Austin Marsden is a freshman at Butler CC studying psychology. Outside of college, he's been volunteering with the small county of Marion with their fire and rescue crew for the past six months. Before deciding to join the fire and rescue crew, Marsden wanted to join the U. S. Army.
“I wanted to go to the military, but I got turned down because of my ADHD,” the freshman said.
Marsden’s father has worked with Marion County Fire and Rescue for over 20 years. After getting turned down, without knowing what to do, his father asked why he didn't pursue fire and rescue as he did.
“I saw what he did, and I've loved it all my life,” Marsden said. “I would love to be part of it.”
Although being a first responder sounds cool, there is always a hard part to this job and it’s losing people, especially when working in a small community.
“It can mess with you because there's a fear you might respond to someone you might know,” the first responder said. “It’s easier to do it when you don't know them.”
Being a first responder is a lot of work both physically and mentally; for Marsden dealing with problems after work can be stressful. Sometimes not a lot of people know what do to or how to cope.
“After a bad call, I'll always go to the gym,” Marsden said. “A bad coping mechanism does nothing; it's never worth it.”
Marsden has had some struggles. About 50% of first responders deal with mental health issues as they deal with scary calls like car accidents and fires, according to the National Library of Medicine.
“I lost a friend and was having a hard night,” Marsden said. “I ended up getting pulled over by a cop. He actually saved my life that night.”
Marsden is a full-time student and gets called on when an accident happens. He does this out of the love and passion for helping people in his community.
“I don't do it for looking good or for the money, but for the adrenaline rush of helping people,” Marsden said.