Meet Our Crew: Paul McNabb
Serving the Community: Paul McNabb
Paul McNabb is a third generation firefighter.
His grandfather was a captain and his father is an assistant chief. He also has an uncle who retired as a captain, and a cousin who is a firefighter.
“It’s the best job on earth,” McNabb said. “It’s the funnest job on earth. I don’t have any complaints about it whatsoever. I love coming to work every morning. I love the job.”
McNabb, 27, is a firefighter I/paramedic for Midway Fire Rescue. He is originally from Greensboro, N.C., where he graduated from Southeast Guilford High School.
In North Carolina, firefighter and paramedic jobs are separate, so McNabb worked as a lieutenant for a fire department and a lieutenant for an EMS service.
McNabb took a job with Georgetown County Fire in May 2013 after an irresistible offer from a friend who was already living here.
“He asked me if I wanted a job as a firefighter/paramedic at the beach. I said absolutely,” McNabb said. “This is my dream job and I jumped on it.”
He moved to Midway in May of this year.
McNabb has some technical rescue certification in ropes and vehicle extrication and is a fire and EMS instructor.
He is also trained in machinery extrication, including farm and cooking machines and meat grinders, but has not had to use it yet.
“All we do is call the manufacturer and they tell us how to take it apart,” McNabb said.
His best experience was the first time he saved a life.
A man had a heart attack, and on the way to the hospital, had no pulse in the back of the ambulance. McNabb was able to resuscitate him.
“That was pretty exciting,” he said.
McNabb was also a VIP guest at an EMS Services/Cardiac Arrest Academy because he had saved the life of the keynote speaker.
“They invited me and my partner,” he said. “That was kind of cool.”
His worst experiences were when he couldn’t revive a 17-day-old infant, and when he responded to a fatal car accident and realized that he knew two of the victims.
“There’s plenty of calls that I don’t like, but it’s part of the territory,” he said.
McNabb is three classes shy of an associate’s degree in fire science from Keyser University, and is working on getting cleared to drive some of the apparatus. He hopes to have that training done by mid-January.
In December 2015 McNabb can move up to firefighter II, and he is all about the promotions. He doesn’t want to spend any extra time than necessary at any rank before being promoted.
“That’s my focus right now,” he said.
McNabb is single and his hobbies are hanging out with friends, going to bonfires, and kicking back on the beach.
He played baseball and hockey when he was younger, and roots for the Cincinnati Reds and Washington Capitals.
His life goal is to get married and “have some babies.”
“I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying here,” he said. “I guess it’s just a matter of buying a house and settling down now.”
By: Chris Sokoloski
South Strand News
