WireGuide | Issue 1 | 2022

Hi everyone! My name is Morgan Bruns, and I am an intern on the Editorial Content team in Marketing Communications at Park 48. My main project this summer is to relaunch the WireGuide.

The WireGuide is a digital newsletter that was created in 2017 by a group of interns. With intentions of connecting the other interns with each other, they created content surrounding the other interns’ lives. The WireGuide stopped in the summer of 2020, as there wasn’t an intern program due to the pandemic. Two years later, we are relaunching it on a new platform. Now featured on the Life@Cook blog, the WireGuide and its stories are available to an even bigger audience.

With that being said, welcome to the WireGuide! I appreciate every one of you that helped in making this possible. If you have any content ideas such as feature stories, gallery photo topics, or something else, please let me know. You can reach me at Morgan.Bruns@CookMedical.com. Enjoy!

During intern orientation in mid-May, I overheard another intern describing her previous job as a paramedic. Immediately intrigued by this, I reached out for an interview. She happily accepted, and I quickly found out that this is only one of the many roles that Miranda Morrison has played in her lifetime. Whether it be her work as a paramedic, animal rescue volunteer, podcast host, or tea maker, there is no doubt that this intern has lived a thousand lives.

A Cook intern

Miranda, a product management intern, described her journey to Cook as a winding one. She began her undergraduate degree with a major in biology and minor in chemistry at Columbus State University in Georgia, where she is from. However, as many college students can attest to doing, she changed her degree. Her new major was in fine arts, with playwriting and directing as her focus. After graduating and encountering obstacles while searching for jobs, Miranda received career advice that would eventually make her path a little straighter.

“It was to make a list of qualities that you want in a job, not a list of possible jobs or careers,” she said. “Based on the list of qualities that I came up with, I came up with paramedic.”

A firefighter paramedic

Being a paramedic had everything that Miranda was looking for in a job. She described it as both intellectually and physically stimulating and as a job that requires critical thinking skills too.

“It doesn’t matter how prepared you are,” she said. “You are going to come across something that isn’t in any of the books you’ve read.”

Miranda joked that sometimes she had to improvise with duct tape and glue until they got to the hospital, as they were the only resources she had that would suffice. The most important part about being a paramedic to her was that she was able to help others in a plethora of ways. Because of this career change, she was able to work as a firefighter paramedic or “firemedic,” a paramedic on an emergency ambulance, and even as a paramedic in the emergency department in trauma centers for hospitals. She has worked at three different trauma centers in Georgia. She has worked at Midtown Medical Center, a level two center for adults and pediatrics in Columbus; Egleston, a level one pediatric center in Atlanta; and most recently worked at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, a level one center for adults, which is also one of the biggest trauma centers in the country.

An animal advocate

Miranda’s passion for helping others didn’t stop at human patients. Her selfless actions extended beyond the hospital to Animal Ark Rescue, a no-kill animal rescue, where she volunteered for five years. Although she moved to Bloomington this past month, she continues to do volunteer work remotely. A common task for her is grant writing and reporting. One of her current responsibilities is creating a data-driven marketing project, so she can help the rescue apply for a Google ads grant. During her time as a volunteer, Miranda has acquired six rescue pets of her own. She has four dogs named Delilah Sunshine, Drake, Sandy, and Shelby. She also has two guinea pigs, Henry and Luc. Three of her four dogs were considered unadoptable and “problem animals,” but it was no challenge for Miranda. The three rescues proved the staff wrong and get along well with the rest of the pack.

Because Miranda moved from Georgia to Indiana for the summer, it was important to her to find housing that allowed her to bring at least a couple of her pets. After a lengthy search, she found an extended-stay Airbnb that accommodated her requests, and she was able to bring two of her dogs with her. She has a house sitter in Georgia that is taking care of the rest of the pack and sending her pictures every day.

She described her house search as “rolling the dice.” Not only had she never heard of extended-stay Airbnb’s before, but she also had never been to Bloomington. The most unique part about Miranda’s housing situation isn’t that they allowed her to bring her pets, it’s that she was able to gain a lot more. Located on a farm just 15 minutes outside of Bloomington, this house has chickens, pigs, a cat, two dogs, and now, thanks to Miranda, two more dogs. With rent that is cheaper than the apartments downtown, the acceptance of her pets, and being able to express her love for animals even more, this home away from home was truly a win for her. And apparently, it was a win for the animals too, as they look forward to getting their daily snack from Miranda.

A master’s student

Working on the front lines as a paramedic was an experience that Miranda loved. However, once the coronavirus pandemic began, she decided that she wanted to help others on a larger scale. So, she went back to school. Miranda currently attends Georgia State University where she is pursuing a master’s degree in biomedical enterprise.

“I explain it to people as a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in biomedical science,” she said.

The Biomedical Science and Enterprise, Master of Interdisciplinary Studies (M.I.S.) program prepares its students to work on the business side of biomedical science and teaches them how to bring biomedical advances to the marketplace.

Because of her work on the frontlines, Miranda had hands-on experience with Cook products before she chose to intern with the company. This prior knowledge was the main reason she chose Cook, and it means that she is very knowledgeable on how our products impact patients’ lives. Her favorite Cook product is Hemospray.

An adventurous hobbyist

Just when it seemed like Miranda couldn’t be busier, she told me about some of her hobbies. She has already hiked at the B-Line Trail, Clear Creek Trail, the Limestone Greenway, and Leonard Springs Nature Park. She runs her own podcast called Inquisitive Mystic, which is about all things mystical, magical, and the surrounding science. She also makes her own herbal teas.

Although she described her journey as winding, I believe that she was gaining qualities that make her the ideal Cook intern. She came to Cook with a wealth of knowledge from the many lives she’s lived.

Not only do these experiences help Miranda in her field, but they also reflect Cook’s values in every way. These experiences demonstrate that she truly acts with integrity, gives back to the community, treats others with respect, solves problems, and always, always finds ways to improve.