By Brandi Hart
McKinney Courier-Gazette
Copyright © 2007 Star Community Newspapers
FORT WORTH, Texas — Selena Schmidt may be somewhat soft-spoken, but her story of how she survived life-threatening injuries while working as a paramedic at an accident in Fort Worth has been heard loud and clear.
Gov. Rick Perry will honor Schmidt by giving her the Texas Star Award today at the Capitol in Austin for her volunteer work of speaking to first responders about scene safety in Texas and throughout the nation. The award is given to first responders who have been seriously injured or killed in the line of duty on or after Sept. 1, 2003. The award is given on Sept. 11, which is also First Responders Day in Texas, which recognizes the all emergency personnel throughout the state.
Schmidt sustained life-threatening chest, back and abdomen injuries after a metal stretcher struck her chest while she was providing medical care to a teenager in a car that slid off a slick road in Fort Worth on April 10, 2005. The stretcher was lying outside the wrecked vehicle and was thrown inside of the vehicle by another car that was traveling about 70 mph that had hydroplaned into the crash scene. The car that entered the crash scene pushed the vehicle that Schmidt and fellow emergency personnel initially responded to 22 feet from the median of the highway, Schmidt said.
Full Story: Scene and road safety a major focus for honored paramedic