Ed Draper: The fire within
As a kid in Kaleva, Michigan, Ed Draper knew he wanted to help people. And he had a pretty good idea how he would do so – firefighting, like his father. After years of doing so, he found that selling medical supplies and equipment to first responders was another way to help people. He was named Rookie of the Year and Account Manager of the Year for Bound Tree Medical this fall.
His father, Mike Draper, had been the fire chief at Maple Grove Township Fire Department in Kaleva. “I always looked up to him,” says Ed. “He was an elementary school teacher by career, but when he wasn’t teaching, he was helping people in what was often the worst moment in their lives. He expressed so much passion and bravery, which were qualities that I wished to have one day.”
Before the days of 911 and emergency paging, people could call an emergency number, which would ring in every emergency responder’s home, he explains. But the ring was distinguishable in that it was constant. “My sister, Tricia, and I were often reminded that we were not to answer the phone until the second ring, because if we did, it would stop the phone from ringing in all of the responders’ homes, which might cause them to miss vital information.
“Nothing made me prouder than to see my father race out of the house to the fire station, which was only a few blocks from my home,” he says. “I’d hear the town emergency siren wail and then I’d walk down the street to the next intersection, where the fire engine or rescue truck would speed by with the lights and siren on.
“After fires, they would often come fill the trucks at the hydrant by our house. I’d run outside to watch. The firefighters would often still have some of their turnout gear on, with soot smudged on their face and arms. To me, they looked like warriors, covered in signs of the battle they just won.”
An early start
When Ed was 15, the elder Draper created an explorer/cadet program in which teens could perform limited tasks on emergency calls and train with the firefighters at their meetings.
“I remember one call where I was helping pull a fire hose on a small grass fire,” recalls Ed. “The fire was mostly out, and the firefighter I was pulling the hose for came back to [me], and said, ‘Ed, I need you go back to the engine and get the hose stretcher. We’re short about 18 inches and I need it to get around a tree.’
“I ran back to the fire engine and was digging through a compartment when my dad came up to me and asked what I was looking for. I told him. He looked at me funny and said, ‘The what?’ I repeated it. He laughed and said, ‘Get back out there, there is no such thing as a hose stretcher!’ I turned and saw the firefighter who had sent me for the imaginary tool on his knees, laughing hysterically.”
As a senior in high school, he took an Emergency Medical Technician course. At 18, he took a formal wildland firefighting course, a hazardous materials course, and formal firefighter I and II class. He worked a handful of jobs as an EMT, gaining experience working in a manufacturing plant and ambulances, and later went to college for paramedic training.
He continued to work as a volunteer/paid-on-call firefighter for 11 years, while working full-time as a paramedic for two county and municipal-based EMS services, a casino as a medically training security officer, and a hospital-based service, for whom he functioned as a critical care paramedic. He went on to take a course to become an EMS instructor. (The state of Michigan requires that individuals who teach EMS hold a state license to do so.) For a short period of time, he and a friend formed a company teaching EMS education and CPR/First Aid courses.
For Blair Township, Draper worked as a line firefighter/paramedic, and helped with departmental education. “In sort of a stretch responsibility, the director of EMS, Daryl Case, had me help with some other aspects of the organization, such as state inspections of the EMS apparatus, employee orientation, and EMS committee meetings with the medical control authority,” he says. When Case left the organization, Draper applied for and assumed chief administrative role of the EMS department. He finished his degree in public safety and healthcare management from Siena Heights University.
Never boring
“What I loved about the job was the variability of the work,” he recalls, speaking of his years of firefighting and EMS. “You truly have no idea what you might be doing from shift to shift. When responding to one call, you might be caring for an elderly person who is sharing great memories, and the next you might be tearing through a wall with a tool to find a fire.
“Not every response is life-and-death,” he continues. “But when they are, the impact is life-changing, both for the people we are caring for, and for us. These calls are traumatic, and they stick with you. There are calls I’ll never forget – some with good endings, many I’ve learned from, and others I wish I hadn’t experienced.
“Regardless, the public safety professional signs up to walk into a bad situation and make it a little better. It showed me that material things are nice, but they are replaceable; lives are not. Never leave a loved one without saying good-bye. Be quick to forgive when you are upset. And never let go of a chance to tell someone you love them.”
Into sales
Throughout his career, Draper purchased most of his medical supplies from Bound Tree Medical. For years, he worked with account manager Dave Tomlin, and later, with Don Adams. One day Adams announced he was being promoted, and he encouraged Draper to apply for his old spot. “He was very transparent with me about the day-to-day work of an account manager, and he kept telling me about how great it felt to go around and take care of friends.”
Draper’s wife, Amanda, had been telling her husband for years that he ought to be in sales, citing his enthusiasm for the things he is passionate about, he adds. It turned out to be a good fit.
“When I was the chief administrator for the EMS department, I felt one of my most important responsibilities was to remove barriers from my team, and to ensure that they had what they needed to treat the people we served efficiently and effectively. I didn’t want them to have to worry about the quality of the equipment and supplies they had, when they should be focused on what could be a life-changing event for both the patient and them.
“Consistency and confidence were of utmost importance,” he continues. “I still do this today, only I now help the chief administrators of many organizations do this for their teams all over the state of Michigan.”
A student of sales
Draper considers himself a student of sales. “I learn something new from everyone I meet and on nearly every interaction with a customer,” he says. “I read books every day, I have an audiobook running all day long in my vehicle, and I ask for tips/critique from my vendor partners. I thrive on getting better, and live for the challenges I encounter.
“EMS and fire people will tell you that they love the adrenaline dump they get from rushing to someone and helping during their time of need. Mine now comes from being the best partner to my friends and helping them get the devices and supplies that truly will save or improve their patients’ lives. My friend, Greg Wolf, says it best: ‘My paycheck may come from Bound Tree Medical, but I truly work for my partners.’”
After two years in sales, Draper believes that firefighting and medical sales aren’t all that different.
“Like firefighting, sales is the art of organizing and controlling chaos,” he says. “Like a pager going off for emergency after emergency while on shift, my phone rings daily with customers’ emergencies and needs. I feel that I have spent my entire life honing my ability to mitigate the emergencies of others, doing whatever it takes with true empathy. It lends itself perfectly to the sales role.
“Not every call is an emergency, but the person on the other end of it is looking for someone to understand their situation, to get to know them, and to make their day a little better. I triage the calls based on the priority of their needs, do what I can to help, and work with my team to deliver the patient/customer to definitive care.
“In an emergency vehicle, I team up with police officers, dispatchers, and hospital staff. In sales, my team consists of customer service, supply acquisition and distribution.”
A firefighter’s proposal
For most people, it would be an unorthodox way to propose marriage. But for a firefighter, maybe not.
“I’m married to my beautiful wife, Amanda, whom I met when I was bringing patients into the emergency room,” explains Ed Draper, account manager for Bound Tree Medical.
“An interesting fact is that when I proposed, my partners and I worked with the trauma team at the hospital and faked me being injured on a fire scene and needing to be transported to the emergency department where she worked. “When we arrived, I pulled the ring out from under my bandaged arm and asked her to spend the rest of her life with me.”
Together, they are bringing up three children: 13-year-old Emily, 11-year-old Landen, and 1-year-old Harper.