Hancock said working alongside Simms and Allen is something special.

“I look and see her in me, both of them in me, and there is sometimes things not everyone can understand as a Black female, so it’s nice to bounce things off,” she explained. 

Becoming a fire paramedic wasn’t something Hancock had planned to do with her life. But her perspective changed after her mother died from a brain aneurysm. 

“Her death had made me look at life differently and how short it was,” said Hancock. 

Hancock has played sports her whole life and loves being in a team environment, which was one of the biggest reasons why she became a first responder.

“Firefighting is probably one of the highest calls to service you can have,” Allen said. 

For Allen, firefighting is a passion that runs through her veins. Her uncle was a firefighter, and her parents are medical doctors. 

“It’s one of those things that definitely give me purpose to get up in the morning,” said Allen. 

Being a first responder, Hancock said, “you have to be ready to expect the unexpected.”

“My way of going in and approaching it with my crew members is to know that this call is that person’s worst call for them," Hancock said. "And then going in and treating that member like it’s our family member because, truthfully, there are others out there when we’re out here working treating our family members like we do, so I always keep that in mind."

Lindsey Ford is a multimedia journalist with Rocky Mountain PBS. You can reach her at lindseyford@rmpbs.org.