Most paramedics measure their careers in shifts, stations, partners and calls.

Bill Schell can measure his in generations.

“Always look in front, never behind,” the York Region paramedic explained on his way to celebrate his final day as a paramedic.

On Wednesday, he answered his final call after almost 51 years in the profession. He started at 21, when ambulance services looked very different.

He spent 36 years working in Toronto and later joined York Region, building a reputation as the experienced partner who stayed calm, supported his crew and arrived with a smile.

Reaching 51 years in any profession is rare. Doing it in paramedicine, where the work can take a lasting toll on the body and mind, makes Schell’s career even harder to match.

“I got lucky over the years, I, I have to admit,” he said. “I had some good partners, and I’ve kept my health in good spirits and I try to live a pretty healthy lifestyle, so I think all those things contribute to getting to those 51 years or so.”

Schell began his career in Toronto, working near Queen Street East and Pape Avenue. His first shift gave him an immediate sense of what he had signed up for. The call involved a child who had been struck by a car and suffered a serious leg injury.

“I thought, ‘Holy jeez, am I gonna be running into calls like this all the time?’” he said. “I was out of school, pretty nervous, but I was lucky. I was with a really good couple of senior guys that kinda guided me along the way and settled me down.”

Those senior paramedics told him that every call would not be like that one. He says their patience stayed with him throughout his career and shaped how he treated the younger paramedics who later worked beside him.

“I still appreciate those guys to this day, the time and the care they took with me,” Schell said. “And I’ve always tried to be that way with some of the younger kids that I’ve always worked with here. Be very patient and show some leadership skills and that kinda thing.”

After Toronto, Schell began working part-time with Newmarket Ambulance. When York Region assumed responsibility for paramedic services, Schell continued his career to this day.

“I got nothing but good things to say about York Region,” he said. “They’ve treated me like gold. EMS management has just been absolutely outstanding with me, and not just me, other guys too.”

His more difficult days still stand out. He spent 21 straight hours working at a nursing home fire in Mississauga. He was on the second ambulance crew to reach a plane that came down near the runway at Toronto International Airport in the 1970s. He responded to people struck by trains and countless other serious calls.

“I’m so used to the calls in Toronto, there is absolutely zero anyone can throw at me that I don’t think I can handle,” he said. “I’m not uncomfortable, I’m not nervous. I know what my job is. I know what other people’s jobs are. And you just work with all the resources that are around you.”

But knowing how to handle a call did not mean the difficult ones disappeared when the shift ended.

Schell found his own way to recover. He walked through the woods with his dog, spent time with his wife and children and escaped to the family cottage.

“I get a real kick out of going out in a canoe and watching the loons frolic in the water up north when I’m at my cottage,” he said. “I love seeing my dogs or my son’s dogs running with a smile on their faces and things like that. So if I get into those atmospheres after tougher calls, that just kind of lifts me up a bit, that not everything in life is bad.”

His coworkers say Schell brought that same sense of perspective into the station. He greeted people with a smile, asked how they were doing and made sure his partners knew he had their backs.

“A smile costs you nothing,” Schell said. “You can always lighten someone’s day just by a joke, a smile, or a handshake, or a pat on the back.”

That instinct came partly from his years playing hockey, football and running track. Schell learned early that teams support people through mistakes, missed opportunities and difficult moments.

“I always made them, too. I made the mistakes as well as anyone did,” he said. “Other kids come up and said, ‘Don’t worry about it. We got your back.’ I know how it makes me feel, so if it makes me feel that way, I know how it must feel for someone else, too.”

Schell will now join the York Region Paramedic Services alumni group, the Trailblazers. His coworkers say they will miss his experience, his support and the smile that greeted them at the beginning of a shift.

When asked what he would tell the 21-year-old version of himself, Schell laughed.

“Oh boy, you’re in for a hell of a ride, son,” he said. “You’re in for a hell of a ride, but you know what? Enjoy it while it’s here and just go for it. Just take each day as it comes, Billy. Each day as it comes, greet it with a smile, and just do the best you can. That’s it. That’s all you have to do, and try and get the best out of everybody around you.”

For more than 50 years, that’s exactly what Bill Schell did.