Mike Dodson has been a paramedic since 2008 and a supervisor for St. Francois County Ambulance District the last 4 years. He has demonstrated the ability to provide excellent patient care while remaining highly compassionate to those in need, as well as extending this compassion to the family members involved. He was instrumental in the implementation of the necessary training needed for the paramedic tactical team that has been formed for the community. One particular event in his life exemplifies the type of person and paramedic he has become. He and his wife were having dinner at a restaurant when he witnessed a gentleman go into cardiac arrest. He quickly began CPR and directed a bystander to call 911. When EMS arrived they took over providing patient care, in which they were able to achieve ROSC while in the restaurant. When he returned to his dinner his wife, emotional from the scene, asked how he could continue to eat after what had happened. He responded, “That is what we do, we help people.” The pride he saw on his wife’s face that day is something he will never forget. Mike is supported in his career by his wife, Shelly and their 5 children.”

Laurine Dennis became a paramedic in 2004, and has been with St. Francois County Ambulance District for the past 9 years. Her most recent accomplishment in her career has been becoming a Supervisor for the district. She is also a valued member of the districts paramedical tactical team. During the course of her career as a paramedic, she has demonstrated the depth of compassion she can have for each individual while continuing to provide outstanding patient care. Laurine had one particular event in which she was able to not only provide care for a patient that night but for months to come. She was dispatched to a 20 year old unresponsive patient who had overdosed, as she responded to the call she reflected on what care to provide as well as how frequent these types of calls were becoming. The call went by the book and once the patient was loaded in route to the emergency room, she decided to have a heart-to-heart with the gentleman. She informed him of how they found him and had there been no one around, death may have been the outcome. Also that his little brother had been there to witness the entire scene, she continued to tell him that his family loved him very much. That he needed to love himself in order to become clean. Two months later, he showed up at the ambulance shed to not only personally thank Laurine for saving his life but for giving him the motivation and clarity he needed to get his life back. He is planning on becoming a paramedic in the near future. This young man also changed her life as well, his situation has reminded her that you never know what the cause is for a patient’s actions and furthermore may never know how your actions will impact a person’s life forever. Laurine is supported by her husband, John and their 2 children.”

Kent has served the St. Francois County Ambulance District for 28 years. During this time, Kent has advanced his education to include the credentials of Registered Nurse and Critical Care Paramedic. Kent also leads St. Francois County’s Mobile Integrated Health (MIH) Team.

Kent was selected as a Star of Life because his conduct and knowledge embody the gold standard of EMS.

Each day, Kent gives 150% effort and attention to his patients and colleagues. Kent is a self-starter, a leader, and the living example of the EMS professional that you want to come to your house during an emergency or mobile integrated health call.

Renee has worked at St. Francois County Ambulance District for over 10 years. In addition to her career in EMS, Renee also teaches classes at Mineral Area College to aspiring EMTs and Paramedics.

Renee’s excellent communication skills, willingness to go above and beyond the call of duty, and can-do attitude, have earned her this nomination for a Stars of Life of Award. Renee’s compassionate and caring behavior make her a widely respected supervisor at St. Francois County Ambulance District.

Kristy Halter started full time at Saint Francois County Ambulance District (SFCAD) on May 26, 1998. During Kristy’s senior year of high school, she job shadowed a few hours each week here at SFCAD. She would help out with office duties and caught on quickly to new tasks. Upon graduating high school, she was hired full time.

Her first position was as our billing clerk. It was obvious that she was eager to assist with anything the service needed, even driving our non-emergency transport wheelchair van. She then became a car seat technician in addition to her billing duties. She became interested in information technology (IT) when we transitioned to laptops for electronic reporting. Kristy quickly took on the in- house role as the “IT go-to person.” In 2015, Kristy was promoted to the IT/Education Account Manager.

Kristy is an amazing employee and an all-around great person. She is the one all others run to anytime anything goes wrong, whether it be with IT or education. Everyone’s response to questions they cannot answer is, “ask Kristy,” “take it to Kristy,” or “Hey Kristy!” She always answers with “Yes.” Each day, she is pulled in a thousand different directions and always manages to complete every task that she has in front of her, without complaint and always with a smile.

Kristy has been married to her husband, Chris Halter, for 15 years, and they have two wonderful children, Carter (11), and Kendra (7).

Kristy is a very important part of our service and helps to keep it running smoothly. The staff of SFCAD is extremely proud to have her as part of our team.