[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 6445-6447]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           2011 AMERICAN AMBULANCE ASSOCIATION STARS OF LIFE

  Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, I rise today to honor the brave men and 
women of the emergency medical services, EMS, profession all across the 
country who dedicate their lives to providing lifesaving health care 
and first responder services to people in need.
  In particular, I would like to recognize the 81 EMS professionals 
being recognized today by the American Ambulance Association as ``Stars 
of Life.'' These 81 Stars of Life will be on Capitol Hill for the next 
couple of days, and I strongly encourage my colleagues to take the time 
to meet with these exceptional individuals.
  Every year, the dispatch of an ambulance is the first response to 
millions of medical emergencies. Often, the survival of a patient is 
enhanced by the prompt medical attention provided by paramedics and 
emergency medical

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technicians, EMTs, prior to the arrival at an emergency room. As a 
result of the selfless acts of these courageous and devoted men and 
women, the lives of thousands of Americans are saved each year. While 
these professionals do not expect to receive recognition for their 
work, they deserve our outmost gratitude.
  For the past 20 years, the American Ambulance Association has honored 
those paramedics, EMTs, dispatchers, and other ambulance service 
personnel who exemplify what is best about the EMS field. The American 
Ambulance Association has appropriately designated these individuals as 
``Stars of Life.'' Past Stars of Life have included paramedics and EMTs 
who were part of the rescue efforts at the terrorist attacks on the 
World Trade Center or provided evacuation and response to the victims 
of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the recent flooding and storms in 
the South and Midwest. Of equal importance, this program also pays 
tribute to those ambulance service personnel whose heroic acts or 
community service activities may not have made the news but were just 
as meaningful to the people they aided. I consider myself fortunate to 
have met with many Vermont paramedics and EMTs over the years, and I 
have heard firsthand accounts of the tireless efforts that they perform 
on a daily basis for their communities. They are truly America's health 
care safety net.
  One of the Stars of Life from Vermont left a lasting impression on 
me. His name was Dale Long--a 2008 Stars of Life awardee. Just several 
weeks after I had the opportunity to meet him, Dale was killed in the 
line of duty as a paramedic with the Bennington Rescue Squad. Since 
Dale was employed by a private nonprofit agency, he was not covered by 
the Department of Justice's Public Safety Officer Benefit, PSOB, 
program--even though his agency is the 9-1-1 emergency ambulance 
service agency for Bennington, VT. In honor of Dale, I introduced the 
Dale Long Emergency Medical Services Provider Protection Act, S. 385, 
which would make paramedics and EMTs who work for a private nonprofit 
EMS agency eligible for the PSOB program. In February, the Senate 
unanimously approved the Dale Long Act as an amendment to the FAA 
reauthorization bill, and I am hopeful that the Dale Long provision 
will be retained in the final conference report.
  Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the names of the 2011 
American Ambulance Association Stars of Life honorees be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
           FIRST NAME                LAST NAME           COMPANY              CITY                 STATE
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Daniel.........................  Griswold.........  Arizona Ambulance  Sierra Vista.....  AZ
                                                     Transport.
John...........................  Sullivan.........  Arizona Ambulance  Sierra Vista.....  AZ
                                                     Transport.
Michael........................  Atwell...........  American Medical   Victorville......  CA
                                                     Response.
Michael........................  O'Grady..........  American Medical   San Mateo........  CA
                                                     Response.
Kevin..........................  Smith............  American Medical   Sonoma...........  CA
                                                     Response.
Gary...........................  Smotrys..........  American Medical   Palm Springs.....  CA
                                                     Response.
Forrest........................  Uhland...........  American Medical   San Mateo........  CA
                                                     Response.
Thomas.........................  Westbrook........  American Medical   Concord..........  CA
                                                     Response.
Matt...........................  Berckefeldt......  American Medical   Pueblo...........  CO
                                                     Response.
Autumn.........................  DePolo...........  American Medical   Colorado Springs.  CO
                                                     Response.
Chris..........................  Erickson.........  Ute Pass Regional  Woodland Park....  CO
                                                     Ambulance
                                                     District.
Jim............................  Hollman..........  Ute Pass Regional  Woodland Park....  CO
                                                     Ambulance
                                                     District.
William........................  Broadbridge......  Hunter's           Meriden..........  CT
                                                     Ambulance
                                                     Service.
Kelly..........................  Brunell..........  Hunter's           Meriden..........  CT
                                                     Ambulance
                                                     Service.
Marisa.........................  Carriveau........  American Medical   West Hartford....  CT
                                                     Response.
Katrina........................  Perrelli.........  Hunter's           Meriden..........  CT
                                                     Ambulance
                                                     Service.
John...........................  Pourciau.........  American Medical   Waterbury........  CT
                                                     Response.
Jared..........................  Yager............  Hunter's           Meriden..........  CT
                                                     Ambulance
                                                     Service.
Donald.........................  Anderson.........  American Medical   Broward County...  FL
                                                     Response.
Thomas.........................  Dawiczkowski.....  Nature Coast EMS.  Lecanto..........  FL
Marvin ``Happy''...............  Montgomery.......  Mid Georgia        Macon............  GA
                                                     Ambulance.
Tito...........................  Villanueva.......  American Medical   Lihue............  HI
                                                     Response.
Jane...........................  Hagen............  Iowa EMS           Urbandale........  IA
                                                     Association.
Nathan.........................  Wilzbacher.......  American Medical   Evansville.......  IN
                                                     Response.
Steven.........................  Simon............  Acadian Ambulance  Lafayette........  LA
                                                     Service.
Todd...........................  Weir.............  Acadian Ambulance  Lafayette........  LA
                                                     Service.
Michelle.......................  Borden...........  Action Ambulance   Wilmington.......  MA
                                                     Service.
Christopher....................  Borges...........  Cataldo Ambulance  Somerville.......  MA
                                                     Service.
Theodore.......................  Crosby...........  Action Ambulance   Wilmington.......  MA
                                                     Service.
Clayton........................  Davis............  Cataldo Ambulance  Somerville.......  MA
                                                     Service.
Kris...........................  Keraghan.........  Armstrong          Arlington........  MA
                                                     Ambulance
                                                     Service.
Ann............................  McGrath..........  Armstrong          Arlington........  MA
                                                     Ambulance
                                                     Service.
Jeff...........................  Simmons..........  Cataldo Ambulance  Somerville.......  MA
                                                     Service.
Angela.........................  Spofford.........  Action Ambulance   Wilmington.......  MA
                                                     Service.
Martin.........................  Tyrrell..........  American Medical   Brockton.........  MA
                                                     Response.
Rachael........................  Goeman...........  American Medical   Grand Rapids.....  MI
                                                     Response.
Robert.........................  Kirkland.........  Community EMS....  Southfield.......  MI
Matt...........................  Mills............  LifeCare           Battle Creek.....  MI
                                                     Ambulance
                                                     Service.
Erik...........................  Olsen............  Life EMS           Grand Rapids.....  MI
                                                     Ambulance.
Velvet.........................  Whitt............  Tri-Township EMS.  Atlanta..........  MI
Tracy..........................  Woodard..........  Huron Valley       Ann Arbor........  MI
                                                     Ambulance.
Michelle.......................  Anderson.........  Lakes Region EMS.  North Branch.....  MN
Todd...........................  Fisk.............  Lakes Region EMS.  North Branch.....  MN
Brian..........................  Murley...........  Mayo Clinic        Rochester........  MN
                                                     Medical
                                                     Transport.
Tommy..........................  Walker...........  American Medical   St. Louis........  MO
                                                     Response/Abbott
                                                     EMS.
Derek..........................  Poole............  American Medical   Jackson..........  MS
                                                     Response.
Thomas.........................  White............  American Medical   Natchez..........  MS
                                                     Response.
Cathy..........................  Jordan...........  Medic,             Charlotte........  NC
                                                     Mecklenburg EMS
                                                     Agency.
Virgil.........................  Leggett..........  Medic,             Charlotte........  NC
                                                     Mecklenburg EMS
                                                     Agency.
Jamie..........................  Stanford.........  Medic,             Charlotte........  NC
                                                     Mecklenburg EMS
                                                     Agency.
Marnie.........................  Olson............  North Dakota EMS   Bismarck.........  ND
                                                     Association.
Keith..........................  Monaghan.........  American Medical   Egg Harbor         NJ
                                                     Response.          Township.
Jessica........................  Bauer............  REMSA............  Reno.............  NV
Debi...........................  Kubiak...........  REMSA............  Reno.............  NV
Leonard........................  Spice............  American Medical   Las Vegas........  NV
                                                     Response.
Mark...........................  Camplese.........  Community Care     Ashtabula........  OH
                                                     Ambulance.
Jason..........................  Fellows..........  Community Care     Ashtabula........  OH
                                                     Ambulance.
Shane..........................  McKenzie.........  Community          Zanesville.......  OH
                                                     Ambulance
                                                     Service.
Beth...........................  Sundman..........  Community Care     Ashtabula........  OH
                                                     Ambulance.
Ron............................  Causby...........  EMSA.............  Tulsa............  OK
Mark E.........................  Hopping..........  Life EMS.........  Enid.............  OK
Mike...........................  McWilliams.......  Oklahoma           Muskogee.........  OK
                                                     Ambulance
                                                     Association.
Preston........................  White............  EMSA.............  Tulsa............  OK
Robert.........................  Breihof, III.....  Metro West         Hillsboro........  OR
                                                     Ambulance.
Rose...........................  Durschmidt.......  Woodburn           Woodburn.........  OR
                                                     Ambulance
                                                     Service.
Daren..........................  Groff............  Bay Cities         Coos Bay.........  OR
                                                     Ambulance.
Christopher....................  Pfingsten........  Metro West         Hillsboro........  OR
                                                     Ambulance.
Philip.........................  Reid.............  Metro West         Hillsboro........  OR
                                                     Ambulance.
Tracy..........................  Schroeder........  Medix Ambulance..  Warrenton........  OR
Monica.........................  Stephens.........  Pacific West       Newport..........  OR
                                                     Ambulance.
Nicholas.......................  Yoder............  American Medical   Milwaukie........  OR
                                                     Response.
Andy...........................  Brijmohansingh...  Global Medical     Santa Rosa         Trinidad & Tobago
                                                     Response.          Heights, Arima.
Rick...........................  Dodd.............  LifeNet..........  Texarkana........  TX

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David..........................  Macias...........  Life Ambulance     El Paso..........  TX
                                                     Service.
Alejandro......................  Munoz............  Life Ambulance     El Paso..........  TX
                                                     Service.
Pablo..........................  Rios.............  American Medical   San Antonio......  TX
                                                     Response.
Bryan..........................  Shelton..........  LifeNet..........  Texarkana........  TX
William........................  Mapes............  Regional           Rutland..........  VT
                                                     Ambulance
                                                     Service.
Lawrence J.....................  Salisbury........  Bennington Resque  Bennington.......  VT
                                                     Squad.
Rebecca........................  Ainley...........  American Medical   Seattle..........  WA
                                                     Response.
Niccole........................  Gibbs............  American Medical   Vancouver........  WA
                                                     Response.
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