Lauren Van Damme
Lauren Van Damme is being recognized for her commitment to her base, and for her public relations efforts during COVID deployments. Lauren began her career as a secretary with EagleMed in Kansas before working her way through the ranks to become a frontline pilot in King Air 200s. In October 2021, a pilot was injured in an off-duty accident. Along with the other pilots at the base, Lauren worked a ten days-on-five-days-off rotation to ensure that the base stayed in service and that the patients and customers were served. Her concern for her patients’ care is mirrored by her concern for her teammates’ welfare.
Similarly, in August 2021, another of her coworkers, a Flight Paramedic, was injured in a rock-climbing accident that left him immobile for a short period of time. Lauren took it upon herself to cook several crockpot meals, freeze them, drive them more than four hours away to his home, and show him and his wife how to warm them up for quick meals.
Cathy Heikes
Cathy Heikes is being honored as a Star of life for exhibiting tremendous leadership and attention to care during the pandemic response in New York. Cathy, who spent thirteen years in the U.S. Army as a nurse and served in Operation Desert Storm, used her incredible experience to provide support in aiding virus-related emergencies and evacuations in the greater New York area when the region was experiencing a surge of COVID-19 infections.
Cathy’s compassion, skill, and medical expertise, particularly as they relate to traumatic situations, made her an invaluable presence in New York, which had become known as the epicenter of the American coronavirus in the early part of the outbreak. During her deployment, she responded to and cared for a countless number of patients infected with the virus.
In 2004, then-Governor Kathleen Sebelius appointed Cathy to serve on the Southwest Kansas Regional Trauma Council. For fifteen years, Cathy worked with the multidisciplinary council to improve trauma care systems across her home state.
Also, as the base medical manager for Eagle Med 4, Cathy has trained and mentored countless air medical professionals, developed new practices and protocols and provided exceptional patient care. She believes deeply that she must be willing and capable of doing anything she asks her team to do.