AIRFORCE STAFF
SERGEANT TAKES ON ASSIGNMENT AT CLARKSON COLLEGE
United States Air Force Staff Sergeant, Rescue Lieutenant
for District 3 of the Bellevue Volunteer Fire Department, and student, Mathew
Beeman, is happily assigned to Clarkson College.
His
persona fits him to a 'T.' With a stethoscope around his neck, a Clarkson
College polo on, his Bellevue Volunteer fire department jacket draped over the
back of his chair and backpack at his side, Beeman said, "I joined the Air
Force when I was 18 years old. I had no idea that I would choose nursing as a
career path."
The Des Moines, Iowa, native participated in Jr. ROTC in high
school and loved the idea of serving in uniform. He knew that he wanted to get
an education and serve his country but also knew his single mother raising five
boys would not be able to put him through college. "The Air Force offered me
that opportunity," Beeman said.
Once
in the Air Force, Beeman found a package that would also allow him to get an
education. After a grueling acceptance process, Beeman was one of 20 selected
to take part in the Airman Education Commissioning Program (AECP) that pays
tuition and salary while obtaining a nursing degree.
After
being selected, Beeman looked at several schools that offer degrees in nursing
and chose Clarkson College. "The Air Force and Clarkson College are on the same
page and have the same set of standards," Beeman said. "I like Clarkson College
because it's small and focuses on health care careers and health care careers
only."
He
was both excited and sad when he found out that he was accepted for the AECP.
"I was excited because the Air Force was going to allow me to go to nursing
school and give me a paycheck to do it," Beeman said. "I knew this opportunity
was priceless, and I was satisfied that all my hard work had paid off. I was
sad because I had to leave my job and my peers."
He explains that it was not easy
finding out about this opportunity. "The Air Force has so many secret doors.
You have to know someone to open those doors."
Beeman found the opportunity to open
the doors to a college career at Clarkson College after working in a classified
intelligence building for five years. Stationed at Offutt Air Force Base in
Omaha, Neb., Beeman was on active duty when 9-11 occurred.
"It was crazy. Defcon alert and
reaction two, then three, and four were issued. It happened so fast no one knew
what was going on." Beeman recounts tuning in to the civilian intelligence to
find out what was happening, and he recalls when the President landed at Offutt
Air Force Base.
"Seven
days later I was on a plane headed for the Middle East," Beeman said. "We were
there to deliver. If American Government demands were not met, we were supposed
to attack Afghanistan. It was exciting and scary."
Beeman said that being in the military
made him grow up fast. "We launched empty. That's when I first got to see
American soldiers come back in caskets, sent to do a job and then paid the
price," Beeman said. "It was a growing-up experience. They were guys that were
wearing the same uniforms as you, but you knew they weren't going home the same
as you."
That is when he was first exposed to
nursing in the Air Force. "I met the flight nurses who influenced my decision
in being a nurse while I was stationed in the Middle East. Everyone had to walk
to and from tent city to the air base every day and only a select few had
vehicles. I would always stop and give people rides, especially aircrews that
had to lug their flight gear around in the 115-degree heat. I picked up some
flight nurses and they filled me in on the excitement of their jobs," Beeman
said. "They served in the 'Golden Hour' trauma chain of survival in Iraq and
Afghanistan. Injured soldiers and civilians would have to be airlifted out of
the combat zone and flown to military trauma centers for their first
stabilizing surgeries. Once stabilized, the patients would be loaded into large
cargo aircraft converted into flying ICUs; more surgeries are performed while
enroute to stateside hospitals. They gave me a heads-up on the AECP program and
told me I should pursue a career change. After listening to their exciting
stories, I decided to pursue a degree in nursing."
Beeman says being a volunteer fireman
has added another degree of maturity and offered another growing-up experience.
"The Fire Department has really intensified my belonging in medicine. Emergency
medicine is a thrill for me," Beeman says. "A good word for us is adrenaline
junkie."
The over 3,000 calls per year that the
Bellevue Volunteer Fire Department takes still leaves Beeman wanting more.
"When you haven't gone on a call for awhile and you get a headache and start to
get antsy, you know you're an adrenaline junkie like me," Beeman said.
Beeman tells about his first medical
call with the Bellevue Volunteer Fire Department to a 9-year-old who fell out
of a second-story window. He also recalls being called to a structure fire to
retrieve a 9-year-old girl that was inside.
"The
fire department is always full of surprises. You never know what you're going
to get when you're dispatched," Beeman said.
He most recently recounts being called to a vehicle fire
in which a large F210 truck was wedged sideways between two retaining walls.
"The smoke cleared, and I remember
tapping my partner's shoulder. The driver was still in the truck. We always
play the 'what if' game, but there are some things you can't control.
Especially in nursing, you always have to be on your feet and take everything
seriously," Beeman said.
Beeman is a sophomore in the Bachelor
of Science in Nursing program at Clarkson College. At the age of 25, Beeman
still has a lot more planned for his future. After completing his degree at
Clarkson College, he would like to continue his collegiate career to eventually
become a doctor.
"I'm equally excited by both careers
because the end result is flying injured soldiers out of harm's way," Beeman
said. "I believe my BSN education at Clarkson will be a key ingredient to my
success in medical school. Nursing makes a health care provider see more about
their patients than their diagnoses. Caring is just as important to patient
recovery as curing."
by Kelsey Archer
