Landon Harris
Urgent Response Aide

Before working at Panorama, I’d been in the U.S. Air Force for 5 ½ years and am now in the reserves. Soon after, I obtained my EMT certification and have been working towards a career as a firefighter. I knew being a firefighter was the career I wanted to retire from, so I’d been searching to be a part of something meaningful in the meantime where I could use some of the skills I’d gained. That’s when I stumbled upon the Urgent Response Aide job posting for Panorama, and it happened to be exactly what I was looking for.

As an Urgent Response Aide, we are first responders and our job is to prevent loss of life at the most basic level. Not only are we providing care in medical emergencies, we do a lot of advocating for residents. We work closely with the fire department, healthcare providers and even the police in some situations. There’s a certain scope of what we can assist with as we’re not officially EMT’s, but we’re always there to help in the ways that we can. Sometimes the fire department can take 5-10 minutes to arrive to a call and a lot can happen in that time. I find it really neat that Panorama has this sector in place to provide care during those minutes our colleagues can’t be there. Working with our community colleagues is a big part of our job, but an even bigger part is communicating with families. When someone is taken to the hospital, it can be really tricky for families to get information on what might be going on with their loved ones after the fact. We’re able to follow up with them more comprehensively, and this is where communicating with families and our work with Social Services comes in. It amazes me how much their department brings in these situations – I was unaware of how important it is to have that. 

It has been such a satisfying experience being able to help this population. It might sound cliché, but it really is the most rewarding part of it all. You really have to be prepared for anything in this field. From getting a call to arrival on the scene, the situation can be much different from the information we received. If you’re willing to take any situation on and put others’ needs before your own, I’d consider looking into a career in aging services. There’s not always a positive outcome when dealing with medical emergencies, but it surprised me how easy it is to find the positives in a community like this one. What seems to be unique to Panorama is how close-knit everyone is – it’s one thing I’ve enjoyed being a part of. The residents really take care of one another, and all the ways the staff takes care of them is just a bonus