Copyright 2006 Capital City Press
All Rights Reserved
By PATRICK COURREGES
The Advocate
LAFAYETTE, La. — Acadian Ambulance’s paramedic of the year, Carl Dugas, has a different tie with the people he treats than what might be viewed as the traditional paramedic-to-patient relationship.
Where most paramedics deal with people they don’t know in their day-to-day responses, Dugas said he almost always treats people who are personal friends.
That, he said, raises the stakes when he’s dealing with a severe injury or a life in danger.
Dugas, a 22-year veteran with Acadian, has spent the past 10 years of his career serving on an offshore rig, with a three-weeks-on, three-weeks-off schedule.
Dugas is a graduate of Teurlings Catholic High School in Lafayette and makes his home in Endicott, N.Y., commuting to work off the Louisiana coast every 21 days.
He said he was honored and humbled by having been nominated for the annual award by his peers and named paramedic of the year out of a field of nine finalists by a panel of judges.
“Any employee with Acadian Ambulance could be standing here right now,” Dugas said. “It’s quite an honor to by amongst these guys.”
Dugas said that his current work is different from the days when he worked the land-based side of the operation.
In those days, he said, when he responded to an emergency, a hospital was never more than a half hour away. Dugas said that now the nearest hospitals are hours away from his patients, patients whom he knows well.
“These are people I live and eat with and am friends with,” he said. “These aren’t strangers, these are people I know.”
Dugas said that in cases of dire emergency, he has to set aside his personal feelings to take care of the job that’s in front of him.
“There are times, after it’s over with, I’ll break down,” he said.
Dugas is the 2006 recipient of the award, but Acadiana spokeswoman Julie Mahfouz said he was originally to be named the 2005 honoree in an October ceremony.
That ceremony was put off in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, she said.
Dugas addressed that during his speech about the honor he was receiving, saying he was accepting the award not just for himself, but for everyone on the Acadiana team.