Part 26: Reception

All of the second-year and new emergency health services students were invited to a reception at UMBC along with faculty and the special guest, Dr. R Adams Cowley.

Bill Brown was there, as was Bill Hathaway, my faculty advisor. I met students from Wisconsin, Ohio and elsewhere, all who have come to this one-of-a-kind program at UMBC. Even including all of the faculty, it was a small crowd.

Dr. Cowley told us that we were a select group of people who represent a vision of the future of emergency medical services. The faculty at UMBC were hand-picked, many veterans of the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems. As students, we will learn the Maryland Way and take it far and wide. The next wave begins here and now.

What impressed me most about Dr. Cowley was how fatigued and aged he looked. Deep creases circled beneath his eyes. He spent almost the entire time sitting in one chair, as though moving were an exertion.

And his hair. Dr. Cowley dyed his hair, badly. His hair was an unnatural rusty brown, with grey at the roots.

But even so, Dr. Cowley was a commanding presence. His voice bellowed with authority. He was more than the chief, more than the creator and leader of this state-wide EMS system. Dr. Cowley was practically revered as a god.

He wished us good luck and left into the evening.