Sophie Burtman, FLBC Class of 2021
JAMESTOWN, N.D. — Sophie Burtman was walking with her mom through the Minot Walmart on a December day in 2022 when she saw a commotion near the produce section. Little did she know that this would be a defining moment in her life–the impetus to launch her career in healthcare.
“There was a group of people crowded around somebody on the ground, and I remember hearing someone yell, ‘Get an AED, call 911,’” Burtman said, reliving that memory.
Soon, Sophie and her mom were directing traffic away from the area and making sure that emergency responders had a direct access route.
“When I watched them walk by, I was like, ‘Oh my goodness, I wish I could do that,’” Sophie said
She knew that if she did not do it, she would spend the rest of her life wondering about the opportunity.
That moment cemented her childhood dream to work in the medical field. After a few weeks of obsessive research for classes, she was enrolled in an accelerated Emergency Medical Technician course.
Today, Burtman, who is a 2021 Free Lutheran Bible College alumna, serves as a full-time EMT in Jamestown. She also is in paramedic school and expects to complete this training at the end of the year.
Diagnosed with ADHD and anxiety in high school, Burtman said people were dismissive of her dream of becoming an EMT. Her ADHD often manifests through unreasonable levels of stress over ordinary tasks or problems, so Burtman says she does not give the impression of being an EMT. However, becoming an EMT has fitted her perfectly.
“When I’m on a 911 call, … my brain really dials in and is able to focus in a way that I can’t normally outside of work,” Burtman said. “My brain likes the immediacy of: ‘OK, what do they need right now?’”
While her ADHD sharpened her ability to serve in practical, hands-on ways, Burtman said her time at FLBC also shaped her understanding of work on a deeper level—teaching her, through the doctrine of vocation, to see her work as a means of loving and serving her neighbor. This is her biggest takeaway from FLBC and has had the most impact on her everyday life.
“When you are exercising your vocation,” Burtman said, “It’s like you are God wearing a mask in the sense that God is using you to serve them.”
Burtman remembered learning about vocation through the Theology of the Christian Life] class she took at FLBC. This class taught her the beauty and spiritual significance of faithfully carrying out the duties of family, church, and career vocations placed upon each Christian.
A vocation mindset has impacted Burtman’s approach to her patients and her efforts to serve with respect and empathy no matter the situation. Burtman said many of the calls she responds to are not exciting, nor are they life or death situations. Often, it is an elderly grandma who has fallen, or individuals with mental health issues, chronic health problems or drug and alcohol addictions.
“Maybe it’s not particularly glamorous, but somebody needs to do those things,” Burtman said. “I’m able to show care to my neighbor in doing my work, even if its not particularly fun.”
This care for neighbors is not without personal cost. Burtman has noticed her anxiety for the safety of her loved ones has increased due to the job. She has experienced loneliness. She said that early on in her career, she tried to talk with a friend about her first experiences with patient death. However, she soon found that trying to process this with her non-EMT friend led to them experiencing second-hand trauma.
“Work-life balance (and) spiritual balance is something that has been very hard for me,” Burtman said. “You have very unique experiences that most people cannot relate to. … It is isolating from the rest of the world.”
Added to the emotional load, is the weight of being responsible for another person’s life, the mental push to always be on call, the fear of being injured or exposed to blood-born contagions, and the possibility of witnessing a psyche-scarring event—all while earning entry level retail job wages.
As an EMT, one of the problems Burtman has observed is compassion fatigue. Many of their transports are the same people again and again for the same addiction problems or other issues.
“Some people are like, ‘Well, they did it to themselves, blah, blah, blah, blah,’” Burtman said. “In my personal opinion, nobody really wants to live that way. Nobody wants to live in their own filth, addicted to drugs… Maybe they didn’t make the best choices? …Maybe they were set up to fail, who knows? …People find themselves trapped in these situations.”
Within these interactions, Burtman has seen firsthand the impact of simple kindness. One transport in particular stands out. Burtman and the crew responded to a call of a woman contemplating suicide. When they arrived, the woman was calm, friendly, unharmed and willing to go to the hospital. When they dropped her off, the woman said, “Thank you for the respect.” Burtman was saddened that the woman expected to be treated otherwise.
Instead of seeing patients as an annoyance, Burtman’s conviction is to view each patient with the biblical lens–each person has inherent dignity as human beings created in the image of God. As Burtman strives to act with compassion, dealing with the emotional distress of the calls is difficult.
“A huge part of the job is being a part of people’s worst days,” Burtman said. “It’s an honor to be able to enter into their lives and help them when they’re having the worst days of their lives.
Through the good and bad, Burtman continues to serve, one wailing siren at a time. Each day, an opportunity to thrive in a career that complements the way God designed her mind and completes her childhood’s imagining. Each day an opportunity to serve the least of them and be the mask of God.
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