Coshocton County EMS receives sixth Star of Life Award
Coshocton County EMS was recently awarded its sixth Star of Life Award in 17 years. They received a plaque for their accomplishment and the other agencies involved with the April 2016 accident that earned them the award were recognized with label pins. Pictured in row one from left are: Coshocton County Sheriff’s Office – Sgt. John Glasure and Deputy Mark Sharrock; Coshocton County EMS – Jennifer Singleton, EMT – Paramedic and Donna Carpenter – EMT Advanced; Coshocton Fire Department – Russell Dreher; back row: Coshocton Fire Department – Capt. Dexter Conkle and Chief Mike Layton; Jackson Township Fire Department – Lt. Keith Krebs, Keith Krebs II, Assistant Chief Dave Foster; and Coshocton Fire Department – Fred Shaw. Not pictured, but also responding to the accident were: Coshocton County EMS – Jon Tanner, EMT – Paramedic, Blaine Schooley, EMT – Paramedic, Emily Stevens – EMT – basic; Jackson Township Fire Department – Capt. Greg Rice, Lt. Lane Teater, Shane Harrah, Rick Williamson, John Rice, Cord Stottemire, Kenny Zigan, Mike Freetage; MedFlight – Mike McCollum, pilot, Streeter Clow, flight nurse, Jeff Parks, flight medic; and Coshocton County Sheriff’s Office – Deputy Ernie Snyder. Contributed | Beacon
COSHOCTON – Coshocton County Emergency Medical Services received its sixth Star of Life Award in 17 years during the middle of EMS Week on May 24.
The EMS Star of Life award was created by the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) and the Ohio Division of EMS to recognize outstanding achievements and to honor those on Ohio EMS systems whose accomplishments rise above the day to day excellence of their system.
Donna Carpenter from Coshocton EMS said their former assistant director nominated them for the award because of an April 25, 2016 accident they handled involving a patient who had several multiple life-threatening injuries.
“It was a car versus a tree,” Carpenter said. “He was in a care center for a while and still has recovering to do and is under a doctor’s care, but he’s home. We’ve seen him multiple times and asked permission to use his accident for this award nomination. When we got on that scene we really didn’t see a viable patient because of the damage to the vehicle. Once MedFlight took off with him we just thought about if we did everything we could and then we waited to hear. When we heard he was home we all thought – ‘wow.’ It was very kind of him to let us use his accident for this award.”
Assisting on the scene of this particular accident were the Coshocton Fire Department, Jackson Township Volunteer Fire Department, MedFlight and the Coshocton County Sheriff’s Office.
“No run is the same as another one, but I think when we all pulled up to this one and when we saw our first image we were thinking, ‘Wow where do we go from here. Where do we start.’ The firemen got us access to the patient and that took a while. He was pinned for approximately 45 minutes but while they were working to get him free from the wreckage we had two to three people inside the wreckage starting IVs, making sure he had an airway and giving medication for pain.”
Coshocton EMS will receive the main Star of Life Award and the other agencies involved will be recognized with label pins.
“Everyone becomes one when we are on a scene,” Carpenter said. “It’s not anything to see a fireman or a deputy carrying equipment for us, grabbing things for us or even moving trucks. Everyone is there for a common goal.”
She also noted that the dispatchers deserve credit too.
“We have some awesome dispatchers,” Carpenter said. “They are the unsung heroes who get us there in a timely manner.”
Coshocton EMS Director Todd Shroyer said the Star of Life Awards were made possible by the quality of people his agency hires.
“We try to hire good people,” Shroyer said. “I think most of them care about their patients and it’s not just a job to them. We have eight people who have been doing this for more than 30 years and that’s not something you find everywhere.”
Carpenter had the pleasure of picking up this Star of Life Award at an event in Columbus on May 24.
“When we found out we won we felt like we didn’t deserve it because we don’t do what we do to be recognized,” she said. “You always think there had to be someone better because you were just doing your job.”
Category: People & Places
