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Dalen leaves with a legacy

Retired paramedic was a pioneer in Durango

Kim Dalen carries innumerable memories from her 32 years of service as a Durango paramedic.

Waiting in line at the grocery store conjures up the time she responded to a patient experiencing cardiac arrest in that very spot.

On her morning bike ride, she passes a memorial along the road for a boy who was accidentally shot and could not be saved.

“It’s a small town, and it can be horrible,” she said. “Especially when they die.”

At 60, Dalen said her decision to retire was partly related to a shoulder injury. In the reflective days that have followed retirement, she admitted it was probably a blessing in disguise.

“It’s good for me in a way because I probably would have kept doing it till I died,” she said. “I would have liked a little more time, but really I would have never been ready to quit.”

Dalen’s innate desire to care for others was instilled at an early age. Her mother was a nurse, and she remembers as a teenager that she and her sister, working as lifeguards, would fight over which one would assist someone in need.

By the time she graduated college and moved to Durango in 1977, she knew medical care was her calling. What she didn’t know was she’d end up spending the next 30 years thoughtfully attending to a tight-knit community as a pioneer in a male-dominated profession.

One of the few

During the early years of her career at Mercy Hospital, there were few females serving on the emergency-response team, but Dalen found camaraderie with the many nurses and administrators who were women.

However, when several local agencies merged to create the Durango Fire Protection District about 14 years ago, Dalen was thrust into a completely male-dominated environment.

“When I first started on patrol, I really felt like I wasn’t heard,” she said. “When I had an idea, I would tell the person next to me and have them say it, and they’d all say, ‘Oh what a good idea,’ and we’d get it done.”

In the break room, she didn’t have much in common with her co-workers, so meaningful conversations were few and far between. During downtime, while the paramedics waited for a call, she felt isolated as the men watched raunchy comedies or over-the-top action movies.

“I accepted that was the way it was supposed to be,” she said. “There wasn’t a role model for someone who could be a woman doctor and still have a family.”

Setting an example

The change was gradual, but Dalen persevered. The fulfillment of attending to neighbors and friends in their most desperate moments allowed her to ignore insensitive remarks and pushed her to become a strong, confident paramedic.

“I think she was a primary instigator of a new era of paramedics,” said Scott Sholes, Emergency Medical Services chief for the Durango Fire Protection District. “She paved the way for accepting that women can also do that job.”

Sholes was on the force the day Dalen was hired, but knew her from their time working on the ski patrol at Purgatory Resort.

“That’s where I think she cut her teeth as a female working in a very male environment,” he said. “If ever there was a male-dominated environment, it was the ski patrol in the ’80s and ’90s. Back then, the ski patrol was definitely a boys club, and she was able to maintain her own self-identity.”

Sholes saw Dalen bloom over the next three decades as one of the most compassionate, professional and dedicated paramedics on the force.

Eventually, Dalen took on the unlikely role of mentor.

Today, only three full-time female paramedics work in a crew of about 50. More serve as part-time volunteers, and it’s those women Dalen took under her wing.

“I will probably stick up for the younger women more than they would do for themselves ... because when you first start there’s this real struggle to want to feel like ‘one of the boys,’” she said.

Looking ahead

Dalen was thriving in her mentor role when she retired last May. But, now, she takes pleasure in the things she’s missed out on the last 32 years: namely sleep and free time.

She spends her days on the river or adventuring outside, and she and her husband even traveled to Italy for a couple of weeks. She’s excited for what will come next, and would like to use her skills toward some new endeavor.

But even with the freedom of the future, at the sound of a siren, she still perks up.

“When you’ve made a career of doing things to help people, to not be doing that anymore feels hard,” she said.

“But I also think there’s not that many people who make it in this career working in the field for 32 years. I have to keep remembering I’ve done it. It’s OK to sleep now.”

jromeo@durangoherald.com



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