They are park rangers at the North Carolina Zoological Park. Although their primary job is to provide security and protection for the zoo's nearly 800,000 yearly visitors, their job goes far beyond that. It can be as simple as giving directions or as serious as administering CPR to a cardiac-arrest victim. The zoo's complement of 20 permanent rangers is supplemented by 13 temporary, assistant rangers during the summer. Each permanent park ranger is a fully qualified emergency medical technician capable of handling all emergencies from scraped knees and insect bites to heat exhaustion and broken bones.
Every day brings a different group of visitors and a different job for the rangers.
We're the department that takes care of problems which are outside the scope of the other departments, whether it's pointing out the restrooms to visitors or getting an ambulance on scene in case of an emergency - getting them the help they need. The park's 500 developed acres and some of the 950 undeveloped acres must be continually patrolled either on foot or by cart, motor vehicle or bicycle. With the daily summer crowds at the park, situations could quickly become confusing without the rangers. We nip situations in the bud, before they can become problems. We see it all, every imaginable kind of problem.