and the volume of information and opportunity make it difficult to plan. The fatigue that sets in, given the amount of energy it takes to meet demands with a skeleton staff and sparse resources in a challenging economic time, often changes the management approach to "maintenance," rather than innovation, engagement, and the effort to produce the "wow" factor in the organization.

The fatigue factor clearly is affecting the EMS sector. People simply are not stepping up to engage in the processes, committees and activities that enrich EMS. It seems there is a national sense of fatigue lingering in fire-based EMS. Only a handful of departments are putting out ideas and challenging the way things are done. Similarly, we often see the same folks on the speaking circuit who are willing to take a day off in order to give back to the system.

Interactions at a conferences or lectures provide a rich and valuable experience that will give you a chance to engage the profession free from the daily grind. If you're looking for some motivation to make a difference this year in EMS, I offer the following profiles of people from whom I believe you will be able to draw some inspiration. Each of them embodies the American spirit and symbolizes the perseverance that is needed to accomplish great things.

Mike Weller was a firefighter with a vision to take fire prevention to the next level. He was one of the catalysts behind the construction of Children's Safety Village in Hagerstown, Md. Even though Hagerstown is an affluent community, the facility was built on a wing and a prayer — much of the operation and construction of the safety village required private funding, elbow grease and a lot of tender loving care. In the end, Mike helped to build a place for injury and fire prevention rather than a program. The doors always were open to National Fire Academy classes, and Children's Safety Village has become a crown jewel in western Maryland.

Mike developed colon cancer in 2000 and as a result required a temporary colostomy. Despite this setback and the harsh treatments, he was there daily — teaching and fixing various things on the campus, all while dealing with cancer. I am happy to report that Mike beat his cancer, and that there are safety villages being built all over the United States. Mike just retired after 29 years of service as a Hagerstown firefighter. A humble man, the only recognition he asked for on his last day was to have a beer and chicken wings with a couple of close friends at a local bar. Mike is a modern-day Johnny Appleseed. His passion for the safety-village concept has planted the seed in many other communities, and undoubtedly has and will save countless lives.

Chris Sproule began his firefighting career in 1998 as a firefighter with the Mt. Laguna Volunteer Fire Department in San Diego County, Calif. He left his position as crew leader/fire captain and training officer in 2000 when he accepted a position with Las Vegas Fire & Rescue. Now at mid-career, Chris is the metropolitan medical response system coordinator at Las Vegas City Fire. You would think that Las Vegas would be well-prepared for a disaster; however, like many large cities, Las Vegas suffered from poor coordination, lack of resources, and poor training, despite continued efforts by emergency mangers. A lot of plans were in place but, practicality did not prevail and stated capability didn't match the reality.

Today I feel comfortable writing that the community is ready for any major event largely due to Chris's strong work. Now you might say it's just a guy doing his job, yet the advancements in our system were completed from a wheelchair. On May 23, 2003, Chris and seven other firefighters went on a weekend trip to Utah to ride all-terrain vehicles. Chris completely severed his spinal cord at T3 when his vehicle crashed; he also broke four ribs and suffered two collapsed lungs.

After one month on a ventilator, six months in the hospital and a couple of close calls, he returned to work in a wheelchair. Despite these challenges, he went on to complete a master's degree, attend the Harvard fellowship, secure the Chief Fire Officer designation and ensure that his family makes an annual pilgrimage to Disneyland. Chris's reality is that he has done more for his community, while further developing his professional abilities, from a wheelchair in a short few years than most firefighter/paramedics will do in an entire career standing on two feet.

Sitting across from me in December at the National Fire Academy was Jason Conklin, a volunteer from Lindsey, Ohio. The Academy's greatness can be found in the richness of experiences that is gained from getting to know your classmates. Jason owns and manages several successful small businesses, but he was taking time out from them to be at the NFA for two weeks to help get his fire department's budget back on track.

A few years ago, three kids fell through the ice in his response area with a poor outcome. Since then, his mission to ensure sustainable funding at that organization is more resilient than ever. As an accountant, there likely is not much more to teach him about solving the budget problem, yet he attended the Academy and is contributing. What makes Jason's story more inspiring is that, at age 34, he is on his third kidney transplant, the first of which occurred at age three. Still taking EMS and fire calls in his hometown, his determination to live a normal life and make a difference prevails.

In 1995, Mike Myers was a firefighter/paramedic who was exercising the typical adrenaline junkie behavior prevalent among our peers on a mountain in Yosemite Valley. He fell and slid halfway down the mountain; he suffered a fractured femur, ankle and wrist. Lying on the face of the mountain for more than 14 hours before being rescued gives one a lot of time to think about the rest of one's life.

During his recovery from that fall, I remember Mike coming in on crutches with hardware in his leg to teach an EMT lab, despite the fact that it was not easy for him to get around the school. He began teaching tactics and strategies to college students with the idea of broadening his own skills and abilities as a firefighter, and not just an EMS guy. Later he would give up the luxury of 24-hour shifts and overtime to move into training and EMS. He began tackling the hard problems and became the voice of reason and experience in valley-wide EMS meetings.

Mike moved up quickly to the deputy chief level, becoming the guy that makes things happen and taking on the issues of quality and building programs. When it came time to select the new fire chief for the city of Las Vegas, a councilman remarked the Mike was the guy excited about doing the job. That's a long way from narrowly escaping with your life on a California mountain to becoming chief of one of the most exciting metro fire departments in the U.S.

The next decade will bring both pressure and opportunity for fire-based EMS. The entry of new private conglomerates into the ambulance industry and the continued threat of privatization will bring into question our leadership abilities and our value. The technical knowledge to defend EMS as a public-safety model is paramount. The people you have read about today didn't achieve their standing on the basis of money, power or recognition. Rather, they did so because of a passion to do the right thing for their organization and their community.

This year consider making a real difference. Municipal EMS has every opportunity to make a difference and add value to our service and the people we serve. Get out of the box, circle or whatever geometric shape that constrains you, and innovate to make things better. Do something so, that this time next year you'll be able to look back and say, "Wow!"

Bruce Evans is the EMS chief for the North Las Vegas (Nev.) Fire Department. He also is an adjunct faculty member for the National Fire Academy's EMS and injury prevention courses.