Bipeds of Brookland: Keith Thomas

Bipeds of Brookland: Keith Thomas

Keith Thomas was born in Brookland and worked for 25 years as a paramedic with the DC Fire Department. When he retired in 1999 he was supervising all of the city’s ambulance teams. “I covered the whole city. When I first started, back in 1974, we had a total of 10 ambulances for the whole city, but they said we needed 54 ambulances to cover the city.  So everybody worked very hard. Today I think there are 34 ambulances. There are Medic units at every firehouse.”

He explains that paramedics work 12 hour shifts and   “DC ambulances ran more calls than any ambulances in the world, per capita.”  He recalls that ambulances respond to calls more than once every hour, at least 12 to 15 calls in 12 hours.   “I spent most my life as public servant. I was glad to help, helped lot of people, saved a lot of lives.”

While he worked in firehouses across the city Mr. Thomas remained living in the neighborhood where he grew up.  “I always liked Brookland.  When we were small, there were always things to do. We didn’t have any toys, you might have one toy, but we could always make games.  Always find something to do.” He remembers playing at Slowe School, where there used to be “a field, about the size of a baseball field.  The rest of it was a big dirt hill.  We used to always slide down that, find some cardboard and go for it”

“In Brookland people are more friendly and peaceful. There’s not a lot of traffic in Brookland, like the rest of the city. It seems more on the countryside.  And then we have nice little restaurants and stores popping up.  You don’t really have to go anywhere.:"

Bipeds of Brookland: A weekly series introducing the people who make Brookland their home, one step at a time. 
Article and photo by Tom Sabella.