2024 Blue KC Answering the Call Honoree Ricci Beyers – month of September
Built to Serve
When Ricci Beyers was finishing up at William Chrisman High School in Independence, he said he was like most other kids his age. He wanted to find a job where he could make the most money while having the most fun. Nothing about meeting the needs of total strangers ever entered his mind.
“At the time, I was kind of like other 18-year-old kids,” he said. “I was living for the moment. I just wanted to make a lot of money.”
That goal didn’t work out too well for Beyers, as we all know that public servants are grossly underpaid. But Beyers has been living a fulfilling life for the past 24 years as an EMT, the last 14 years as a member of the Kansas City Missouri Fire Department (KCFD), including serving at Kauffman Stadium frequently for Royals games.
And he has become great at it.
In October 2022, he and another KCFD EMT were chosen to attend the world EMS skills competition in Orlando, Fla. They took first place in a competition of 60 teams. He’s a world champion, something Kansas City is becoming used to supporting!
Talk about exceeding expectations. He takes it all in stride.
“The best part of my job is knowing that maybe I helped somebody on the very worst day they’ve had,” he said. “It may not be the worst thing that I’ve ever seen, but for that person, it’s been their worst day. I’m able to go in, care for them, comfort them and do whatever is needed to get them on to a higher level of care.”
That is why Beyers is the September recipient of the “Blue KC Answering the Call” award, sponsored by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, benefiting the Kansas City Crime Commission.
Beyers got involved in EMT work when a friend, who worked for a local fire department, suggested that he would be a good EMT. He brushed off the idea at first, but in 2000 he went to EMT school and was hired by MAST Ambulance. In 2010, MAST became part of the KCFD.
Beyers says that attending to medical needs is just a portion of the job.
“The best part of my job definitely is helping people,” he said. “Sometimes I get to laugh with people. Other times I might cry with people, if need be. If nothing else, I get to be there to listen. I can be an emotional person, if that’s what the situation calls for. But I can also put emotions to the side to get the job done.”
Beyers knows that when a patient needs an EMT, it can be a very stressful time. That’s especially true for children. So he volunteers his time with Cub Scouts and Brownie troops, helping them earn merit badges, learning basic first aid skills and demonstrating that a firefighter or an EMT is someone they can trust in the most stressful times of their lives.
He’s the father of three grown children, and he says he often harkens back to situations with his own children when he’s helping kids in traumatic situations.
He also knows, first-hand, that being a first-responder is a stressful career. He believes The Battle Within is a great tool to help first responders deal with the stress in their lives.
“When I’m going through stress, there are people that I can talk to in the healthcare field,” he said. “My wife is an RN, so I can bounce stuff off of her as well. But there’s only so much that I can offer to someone when they’re dealing with those stresses.
“I can share my experiences, but if somebody needs a higher level of help, I’ll be the first one to say, ‘Let me give you some other avenues, like The Battle Within, to check out.”
For more information on the Blue KC Answering the Call program, please click here
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