By Cheryl Caswell
Charleston Daily Mail (West Virginia)
Copyright 2007 Charleston Newspapers
A large turnout of co-workers and friends is expected Tuesday when county emergency workers gather to honor a respected colleague.
Kanawha County paramedic Tennille Annette Davis, 30, of Belle died Saturday after a car accident while she was en route to Boone County. Davis was on her way to conduct a class for emergency medical technicians.
Kent Carper, county commission president, said the entire network of county safety workers is devastated.
“It’s just like you’ve lost a member of your own family,” Carper said. “They are the bravest, most compassionate people. We just under-appreciate what they do.”
Carper was notified shortly after the accident occurred.
Mike Jarrett, public information officer and chaplain for the Kanawha County Emergency Ambulance Authority, said Davis’ unexpected death has shocked those who knew and worked with her.
“She was loved by everyone,” Jarrett said. “Everybody liked to work with her. She was smart. She edified what a paramedic is supposed to be.”
Jarrett got a call Saturday morning that Davis had been in a head-on collision on W.Va. 3 in Racine.
“When I got the call she was still on the scene,” he said. “It was a very long extrication. Three fire departments from Boone County responded and they flew her to Charleston General Hospital.”
Davis died there. But her desire to help others continued even after her death.
“She is an organ donor,” Jarrett said. “The attributes she showed as a loving wife and mother not only showed in her patient care, it was showed when she donated her organs so others could live.”
Jarrett said Davis had been with the county for about 6 years and had accelerated through every level of special training and advanced life support that a paramedic can achieve. She worked as a critical care transport paramedic — helping the most seriously injured victims.
“She started as an EMT, she served as public information officer, she was on competition teams, was an EMT instructor, she was one of our field training officers,” he said.
“She was the whole package,” Jarrett said. “Her compassion, her whole demeanor was “What can I do to help you?” and she possessed the skills to back that up.”
Davis was married to Gary Davis, also a county paramedic. She was the mother of a daughter, Madeline, 5, and a son, Cayden, 3.
An EMS memorial service will be at 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Charleston Civic Center Little Theater. Visitation begins at 11:30 a.m.
“We want to honor Tennille, comfort Gary, and glorify God,” Jarrett said.