LIMA, Ohio (WLIO) - Mercy Health-St. Rita’s is celebrating National EMS Week by recognizing and thanking area fire and EMS personnel for their dedication and service to the community.

First responders were presented with awards for outstanding life-saving measures and medical care at this year’s EMS banquet. Awards were handed out in categories such as stroke and trauma care, highlighting incidents where quick action made a significant impact.

Mercy Health-St. Rita’s honors first responders during National EMS Week

First responders were presented with awards for outstanding life-saving measures and medical care at this year’s EMS banquet. 

"No one gets into this business asking or wanting recognition. They just get in it because they want to serve and they want to help. That's why we like to recognize them during National EMS Week, it gives a chance to just highlight what they do, the care that they give, the excellent outcomes that they help provide for citizens that they serve," said Brian Anderson, EMS coordinator with Mercy Health St. Rita’s.

"Our crews get recognized for the job that they do, because it does go unnoticed. Lot of times it's the unsung heroes that we have in our communities are the people that get up to respond to our accidents, chest pains and stroke so they're passionate about what they do, and they're a special breed of people," said Brian Hilvers, director with the Putnam County Office of Public Safety.

"We really never know what we're going to respond to but we train and prepare for it, and St. Rita's helps us do that as well. It could be 3 a.m. it could be three o'clock in the afternoon, it doesn't matter. Doesn't matter what the weather is. The tone drops, and we go out and we do our best to help people, and we never know what we're gonna get into," said Tom Miller, chief with Ada-Liberty Township EMS.

This year's award winners are:

Greg King Award:

  • Tom Hadding, Chief, American Township Fire Dept.

Stroke Care Awards:

  • BKP Ambulance District - Paige Hatman and Kyle Richards
  • Cridersville Fire Dept. - Garald Cress and Rick Miller
  • Lima Fire Dept. - Matthew Hammons and Jacob Schwarzman
  • Putnam County EMS - Brendan Fry, Holly Recker, and David Winslow

Trauma Care Awards:

  • Delphos Fire Rescue - Zach Gable, Mika Layman, Chase Martin, Brock Schroeder, Chuck Shumaker, Ryan Shumaker, and Joel Will,
  • Kalida EMS - Krista Hughes and Holly Recker
  • American Twp. Fire Dept. - Andrew Follas, Brian Helmig, John Schimmoeller, and Rich Wilson
  • BMRT Ambulance District - Robert Beatty, Allison Dickinson, Amy McElfrsh, and Andrew Roy
  • Huntsville Fire Dept. - Greg Beatty, Jessica Evans, Joe Hurley, Robert Weikart, and Tom Weikart Jr.
  • Cairo-Monroe Township Fire/EMS - Linda Buettner, Gavin Langhals, Ian Langhals, Mike Miller, Barry Schneck, and Chad Smith
  • Lima Fire Dept. - Bryce Atkinson, Chris Bassett, Rick Berner, Luke Jones, Logan Schulte, Jacob Schwarzman, and Jacob Shivley
  • Shawnee Twp. Fire Dept. - Justin Cloud, Lyle Dray, Josh Hodges, Dustin Hunsaker, Travis Jackson, Kevin Markward, and Jim Painter

Cardiac Care Awards: 

  • American Twp. Fire Dept. - Carson Kazee and Jacob Thomas
  • Celina Fire Dept. - Anderson Ewing, Cade Schoenleben, and Aaron Schott
  • Wapakoneta Fire Dept. - Michael Minnich, Trey Sager, Caleb Schwartz, Eric Snapp, Tony Stinebaugh, and Atrayu Wolter
  • Lima Allen County Paramedics - Rhonda Burgess, Skyler Carroll, and Irena Gajtanovaska

OB Award:

  • Lima Fire Dept. - Kevin Clark, Kendall Harrod, Courtney Honcell, Andrew Honigford, Ross Kohler, Evan Miller, and Terry Stroufe

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