For 32 years, when something went wrong in York Region, there was a good chance Gary Fineberg was the calmest person in the room.

Or on the dance floor.

Or in the back of an ambulance, delivering a baby.

Or standing over someone whose heart had stopped beating at a wedding.

On Friday, the veteran York Region paramedic is working his final shift before retiring after more than three decades on the job. And fittingly, it also marks another milestone: his 32nd wedding anniversary with his wife, who is retiring this month, too.

“We’ve been married for 32 years, and now we can retire together,” Fineberg said.

He describes her as a hardworking executive who spent decades putting in long days while supporting his career in emergency services. Even a few minutes talking with Fineberg and one thing becomes clear quickly: he has the exact kind of voice you would want to hear in an emergency. Steady. Measured. Calm.

“My heart rate never goes above 50,” he joked.

That calm carried him through thousands of calls over the years, including some unforgettable moments.

Gary said he knew from a young age that he wanted to become a paramedic after watching the 1970s TV series Emergency!, which followed paramedics Johnny Gage and Roy DeSoto responding to emergencies in Los Angeles.

“I remembered watching that show and said, ‘How amazing would that be, to be able to pick up a phone in the middle of nowhere and ask a doctor for some orders to treat a patient?’” he said.

Three decades later, his career far outlasted the television series and even includes delivering 17 babies.

“That’s a lot for even a paramedic,” he said with a laugh.

One of those deliveries happened in a neighbourhood near his own home in Newmarket. Days later, the mother showed up at his house carrying flowers and her newborn baby.

“It was so sweet,” Fineberg recalled.

But not every life-saving moment happened on duty.

Fineberg remembers attending a wedding with his wife when someone suddenly collapsed on the dance floor. Staff called out asking for a physician.

“My wife says, ‘Maybe you should go help out,’” Fineberg said.

When he reached the woman, he quickly realized she had no vital signs.

“I said, ‘Well, she is actually vital signs absent…I’ll start CPR,’” he said calmly.

The responding paramedics arrived with a defibrillator and handed it to Fineberg. Off duty, still dressed for a wedding, he shocked the woman’s heart back.

“She lived actually 16 years later,” he said.

Despite stories like that, Gary doesn’t see himself as a hero.

“My job is a paramedic, and part of my job as a paramedic is to assist in any fashion that I can,” he said.

Instead, he talks more about comfort. About helping people feel calmer during the worst moments of their lives.

“I understand how to take care of people and make them feel more relaxed,” he said.

That mindset was shaped partly by the era he entered the profession.

Fineberg remembers his first shifts as a young paramedic being far tougher and less supportive than today. He said older medics often simply told rookies what to do and expected them to figure things out.

“We didn’t have anything,” he said of mental health supports at the time. “Back in the day, you did a bad call, and no one talked to you about anything.”

Now, he says, York Region paramedics have peer support systems and experienced medics reaching out to help guide them through difficult calls.

“Things have changed and changed for the better,” he said.

As retirement arrives, Gary says he feels grateful he can walk away healthy.

“It’s a really good feeling to say that I can walk away physically and mentally unscathed in a sense,” he said.

What he will miss most are the people.

“We have a bond probably a lot different than what one accountant to another accountant would have,” he said.

And if he had one piece of advice for the next generation of paramedics walking through the doors for their very first shift?

“Enjoy what you do and have fun,” Gary said. “Stay focused, stay positive, have fun and make connections with other paramedics in the industry.”

After 32 years, his voice on the other end of the radio is finally signing off.

But somewhere across York Region, there are families with children he delivered, patients he comforted, and lives that kept going.

All because Gary Fineberg happened to be nearby when things went sideways.