By Jamie Thompson
EMS1 Senior Editor
DALLAS — Responders whose dedication and contributions to EMS over the past 12 months went above and beyond the norm were honored Wednesday.
Mark Wintle, of Morris, N.J., Minute Men EMS, and Lisa Camp, Chief of Friendswood, Texas, Volunteer EMS, were given NAEMT’s EMT of the Year and Paramedic of the Year respectively during a ceremony at EMS Expo in Dallas on Wednesday.
The awards aim to recognize outstanding achievements and contributions in EMS by responders, and the pair each received a $1,000 award stipend as well as free travel and lodging for the conference.
Wintle, an EMT-Basic and Captain, joined Morris Minute Men EMS in 2003 and since then has become “one of the pillars of the organization.”
Colleague Tiffany Willshaw, who made the nomination, said, “Mark is the kind of person that would give you his shirt off his back. He is often the first person to respond to a request for shift coverage, the first to sign up for standbys, the first and last person at a meeting, and the first person to tell you that EMS isn’t just about running ambulance calls.”
“Mark is a true leader who strives to help his community and his state by making his squad become the best they can be by being the best that he can be.”
The EMS Expo audience was told Wintle’s achievements, which include:
- Helping to lead membership drives
- Publishing a Morris Minute Men comic book
- Frequently the first point of contact for prospective members
- Being a proponent for disaster preparedness by incorporating the Incident Command System into activities and planning
- Being a driving force behind Minute Men EMS’s successful bid to meet and exceed all OSHA safety, training and equipment requirements to ensure worker safety
Accepting the award, which was sponsored by Braun, Wintle said, “I really love EMS and I am honored by this.”
 Photo Jamie Thompson NAEMT President Patrick Moore and Masimo Western Regional EMS Sales Manager Bob Owen present a check to Paramedic of the Year winner Lisa Camp. |
Camp was nominated for the Paramedic of the Year award, which is sponsored by Masimo, by her friend, Chief Roy Hunter, of Clear Lake Emergency Medical Corps.
“Lisa should be recognized due to her support of the citizens of Friendswood, the State of Texas, and the country through her leadership in quality prehospital patient care and community-wide emergency response,” he said.
“When it comes to emergency medical services, Lisa is the sage in the area. She gives so much of her time to the EMS community. She has been at the forefront in the areas of patient care, public access, medical control, disaster preparedness, public education and training.”
Among Camp’s achievements are:
- Being instrumental in setting up the use of an Induced Cooling by EMS (I.C.E.) protocol
- Noting a lag time in cardiac patients getting into the cardiac catheterization labs, directing her EMS practitioners to start double-lumen IV catheters and administration of Heparin in the field, and to send 12-Lead ECGs via telemetry
- Proactively preparing for the possibility of either a natural or man-made disaster by participating in and sponsoring conferences and drills in disaster management, acquiring specialized antidote kits, and training her services to use Level C personal protection equipment