REVOLUTION MILLS. AHEAD OF THAT CEREMONY, WE ARE HIGHLIGHTING SOME OF THOSE ACTS OF BRAVERY. TONIGHT’S HERO HAS BEEN AN EMERGENCY RESPONDER SINCE LAST CENTURY. SHE EVEN TAUGHT SOME OF HER OWN SUPERVISORS IN SCHOOL. AND RECENTLY HER JOB CHANGED DRAMATICALLY. BUT ALSO, ACCORDING TO HER PEERS, POSITIVELY. HERE’S LAURA SMITH. LAURA SMITH HAS BEEN DRIVING AN AMBULANCE AROUND THE STREETS OF FORSYTH COUNTY FOR MORE THAN 25 YEARS. BUT HER CAREER AS A PARAMEDIC ACTUALLY STARTED IN SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1994. SHE STILL RECALLS WHAT ONE OF THE SPEAKERS SAID AT HER GRADUATION CEREMONY. HE SAID EMS CAN BE SUMMED UP IN JUST A FEW WORDS. HE SAID IT’S HOURS OF BOREDOM PUNCTUATED BY MOMENTS OF SHEER TERROR. AND THAT HAS HELD TRUE FROM THAT DAY FORWARD. SHE’S SEEN JUST ABOUT EVERY TYPE OF EMERGENCY AND NOT THAT LONG AGO, SHE ALSO SAW HER JOB CHANGE. IN 2016, SHE BECAME ONE OF THE COUNTY’S FIRST EVER COMMUNITY PARAMEDICS. I WOULD SAY THE BIGGEST PART OF OUR JOB, REGARDLESS OF WHAT SITUATION WE ARE IN, IS PATIENT ADVOCACY. SO WE WE WE SPEAK FOR THE PATIENTS WHEN THEY CAN’T SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES, DON’T KNOW WHAT TO SAY, DON’T KNOW WHAT QUESTIONS TO ASK. AND WE HELP TO GUIDE THEM. WE ARE YET ANOTHER RESOURCE TO HELP GUIDE THEM THROUGH THE GAPS IN THE HEALTH CARE AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CARE SYSTEM. THE IDEA IS TO CONNECT PEOPLE WITH RESOURCES THEY MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT AND POTENTIALLY PREVENT AN AMBULANCE RIDE TO THE HOSPITAL DOWN THE ROAD. PART OF HER RESPONSIBILITIES NOW INVOLVE HOME VISITS, PARTICULARLY WITH OLDER PEOPLE. WE LOVE WORKING WITH THE ELDERLY. IT’S AN HONOR AND A PRIVILEGE. I WISH WE HAD MORE OF A EASTERN PHILOSOPHY ON TAKING CARE OF OUR ELDERLY CITIZENS BECAUSE WE OWE THEM FOR TAKING CARE OF US AND EVEN BRINGING US INTO EXISTENCE. FROM 2000 TO 2008, SHE TAUGHT EMS AT FORSYTH TECH, SOME OF HER STUDENTS BACK THEN ARE HER SUPERPOWERS USERS TODAY. I’M PROUD OF THEM LIKE THEY ARE ALL EXCELLENT STUDENTS AND EXCELLENT AT THIS JOB, AND THEY STAYED WITH IT. THEY ARE GOOD LEADERS AND IF THEY’RE NOT, I’M SURE TO TELL THEM ABOUT IT. SO SHE’S CALM AND COMPASSION HARNETT EXPERIENCED AND GIVING AND NOW A HERO. I AM HONORED. BUT I’M JUST NOT ABOUT ALL THE HOOPLA, YOU KNOW. I’M UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THE ATTENTION. I WILL SAY THAT MUCH. I DIDN’T GET IN IT FOR THE YOU KNOW, BIG, YOU KNOW, RESCUE AND SUPER HERO AND ALL THAT KIND OF STUFF. THAT’S NOT WHY I GOT IN IT. THAT’S NOT WHY I STAYED IN IT. LAURA ALSO DONATES A WEEK OF HER VACATION TIME EVERY YEAR SO SHE CAN PROVIDE MEDICAL COVERAGE FOR OVERSEAS CHURCH MISSION TRIPS WHENEVER SHE RETIRES. SHE HOPES SHE CAN DO EVEN MORE OF THAT. STAY WITH US NEXT WEEK FOR MORE LOOKS AT SOME OF THE HEROES LIVING HERE IN THE PIEDMONT TRIAD. AND IF YOU MISSED ANY OF OUR PREVIOUS SALUTE TO HEROES STORIES THUS FAR, YOU CAN GET CAUGHT UP ON THE WXII 12 NEWS MOBI