Women increasingly on the frontlines as first responders
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Historically, the number of female emergency responders has been far fewer than that of their male counterparts, but that hasn’t stopped women from taking on these lifesaving roles.
“There’s always that small thought of ‘Am I going to fit in?’ or ‘Are they going to accept me for who I am and trust that I can do the job?’” said Indigo Gaydesuk with the St. Joseph Fire Department. “I like lifting chairs and helping put things away. Anything that’s physical labor I’ve always enjoyed doing.”
Firefighting, much like other first responder careers, is a job that comes with grueling hours and dangerous work. Many of the women who walk into this workforce do so because of family tradition, but in some cases it’s a personal passion, like for Detective Michelle Ritter with the St. Joseph Police Department.
Ritter made her way through the ranks working as a patrol officer for seven years before landing a spot as a detective. But felt she could go even further and recently landed a spot on the SWAT team.
“I was quite surprised that I made the team because I had never seen a woman on the team SWAT before,” Ritter said. “I thought that that might make it so they were a little hesitant to allow me on the team.”
Research shows more women in police agencies tend to result in better public safety outcomes. They are perceived by their communities to be more compassionate and frequently see better outcomes for crime victims.
“Knowing that even on my worst day, I could have made someone’s worst day better, even when telling them devastating news sometimes because it’s a little bit easier for them to hear it from a woman,” said Shelbee Sollars with the Buchanan County Sheriff’s Department.
The demands of the job can take an emotional toll.
“I knew coming into this career that there would be differences ... it’s very different,” Sollars said. “ As a woman and a mother, you have to separate things and home is home, work is work, which can be difficult sometimes.”
While women are increasingly entering and excelling in emergency medical services, research shows they remain underrepresented compared to men, making up only about 31% of the EMS workforce.
“We have a lot of physical parts on this job that we don’t always have as much of in the hospital,” said Jennie Schwabe, a nurse and Buchanan County EMS staff member. “Getting patients from inside their home to the ambulance can be the hard part of our job but I think sometimes the men can underestimate our physical ability.”
Regardless of gender, women first responders across the city say they’ve been fortunate not to feel barriers working alongside men and believe anyone can thrive in a male-dominated field.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a deterrent,” Ritter said. “You might have to be a little more creative tactically when you go about affecting an arrest or something along those lines.”
Sollars said she encourages other women to follow their passions when it comes a career.
“Gender shouldn’t matter and when it’s something you want, you chase it and you get it,” she said.
