Being raised in a family of health care providers, health care has always been a big part of my life. Learning about the history of health care has lead me to my career in the fire service. During my career in the fire service, I have learned many positive and negative health care indicators that are linked with demographics. While learning about the health care system, it has lead me to research information about the history of health care. I was raised in a family of health care providers. Growing up while most kids were having Christmas and Thanksgiving at home. I was spending my time at the fire station. As I grew older, I began to learn more about the history of the fire service and some of the traditions the fire department holds. From learning about the old times with the bucket brigade to how the advancements of how fire is extinguished today or when my father began working as a firefighter, the use of medical gloves were not used. Now today with the knowledge of blood born pathogens, the use of gloves is a common practice to keep the spread of disease minimal. Information like this has always interested me and lead me to a career in the fire department today. I have always been interested in the health care field. I began pursing my career in the health care field when I was fifteen. I started volunteering my in a position called a "fire explorers" with the Pasadena Fire Department. As a fire explorer, I learned the basics of firefighting and how physically fit the job entails. However, one of the most important things I learned as a fire explorer is that most calls that firefighters respond to are about eighty percent medical. While in high school, I was fortunate enough to interview for a position as a Ventura County Fire Cadet. As a fire cadet, I responded to all 9-1-1 emergency calls throughout our district. I worked a regular shift schedule and rotated between the rescue squad and fire engine to obtain a more broad knowledge about the fire service. After high school, I enrolled in an emergency medical technician basic (EMT-B) course at a local community college. After finishing up my EMT-B course, I began working on an ambulance for a few years. After honing in on my EMT-B skills, I decided to take my education to the next level. I'm currently enrolled at UCLA Daniel Freeman's paramedic program. During this program I am learning advanced life support skills (ALS) that will allow me to better treat patients on scene. Once I become a paramedic it will also allow my scope of practice to expand. I currently work for two fire departments. I work for Boeing Fire Department part time as a firefighter. I also work for the City of Santa Paula as a firefighter. During my career as a firefighter I have learned much about health care and plan on continuing my education to the next level which leads me to where I am now at the University of Phoenix. Some demographic indicators that are linked to positive outcomes are how adults are living longer healthier lives. With the advancement in medicine and information available today, people are able to live longer because of all the different types of medications available as well as living a healthier lifestyle. For example, people are aware of all the risks that are associated with smoking cigarettes. Although some people choose to ignore these health risk factors. It still allows people to be informed on the risks they make. Another positive demographic indicator that is linked to demographics is "quality improvement." Quality improvement is the continuous improvement on oneself in the health care industry. For example, after each major incident that my fire department goes on. The crew talks about how each person can improve to make the incident run more smoothly if it were to happen again. Some demographic indicators that intrigued me that are negative health outcomes are the increasing costs of medical care today. The US government investing so much money into health care programs and digging our nations debt further into the ground. Although many people benefit from these programs, this also will cause an increase on the insurance programs themselves. There are many different resources available to finding more information on the history of health care in the United States. A simple search engine such as "google.com" or using "yahoo.com" are available to type in the information that the researcher may be curious about. However the researcher has to make sure that the source itself is reliable. For instance, websites that in ".edu" or ".gov" are more reliable because they are government websites or through a university. Another example of finding information on the history of health care in the United States is using academic journals. Academic journals will allow the researcher to read information that is been done by an educated person, usually one that is a specialist on the subject. For example, a cardiologist (heart specialist) could be writing an academic journal on the right ventricle which is a portion of the heart. Since this doctor is writing about his field of practice, this information would be considered more reliable. In conclusion, the medical field has always been a part of my life. From the spark of interest that began my education, to my career as a firefighter. I hope I will be able to share the same passion and education to others that my family has brought to me as a kid. With growing technology, this will only make research that much more available for the next generation.