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Owens Grad Finds Calling as Emergency Medical Technician

Charles Peters

Charles Peters spent a long time trying to find his purpose.

He worked at the Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority (TARTA) for seven years. He thought about becoming a police officer. None of it felt right to the 37-year-old from Toledo.

“I just wanted to make a difference, but I wasn’t sure how to do that,” Peters said. “I’ve been trying to find that way.”

Peters was set to start studying to become a radio announcer in Cleveland, but the day before he was set to start, something told him to look at what Owens Community College had to offer. That’s how he found the Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) program.

“I knew it was going to be challenging, but if I wanted to find a purpose, I knew it would be tough,” Peters said. “I decided to jump right in. After one day of class, I fell in love with it.

“It gave me a humbling experience and a different outlook on life. Everyone runs away from trouble, but we have to run towards it.”

Last October, Peters did just that. While on a late-night grocery shopping trip with his wife, he heard yelling coming from the freezer aisle. When he went to check it out, he found a woman laying on the ground and two men arguing over who was going to give her CPR.

Peters jumped into action, first checking the woman’s breathing and pulse. He couldn’t find a pulse, so he started CPR.

“Everyone who goes through this training, you wonder, ‘What if I freeze?’ No, I just jumped in,” Peters said. “All I cared about was getting her breathing.”

Peters said he got tunnel vision and didn’t notice the Toledo Fire Department officers behind him with a gurney. Once he got a faint pulse, they took the woman to the hospital for further treatment.

He called the experience nerve-wracking—so much so that he couldn’t get to sleep until 3 a.m.—but he’s refused offers to reward him for his actions. He said it’s important for him to show his children that doing the right thing is always correct, with or without the prospect of an award.

“When that night happened, it reinforced the idea that this is what I’m supposed to do,” Peters said. “No matter how she got to that point, I was there. What happens if I wasn’t?

“I had the duty to act. I had to do something. She was able to go home.”

Matthew Phillips, the chair of Emergency Services Technology at Owens, celebrated Peters’ willingness to act and apply his training in a real-world application.

“We are incredibly proud of Charles, who heroically applied his classroom training to save a life in a local grocery store,” Phillips said. “His exceptional composure and effective CPR until EMS arrived highlight the critical skills he honed through dedication and hard work in Owens Community College’s EMT program.

“Known for his punctuality and willingness to assist peers, he exemplifies the commitment to emergency medical services that we strive to instill in all our students.”

After years of searching for his purpose, Peters is thankful he took a chance and enrolled at Owens. He credited the instructors with giving him all of the tools to succeed while making him comfortable and confident in an unfamiliar area.

“There are other schools or programs, but Owens feels like home to me,” Peters said. “It made me have a better outlook on what I can do as a person, to show my kids and family that anything is possible if you put your mind to it. Owens instills that into you.”

For more information on the Department of Emergency Services Technologies, please visit owens.edu/business.