PODCAST: One-on-One with Paramedic and Firefighter Adrian Murre

Saving lives in his hometown

“Once I got that tap on the shoulder asking me to join the fire department or at least just check it out, it did spark something inside of me that I wanted for a while,” said Adrian Murre about his start as a paramedic and firefighter in his hometown. “I had friends in high school that had joined the fire department as soon as they turned 17, and there was always a part of me that saw that, and kind of wanted it. But I had an image in my head of what a firefighter was, and I didn’t meet that mental standard. My image of a firefighter was born out of TV shows and movies and when I was a kid, my father taught me how to do a firefighter carry where you throw someone over your shoulder and I thought to myself, I can’t carry a firefighter out of a burning building, I can’t be a firefighter. Of course there is a physical strength component to this job, without a doubt. But to a far greater extent, there is a physical mechanics part of the job, there’s a teamwork component to the job, there’s very little in any of these jobs that anyone expects them to do on their own. So part of that was a huge learning curve to break that down and realize that this is something that I absolutely can do.”

What is it like to be there for your neighbor on the worst day of their life? Andrew is joined by local paramedic and firefighter Adrian Murre, who talks about his life as and journey to becoming someone who saves lives for a living, and the importance of emergency services in Door County.

More from the Podcast
• Dollar General Meets Sister Bay (with Matt Stone and Myles Dannhausen Jr.)
• Attracting Workers and a New Way to Fight Recidivism (with Andrew Kleidon and Myles Dannhausen Jr.)
• The Case for Public Transportation, Sturgeon Bay’s New Brand, and the Greening of Egg Harbor (with Andrew Kleidon, Myles Dannhausen Jr., and Celeste Benzschawel)
• Door County Reads 2020 (with Andrew Kleidon and Morgan Mann)