From Patient to Provider: North Memorial Paramedic Comes Full-Circle
A medical emergency is the last thing anyone wants to think about. But when seconds count, trained EMTs and paramedics provide life-saving help.
“Every minute that someone is down from a cardiac arrest and there is no action taken, their survival rate decreases by 10 percent,” said North Memorial Health paramedic Alexis Lombard.
Alexis Lombard shows the LUCAS machine, which delivers consistent chest compressions.
She’s worked in the emergency medical services industry since 2020. And she still vividly remembers her first day on the job.
“As I drove to it, my heart rate outpaced the ambulance’s speed because I realized I’m not just driving to that emergency,” said Lombard. “It’s my job, my responsibility to save their life.”
Patient to Paramedic
Lombard has responded to countless calls ranging from SWAT standbys and fires to opioid overdoses. But she hasn’t always been the medical professional on board.
Her first ambulance ride happened when she was only five days old.
Rushed to the hospital with critically low oxygen levels, Lombard was diagnosed with a rare congenital heart defect called total anomalous pulmonary venous return.
“They had to crack my chest — they reassembled my heart,” said Lombard. “My veins weren’t connected correctly.”
The diagnosis changed her life completely.
“I had two open heart surgeries,” said Lombard. “I use to have to take Coumadin, which is a strong blood thinner. I went to the cardiologist growing up.”
The experience left a lasting mark.
“They stitched titanium into my ribs, and now I live with a foot-long scar in the center of my chest,” said Lombard. “Most people in the heart survivor community call that our ‘zipper.'”
Lombard is thankful to those who saved her life and calls it a privilege to now be a lifesaver for others.
“It makes me take my job even more seriously,” she said. “Knowing all the interventions we can do in the ambulance and how I can best treat my patients — it’s because I had such skilled providers who changed my life.”
Eyes on a Prize
Alexis Lombard is currently attending the University of Minnesota, finishing her prerequisites for medical school.
She also stays busy in the pageant circuit.
Lombard is the reigning Miss Glacial Waters and will compete for the title of Miss Minnesota this June.
Alexis Lombard poses for a photo as Miss Glacial Waters.
