Samantha Stokes is pictured with the Statue of Liberty in the background. Submitted Photo.

While the COVID-19 pandemic is hitting Chautauqua County with some force, it is much worse in other areas of the state. With how heavily areas like New York City have been impacted, the area has had to call on help from first responders all around the state and country. Dunkirk High School alum Samantha Stokes was one of those first responders who was called upon.

Stokes has been in New York City for more than a month, on the front lines of battling the COVID-19 pandemic in one of the places it has impacted the most. While most people have been instructed to avoid New York City, Stokes volunteered to go there.

“At first it was hard to get my family on board,” Stokes said. “My mom freaked out when I first told her I was going there.”

Stokes, a volunteer and EMS Captain at the East Dunkirk Fire Department, was eager to help out when her company started asking for volunteers. Stokes signed up right away and went down to begin her experience.

Stokes said she is enjoying her experience in New York City, saying it is a great experience for her and any future career paths.

Samantha Stokes is shown with some other volunteers with the New York Fire Department. Submitted Photo.

At 26 years old, Stokes has been with the East Dunkirk Fire Department for the last five years and is looking forward to bringing her experience back home with her.

“I’m excited to take everything back home to the department and share my experiences from here and some of the things they do differently,” she said. “I’ve learned a lot from the East Dunkirk Fire Department, they’re a great group of guys and have helped me learn things I didn’t know. I bring a lot to the table too and I want to share those things.”

While Stokes has struggled being away from her family, having never left Dunkirk for a significant period of time prior to being in New York City, she said that the community there has more than made up for it.

“The hospitality that New York is giving us is an amazing experience,” Stokes said. “Between EMS, the fire department, the police, and just the community. Every night at 7 p.m., community members come and clap for EMS workers everywhere in the city, from the top of their buildings, or outside hospitals. Wherever people are, they are outside are clapping for us.”

That treatment from the community has helped adjust Stokes from being homesick. That, and the family-like bond she has made with some of the people she has been working with.

“I’ve gained a lot of people who are like family,” Stokes said. “There are people here from everywhere, from Mississippi and Texas, to Massachusets and other parts of New York. Our support system is great, everyone is willing to help and give us the tools we need.”

While Stokes misses her familiar home in Dunkirk, she has found a temporary home all while providing a much needed helping hand in an immense time of need for the area she is in. Even with the long hours and being in contact with people who have the novel coronavirus, it’s an experience Stokes wouldn’t trade for the world. And while she is eager to help, she appreciates the community support being given back.

“The local restaurants have done a nice job taking care of us,” Stokes said. “There is a GoFundMe set up to have every meal delivered to the EMS and fire department workers. We’re out here on the front lines, this isn’t a controlled environment, so it’s nice to be appreciated.”

In conjunction with the community being understanding, so are the people she is working with. While people who are native to the area trained several months to be on the ambulance, Stokes and the other people who have been deployed have had to transition very quickly, leading to some uncertainty at times. Thankfully for that group, the facilities are understanding as well.

“We had to transition in really quickly,” Stokes said. “We had to learn in about a week. Hospitals are pretty understanding. Sometimes we don’t know where we’re going or what entrance we’re going in.”

At the end of the day, Stokes just wants to do what is best for both the community she is protecting, and the people she is protecting it with.

“It’s an opportunity to help my brothers and sisters in EMS,” Stokes said. “We protect each other. Our motto has been ‘no one fights alone.'”