Steven Wolff was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas where he lived for most of his life. A graduate of Holmes High school class of 1990, Steven went on to join the military where he served in the Army as mechanized infantry. During his basic training Iraq invaded Kuwait and Steven found his training just took on a whole new meaning. Steven proudly served in the military during the first gulf war and finished his contract with an honorable discharge.
Steven went back to school and graduated with an Associates Degree in Electronic Engineering & Technology where he used his degree to work at Sony Semiconductor. He proudly worked on the chips that would power the Play station 2 and many other electronic devices. Growing up without his dad, In 1994 Steven found his father that he never knew after 23 years using a book "How to Find Anyone Anywhere". He and his dad are a happy family once again even to this day. Finding one person out of 6 billion people on this planet only knowing their name (and before the Internet was common) bolstered Steven's self confidence that anything is possible.
After a massive layoff at Sony in 1998, Steven was forced to reexamine his priorities. He knew he worked well under pressure and liked to help people... but only if there was a job that combined them both?
He found his calling in Emergency Medicine where he went to school to become a medic. He took the National Registry Exam, a test that combines everything every medic in every state needs to know into one test. He took it and passed, becoming a Nation Certified EMT in all 50 states!
He loved having to volunteer/work in the E.R. (Emergency Rooms) and had logged 600+ hours through out his schooling. His favorite ER was BAMC (Brook Army Medical Center) which is a level 1 trauma center and the #1 burn unit in the world. Soldiers from all over the world would come to BAMC and would get the best care anywhere. BAMC is also a classroom that educates as it helps people, constantly providing the highest of care & hands on learning and to this day still holds that reputation.
Steven found work for a whopping $6.35 cents an hour - working for American Medical Response (AMR)... a private ambulance company, answering everyday 911 calls that people make in Bexar County, Texas
(aka San Antonio, TX).
On Christmas day, 1999 Steven and his partner responded to a 911 call around 7pm for a full cardiac arrest. The patient was a 55 year old black male who is a dad and a husband. The family was talking to him and unwinding from a day of celebration. The father went to the bedroom and 5 minutes later, he had stopped breathing and his heart stopped beating. Steven and his partner got there in 4 minutes flat and upon arrival, determined that he was clinically dead. However, that didn't stop Steven & his partner from performing life saving measures. With the wife and children looking on, Steven and his partner gave the gift of life back to him. After several minutes, the gentleman came back to life and was breathing on his own. Soon after the patient was transported, Steven had a camera in his pocket and had a first responder snap this picture so he would remember this Christmas for the rest of his life. He never saw that man or family again nor did he get a thank you... but last he heard, he was alive and stable and that was enough.
It's not about the thanks but about giving back to people who had given so much to Steven when he was growing up. Steven grew up in a single parent family where him and his mom were poor. He learned appreciation from that and he learned that he could give back things that money can't buy... his time, his wisdom, his efforts. Steven volunteered for the Blue Santa program where he got to deliver gifts door to door to families who couldn't afford to buy anything for Christmas. He volunteered to feed the homeless on Thanksgiving day and also volunteered as a Hospice worker... helping a gentleman in his last few weeks of life be as comfortable as possible.
Steven went on to save countless number of lives but his last call would be a career ender when he unknowingly was talking to a father who had murdered his 6 month old daughter hours before. News that he was talking face to face with a murderer devastated his career in EMS and left Steven struggling with the incident for years to come. Steven and his wife have been trying to have children for years with no luck. He was jealous of people who had children but didn't want them. In EMS, you are often asked to see the darker side of humanity and still keep a smile on your face. People count on you to be calm, cool, and collected.
But the ultimate blow was talking to the father who killed his daughter and lied to his face... and Steven wouldn't find out until an hour later. Steven had to take a break from EMS to gather his thoughts.
Several months after this incident, his compassion for helping people was also going to carry over into a whole new realm...
