Retired federal magistrate judge has new career as a paramedic
Former U.S. Magistrate Judge Don Bush retired from the bench last year, and he no longer works in the legal profession.
But he is still working at age 70 in a new career as a paramedic, according to an article on the U.S. Courts website. “He’s pulled multiple 12 and 24 hour shifts, performed a number of complex medical procedures, and runs his own ambulance crew,” the story reports.
Bush attended paramedic classes during the evenings when he was still a magistrate judge in the Eastern District of Texas. He made comprehensive course outlines and ran a study group. Everyone in his group passed, according to one of the people who was glad he attended, Bob White.
“Initially everybody looked at him like, ‘What are you doing here?’ ” White told U.S. Courts. “I mean, one, can you do this physically, and two, why are you not retired? But the age thing went out the window real quick. He was probably in better shape than anyone in that class.”
Bush was among 40 people who took the training program and one of only 16 who graduated.
Bush works three or four times a month, handling 12-hour shifts as a medic for the Texas Star Ambulance.
He also works two days a week at a nonprofit urgent care clinic where his son, a medical doctor, works. “We are giving free medical care for anyone,” Bush said. “It’s open to everyone. It’s nonjudgmental. Often patients have faced a personal and trying crisis, whether as a refugee or living on the streets.”
