Weinheimer now full-time paramedic
By SHANNON CRABTREE scrabtree@leader-news.com

Steven Weinheimer

An unfortunate encounter with the insides of a hay baler ultimately led Steven Weinheimer of El Campo to where he is today.

Although it took two years of therapy and 10 surgeries to recover from the 2000 accident which put his right hand into an operating hay baler, he said, the moment EMTs arrived to help was a defining one.

Seeing what they did - how they helped - got the one-time Army scout and full-time rancher interested in medicine.

Five years ago, he started working parttime with the El Campo EMS department.

During that time, Weinheimer advanced from a basic EMT to the advanced training of a paramedic.

Friday, Nov. 16, he became a member of the full-time staff.

"Out of the three (applicants), he was the top candidate," EMS Director Steve Appling said. "It was a close, hard decision. All have the experience."

Weinheimer takes a position opened when Gerald Ripple transferred to the vacated day-time paramedic post. Ripple replaces long-time paramedic Frankie Becak who is now teaching EMT skills full-time at Wharton County Junior College.

"It's good to give back to the community," Weinheimer said. "This is an opportunity to help people when they are at a transition point in their lives - an accident, a wreck. It's an opportunity to affect the course of their life direction as well."

The daily duty of a full-time EMT is a 24-hour shift which can range from 24- hours of utter boredom to frantic activity. It can mean having to cope with the simplest of illnesses or injuries to the worst trauma imaginable.

Often, it's dealing with people on the worst day of their lives.

"I do it because I can," Weinheimer said, adding it allows him to give back to the entire community.

"We're There Because We Care," is the motto of the El Campo EMS Department.

Weinheimer is an El Campo native who graduated from El Campo High School in 1988. He and wife Melissa have two children.

Whistling Wings is his ranch.

El Campo EMS traditionally hires from its part-time worker pool eliminating the need for extensive training.

"There are not many EMS departments that have the luxury of not trying to hunt people," Appling said.