Annie Schinnell on Leadership and Medicine in the Wild

For Annie Schinnell, a senior member of the Lake View Interagency Helitack Crew, a simple moment in a briefing room changed her perspective entirely. When a leader asked who in the room was an EMT, she raised her hand and found she was the only one.

"I would think, 'Okay, so if something happens, I am literally the first person that is going to be called,'" she reflects. "It changed my whole mindset going into forest fires when I was an EMT."

That sense of responsibility has been a driving force in her career, a path that seems almost destined. With two older sisters who fought fire and a mother who worked for the U.S. Forest Service, Annie had strong mentorship within her own family. But she was determined to forge her own specialty. After taking a Wilderness First Responder course in Portland and loving it, she knew what she wanted.

"I decided I wanted to get my EMT but wanted to make sure it was wilderness or remote," Annie says. "So, I held out for that and was pointed in the direction of Remote Medical Training."

During her Remote EMT course, she met instructor Christina Thompson, whose career with the National Park Service provided a clear and inspiring example. "Just getting to meet her was a big decision point for me," Annie recalls. "I was hearing about the work she was doing and was thinking, ‘Yep, that’s the direction I would like to go with this ultimately.’"

Now in her seventh season fighting wildland fires, Annie has put that training into practice. Working from helicopters in remote locations, she is often the highest medical authority on scene.

"I was making the decisions that would lead to what we actually have available out here," she explains. "I am very responsible for those decisions; we don’t really have a lot of oversight on that."

She also brings a valuable perspective as a woman in a field that is steadily evolving. "It’s really fun to look around the room and see how many more females there are," she notes. "It’s changed pretty dramatically just in my seven years, and I think that women are just starting to make it up to decision-making positions."

Having recently completed our Remote Medicine Upgrade Recertification (RMUR) course, Annie’s passion for the medical side of her job continues to grow. She is grateful for her firefighting skills but sees a future focused even more on patient care.

"I’m hoping I can do more with remote medicine because I really enjoy that aspect of the job," she says. "It’s really crazy, there are a lot of remote medicine careers I never really thought about until I took all of these classes." Annie’s journey is a testament to the power of finding your niche, embracing responsibility, and leading the way for others.