WASHINGTON CO. EMS COMMENDS OUTSTANDING PARAMEDIC, EMT
Washington County EMS recently recognized two members of the department for their work to save people and property during an RV fire.
Lauren Coonrod were recently recognized
by Washington County EMS for their
outstanding service.
(courtesy Washington County EMS)
EMS presented a Director’s Commendation Award to paramedic Hunter Dunn and a Meritorious Service Citation to emergency medical technician Lauren Coonrod.
The department says the two were the first on scene of a fully engulfed RV on May 28th.
Fire service was on the way, but additional RVs and trees were threatened by the blaze, so Dunn, who formerly served as a firefighter, began efforts to put out the flames. Once firefighters arrived, he continued to assist by connecting hoses and eventually manning the nozzle to directly fight the fire.
While Dunn aided in firefighting, Coonrod took the lead in caring for eight civilians who were gathered at the RV. She moved them away from the scene in her ambulance and single-handedly completed triage, administered oxygen and provided care.
EMS says Dunn’s actions “far exceed the call of duty placed upon him as a paramedic, and resulted in the protection of neighboring property.” It says Coonrod exercised resourcefulness and sound judgment, adding that her “proactivity and willingness to work independently allowed her partner to continue assisting with firefighting efforts,” which allowed property to be saved.
The department says the service of Dunn and Coonrod is “in keeping with the highest values of Washington County EMS.”
So here is my question? Why don’t we have the fire department and the EMS together with the fire department as the Chief Director and have a manager over the EMS the large cities have that operation and seems to work well! The helicopters usually belong to law enforcement and medical helicopters operations are part of the ER of hospitals. Great job by Mr. Dunn and EMT Coonsrod a very deserving award. In my days on the bus we were not allowed to do such heroics unless we had fire fighter training such a Hunter Dunn which came in handy in this instance!
In larger cities, they have switched to fire-based EMS, which is gaining more ground across the United States. When it comes to the fire service, there is no such thing as a “chief director.” There is only a fire chief, which then breaks off into possibly an assistant EMS chief. In reality, if he is working on the ambulance, he should not have picked up that hose in the first place because he more than likely did not have the proper PPE on.
Having worked for one of those larger cities that have fire and EMS together, I can tell you that it doesn’t work as well as you might think. It limits your hiring pool, it increases budget expenses, and it contributors to earlier burnout of the responders.