Lynn Gilley Martin is passionate concerning the transition course of. Whether or not from chaos to readability, drawback to resolution, sickness to well being, or life to loss of life, Martin is devoted to serving to folks and organizations transfer from one stage to the subsequent.
Martin was born in Augusta however moved to Boothbay when he was 5 when his father died and his mom remarried. He grew up close to Ocean Level and graduated from Boothbay Area Excessive Faculty in 1977.
Martin attended Andover Faculty in Portland and secured employment as a medical assistant at St. Andrews Hospital in Boothbay Harbor. He finally moved into hospital administration and billing earlier than taking over comparable positions in personal follow.
Martins roots in his present title as a marketing consultant to fireside departments in Maine have been shaped when he served as chairman of the Southport Board of Selectmen. When confronted with a state inspection, he found that native hearth departments have been struggling to fulfill compliance necessities.
Martin researched the subject, attended courses, met with specialists, and designed a complete guide that addressed the expectations of all states. He offered the guide to the Lincoln County Hearth Chiefs Affiliation and nearly instantly obtained seven orders.
Martin was working a physician’s follow on the time, however the work he was doing with hearth departments took on a lifetime of its personal. He based Hearth Service Compliance Associates in 2006 and since then has traveled the state compiling particular person manuals for over 100 hearth departments.
Quickly, different metropolis companies sought his assist with points reminiscent of hazardous supplies and blood-borne pathogens. He consulted with police departments, transit stations and public works departments, however his main ardour remained hearth departments.
Each division is totally different, based on Martin. He works intently with some, updating manuals, documenting essential coaching, ensuring ladders are inspected and hoses are examined. He mentioned one boss even jokingly calls him Nagata.
With others I’m like this ghost, he mentioned. I simply present up (and when) they present up, issues are finished.
Edgecomb Hearth Chief Roy Potter mentioned Martin was the primary particular person he employed when he was promoted to chief.
You do not notice how briskly the yr goes by with every thing they throw at you, he mentioned. There are issues which are neglected. (He) catches these issues.
When Potter purchased a snowplow for the station, he did not suppose twice concerning the buy till Martin identified that it was harmful gear.
Everybody in Maine is aware of how you can function a snowplow and never get caught, he mentioned, however (firefighters) nonetheless needed to be educated.
Potter mentioned Martin was instrumental in convincing the town of the necessity for a brand new station home. In accordance with Potter, the outdated station was so small and poorly configured that firefighters had bother accessing a few of the gear. It had no working water, no rest room, and no area to train.
Martin attended the Edgecombe city assembly to advocate for the division.
He is a special face, Potter mentioned. Somebody from the surface who is aware of the standards, we did our homework and when it got here time to vote, no query was requested.
There are two kinds of inspections that Maine hearth departments can anticipate from the state.
Enforcement inspections can happen at any time and can lead to fines starting from $700 to $2,000 per life security problem. A number of fines can add up rapidly, leading to $15,000 to $20,000 in money for communities.
The consultations are courtesy checks designed to help companies in assembly strict state-mandated safety requirements. When a division passes an inspection in the course of the session, they’ll develop into eligible for a Security and Well being Award for Public Employers, or SHAPE Award, which acknowledges departments’ dedication to security and in addition exempts them from security inspections for 2 years.
Lots of the departments Martin has labored with have gained the distinguished award.
Martin takes his work very critically and he expects his shoppers to do the identical. He is labored with departments that have not adopted by, and when that occurs, he cuts them.
There are additionally circumstances the place he chooses to work with out compensation. He gave the guide to a small rural division with an annual finances of simply $25,000 as a result of they have been simply that funding, he mentioned.
All through his profession, Martin continued to hunt alternatives to study scientific and non secular matters. She studied to develop into an working room technician, took therapeutic massage courses and discovered the therapeutic artwork of reiki.
When she got interested within the technique of loss of life and dying, she grew to become a licensed loss of life doula, a ability that stood her in good stead throughout her six years at Halls Funeral House’s tribute middle, which she calls her Earth Angel job.
Martin mentioned there have been occasions throughout his tenure at Halls when he was honored to be current on the removing of a physique, the emotionally troublesome time when a lifeless particular person is taken from their household and brought to a funeral residence.
That is the compassionate half that I like,” she mentioned of the removing course of.
As a bereavement doula, Martin sees the household by from begin to end, serving to them with particulars reminiscent of acquiring a loss of life certificates, contacting household and pals, writing an obituary, or ordering flowers. Martin is a sophisticated a part of the household’s life for per week, then it is over. She admitted that the sudden cease when the job is over and the household now not wants her assist is usually troublesome for her.
Martin mentioned her aim is to demystify the method of loss of life and dying and assist folks address life after loss. He has shepherded numerous folks by the dying, together with his mom and stepfather.
She desires folks to know that this isn’t going to be scary, she mentioned. Some folks want time to stroll the final a part of their journey on this earth as they need.
Martin believes that individuals ought to have the liberty to decide on how they die. He asks his shoppers how they need their loss of life to go on, who they need to give a present to, how they need to be remembered and whether or not they need a dawn or sundown service.
A buyer requested for continuous Elvis music. One other needed to be surrounded by recollections of Christmas as a result of it was their favourite vacation. Martin sees himself as their finest advocate, somebody who can ease their concern and assist them face no matter comes their means on their very own phrases.
Martin can also be the president of the Boothbay Space Alumni Affiliation, a place he has held for the previous 18 years. His favourite position with the affiliation is planning the Grand Procession, a 100-year-old custom wherein graduating seniors put on white robes and white tuxedos to enter the commencement venue.
Martin remembers his personal huge march prefer it was yesterday. He loves the celebration custom a lot that he was instrumental in its a hundredth anniversary, when a number of generations of Boothbay-area graduates reenacted the ceremony that marks Martin’s transition into maturity.
Though Martin has been part of many transitions all through his life, from births to graduations to marriages, from disaster to serenity, he mentioned he’s most drawn to the expertise of loss of life.
We’re born from darkness to gentle, mentioned Martin. However it’s the transition from gentle to darkish the place he feels most of his objective.
It is actually simply the opposite facet, he mentioned. We’re simply passing by.
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