Acadian Ambulance Paramedic Emily Wright found a career in EMS through an unconventional path that previously saw her performing with a comedy show on cruises. Emily met her future husband on the cruise and relocated to Lafayette, Louisiana, to be with him.

“I’m a native of England, and I have traveled the world, singing in various places in France, the United States and the Caribbean. I even once performed alongside Patti Smith!” says Emily.

After settling in Lafayette, Emily enrolled in Acadian’s National EMS Academy to pursue her EMT certification. Emily joined the company in July 2016 and was assigned to their Houston service area. It didn’t take long before Emily enrolled in an accelerated Paramedic program in Houston to earn that certification and advance her career.

Emily is one of the Houston area’s top preceptors for new hires. In addition to these roles, she serves as an associate quality improvement coordinator and is president of the area’s safety, health and wellness team. Emily is a recipient of Acadian’s President’s Performance Award.

Acadian Operations Manager Adam Fitzhenry describes Emily as, “dedicated, determined and possessing a very strong work ethic.”

Emily is working to earn her Critical Care Transport Paramedic certification and aspires one day to join Acadian Air Med as a Flight Paramedic.

After nearly two decades at Alumax Mill Products as both union president and a finishing operator, a family accident inspired Shon Matthews to change career paths. In 2003, Matthews was out of town when he learned his son had been injured in a serious ATV accident and taken to Arkansas Children’s Hospital. Listening to his wife and brother-in-law discuss the incident, Matthews realized communities need more people to get involved to save lives.

Shortly after, Matthews joined the Booker Bridge Volunteer Fire Department in Miller County, Arkansas as a first responder. Shortly thereafter, Matthews also became part of the first responder team at the mill where he worked full-time. Through training at the mill, Matthews met a LifeNet EMS Paramedic who told him that he was a natural fit for EMS. Matthews attended EMT school, then began working for LifeNet EMS part-time in 2007 as an EMT while continuing his education to become a Paramedic.

In March of 2009, Matthews joined LifeNet full-time, and a few years later, he was promoted to a Field Training Officer (FTO) role. He quickly proved himself an asset in that position, and in May of 2013, when one of the company’s Operations Managers was deployed overseas, Matthews was selected to temporarily fill that role for nine months.

When it was time for Matthews to return to his role as a field provider, the LifeNet Air medical helicopter in Texarkana needed coverage for a flight medic who was going out on short-term disability. Matthews was asked to fill-in as a flight medic during that time period. After his term as a flight medic ended, he was asked to help his family start a business. Matthews briefly stepped away from a full-time career in EMS. For the next six months, he worked only call-in-relief for LifeNet as a Paramedic for both the ground and air operations. Matthews eventually realized that his heart was not in the family business, and he made the decision to return to mobile healthcare full-time.

In June of 2016, Matthews was offered a full-time role as a flight medic on LifeNet Air, his dream job. Less than a year later, a full-time position opened for an Operations Manager role. Since August 2016, Matthews has served as full-time Operations Manager for LifeNet EMS in Texarkana, while also continuing to work as needed on the LifeNet Air medical helicopter. It is this dedication and commitment to doing whatever is needed to care for our patients and to serve the community that inspired his colleagues to nominate Matthews for the Star of Life award.

One coworker noted, “Perhaps the thing I have been most impressed by when watching Shon in action is how he is received in the community. As part of my initial training, I made rounds with Shon at three area hospitals. Shon was not only greeted warmly by the staff, but he was also known as a friend at every place we went. I have yet to repeat the experience I had with Shon with any other crew member. Shon has a natural ability to have conversations, build relationships, and represent us in the community in a way that people relate to.”

When Matthews is not working full-time in one of his many roles, he endeavors to educate the community on safety and to build the next generation of EMS professionals. In addition to teaching local first responders for LifeNet Air, Matthews also teaches BCLS, ACLS, ITLS, PEPP, and pediatric first aid. Additionally, he is an instructor in the EMT and Paramedic program at Texarkana College.

When he is not busy fulfilling his EMS duties, you will find Matthews spending time with his wife, Jennifer, and their children, Nicole and Derek. Matthews is an active member of Fairland Holiness Church where he serves as a Sunday School teacher.

AMR Paramedic Nick Long does it all and does it beautifully. Trained as both a field caregiver and as a call-taker/dispatcher, he is quick to fill empty shifts in either duty area or to come in for long distance patient transfers. Nick is an ACLS instructor, a critical incident stress debriefer and is the commander of his operation’s honor guard. As a member of AMR’s national disaster response team, Nick has been deployed for three hurricanes, including two weeks for Superstorm Sandy. In addition, Nick finds time to volunteer as a preceptor in a local college EMS training program and he contributed substantially to training 300 folks in Wichita Falls during AMR’s 2013 World CPR Challenge. Wait, there’s more! Nick is one of Wichita Falls’ court-appointed child advocates. In that role, he works with other child advocates to safeguard abused and neglected children. He helps attorneys assemble and present their cases for children assigned to him. He recently headed the planning and fundraising committee for the advocate group’s annual 5K benefit race. Nick and his wife are also active with a familyfocused children’s theater. He is an actor, director and set builder. In nominating Nick, his general manager said, “Nick is an excellent role model for those already in EMS and those who wish to join our profession.”

Darren Cowley started his emergency services career in 2009, firefighting with the Simms Fire Department in Simms, Texas. He served as Captain and Training Officer for the department. In 2011, Darren began his EMS career with LifeNet in the Texarkana division as an EMT and receiving his Paramedic certification in 2013 through Texarkana College. His peers at LifeNet describe Darren as very compassionate, honest, professional, treating patients like family. Darren strives to exhibit LifeNet’s mission, values, and vision. Darren describes himself as a Christian, giving all glory to God! Darren currently resides in Avery, Texas with his wife Angela and their seven children, Emma, Cole, William, Sylvia, Brayli, and twins Jed and Wally.”

Eldrina Coleman started her career with Acadian Ambulance as a van operator in 2011, and in 2012, she received her EMT-Basic certification from the National EMS Academy. Named as Acadian’s 2014 Texas EMTBasic of the Year, she recently took the next step in her career by enrolling in the NEMSA’s paramedic program. Eldrina works in the Austin,Texas, area, and is a member of the North Central Texas safety committee and an All Safe instructor. She is also a highly-respected preceptor for new van operators and EMTs. To give back to the Austin community, Eldrina owns and operates Humanity, a non-profit hair salon for the elderly. Housed in a nursing facility, Humanity offers complimentary hair and nail care for male and female senior citizens.”

Ruben made the decision to enter the medical profession at the age of 28 after the untimely death of his father. “I wanted to make sure I did all I could to help prevent that from happening to another son.” For the past 31 years, Ruben has dedicated his career to helping others and doing all he can to keep true to his mission for entering this profession. He has been a paramedic with MedStar for 16 years and he explains the best part of his job is “knowing I’ve done the very best that I could to help someone.” This is Ruben’s first trip ever to Washington, DC and he is most excited about sharing the experience with his wife and 8 year old daughter.”

It is with great honor and pride that I recommend Ms. Lisa Camp for the 2014 Stars of Life Award. Ms. Camp should be recognized due to her support of the citizens of the State of Texas and the Country through her leadership in quality pre-hospital care and community wide emergency response. When it comes to emergency medical services, Ms. Lisa Camp basically is the sage in the area. She gives much of her time to the EMS community and the Medics across the country. She has been at the forefront in the areas of patient care, public access, medical control, disaster preparedness, public education and training. Lisa Camp’s Emergency Medical Services are using cutting edge technologies to help their patients recover as fully as possible from emergencies. One of these technologies that Lisa was instrumental in setting up was the use of an I.C.E. (Induced Cooling by EMS) protocol. Lisa also noted a lag time in Cardiac patients getting into the Cardiac Catheterization Labs. Lisa attacked this challenge head on and her response was for the medics to start double-lumen IV catheters in the field, administration of Heparin, and to send 12-Lead ECGs via telemetry. Ms. Lisa Camp has served as the mentor, supporter and advocate for EMS throughout the Country. She has created a successful continuing education program that kept members informed, providing motivation and confidence regarding their abilities to provide excellent patient care. Lisa encourages FVFD to be active with the community and assists in bimonthly free immunization clinics, Community CPR training, and other safety and injury prevention activities. I was once asked “what is a hero?” I answered this “a hero is someone you strive to imitate”. Lisa Camp is my hero for all the wonderful things he does for her community and Country.”

Stanley Caballero has been employed with Acadian Ambulance for only 14 months, but during that time he has made such an impact that he was named Acadian’s 2014 Texas Paramedic of the Year. He works full-time in McKinney, Texas, and is also a mentor to new employees and critical care paramedics. Stan’s strong work ethic and compassion for others exceeds far past his day-today job duties as a paramedic. Stan is involved with a non-profit hunger relief organization called Numana, which empowers people to package meals and send them all across the world to serve the starving. Recently, he was a part of a worldrecord breaking event in Nashville, Tenn., where more than 530,000 meals were packaged for the hungry around the world in less than one hour.”

“I would recommend Marisol Puerto for this recognition.  Marisol and I were partners on Medic 98 (now M920) prior to my promotion, where I had the pleasure of witnessing, first hand, an individual that is dedicated to the EMS profession.  She has earned the respect, the admiration, and the trust of her colleagues within the HCEC family. Marisol is dedicated to continuing her education both professionally and academically. I have had the pleasure of interacting with numerous students through my background at Texas A&M University and with HCEC; I can truthfully say that over the course of those interactions, very few have impressed upon me as much as Marisol has.  She is a solid, bright, and intelligent person that has pushed herself to achieve her goals.”

“She serves so many roles for HCEC—Field Training Officer, In-Charge Paramedic, Bike Medic, Card Class Instructor, Interview Panel participant—which only a few others can lay claim to. Marisol represents HCEC Core Values extremely well and I feel she deserves to be recognized on a national level.”

Shaun Kirkdorffer exemplifies each pillar of HCEC’s Corps Values every time he comes to work. He is a trusted professional, a trusted colleague, and a trusted member of the community. Shaun is the embodiment of stewardship, working not only as a leader at HCEC but also leading community outreach through his church.

His colleagues state that Shaun is a great example of an AAA Star of Life. He is a role model employee and upstanding citizen. He represents us well both on and off duty. He currently serves us as an FTO and In Charge. He is and has been involved with outreach ministries for inner-city youth through his church. He is well known by a good majority of the citizens in our community not only for his job duties, but also for his involvement with the community.

In January of 2000, Marco Villasenor moved from El Paso, TX to join Austin-Travis County EMS (ATCEMS). Marco moved up the ranks and became a Field Training Officer and then Captain. For the last 7 years he has been a Designated Medical Officer (DMO) under the Clinical Performance Improvement group.

As a DMO, one of Marco’s key rolls is to evaluate the performance and provide CPR performance feedback for every cardiac arrest patient treated by ATCEMS. As a result of his work, Marco was awarded the Medical Directors Award in 2014, and he received a travel scholarship to the American Heart Association’s Resuscitation Science Symposium in Chicago of the same year. Through “Pit Crew” training and CPR Performance feedback, ATCEMS experienced significant improvement in compression fractions and resuscitation rates. Marco’s contributions in this initiative were instrumental in these improved performance measures. Today the DMO’s are part of the response matrix and are dispatched on high priority calls when they are closer.

Kyle Schutt is a Paramedic who has been employed with Austin-Travis County EMS (ATCEMS) since 2015. Kyle believes being a public servant is a rewarding job that requires hard work and dedication but comes with the knowledge that you have made a difference in someone’s life. Additionally, it is his belief that all members of EMS share a passion for going the extra mile for our patients, and that is what makes our profession special.

During Kyle’s three years at ATCEMS, he has received two Medical Phoenix Citation awards for confirmed cardiopulmonary arrest saves who were discharged from the hospital, and he has recently been promoted to the Medic II position. Kyle received his Paramedic certification from the University of Texas Health Science Center and his Bachelor’s in Exercise Sports Science from Texas Tech University.

Dena has been in public safety service for 23 years. She began her public safety career as a Police Dispatcher for The University of Kansas Police Department (Go Jayhawks!). During a ride-out while working at Southlake DPS for her EMT-B training, she answered the 911 call, dispatched the responding unit, and ended up transporting the patient with that unit and its crew to the hospital. Many only ever get to experience one side or the other of a 911 call; rarely both.

Dena has been a member of the Austin-Travis County EMS (ATCEMS) team since 2009 and is grateful to be employed by an agency that believes in the values of putting our patients and community first. EMS calls are received, triaged, and dispatched by ATCEMS Communications Medics, including delivery of pre-arrival treatment instructions. The Communications Medics’ role in the success of patient outcomes is considered equally as important as the treatment that the responding Field Medics provide. This is part of our “Zero-Second Response” model, in that at the moment a call for EMS assistance comes into our call center, our community is speaking to an ATCEMS Medic at the “zero-second.”

In addition to reading and taking walks along the beach, Dena loves to quilt for her grandkids, Kaden, Brooklynn, Emma, Tristan, and now baby Peyton… please no more for now, I need to get caught up!

Brendan Cluskey emigrated to the United States of America from Dublin, Ireland. Since arriving, he has dedicated himself to giving back to the nation that has so warmly welcomed him. “I feel that I owe a great debt of gratitude to America, so helping others in their times of need just feels like the right thing to do,” he says.

Since joining Austin-Travis County EMS in October of 2010, Brendan has excelled in all areas of Paramedicine and has now enthusiastically taken on the challenging role of Field Training Officer. During his time in Austin, Brendan has received many accolades and awards, most notably The Meritorious Service Award for bravery in 2014.

Brendan greatly enjoys family time with his wife, Joanne, and daughter, Isabel.

Richard is the type of Paramedic who always serves his patients and coworkers with respect, understanding, compassion, and dignity. Richard started his career with ETMC EMS in December 1991, and he is still rocking the streets to this day with the same demeanor he started with.

Not only has Richard touched the lives of countless patients, he has also gained countless friendships with the everyday folk he comes in contact with. His addictive humor makes it easy to get caught up in his stories, no matter how many times you’ve heard them.

Over the past years, Richard has had a great influence on new and seasoned EMS personnel as a Field Training Officer. Richard enjoys sharing his past experiences, whether they are good or bad, to help the crews stay safe. As he talks about the past, you will always hear him say, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

Richard has always been a great asset to his EMS family and deserves recognition for going above and beyond in an effort to make every day better for the future.

Cyndy Rider is a full-time paramedic with Lifenet, Inc. in Texarkana, Arkansas. As a child, she split her time between her home in Texarkana and the family farm in Garland City, Arkansas where her father was a farmer and member of the volunteer fire department. After graduating from Arkansas High, she attended Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Interdisciplinary Studies and Mass Communication.

In 2011 she moved to Providence Village, Texas with her husband, Thomas Rider. While living in North Dallas, she felt a strong desire to leave the retail industry after more 10 years and pursue a childhood dream of becoming a paramedic/first responder. In 2013 she completed her EMT training at UT Southwestern and began working for Allegiance Ambulance in Carrollton, TX. In 2015 she returned to school to become a Licensed Paramedic. She moved back to Texarkana and began working at Lifenet the following year.

Cyndy is well-respected among her peers and co-workers for her positive and cheerful attitude, passion for her job, and exceptional care and concern for her patients. Fellow employees describe Cyndy as, “…always coming to work with a positive attitude and is constantly showing compassion for her patients as well as her coworkers. She cares about her patients and always wants to do her best!”

Cyndy thoroughly enjoys working with students as a preceptor. She takes great pride in teaching others, not only the skills necessary to become a confident and proficient paramedic, but also how to maintain a positive attitude in stressful and sometimes difficult circumstances. She is grateful for the opportunity this job has given her to have a meaningful impact on the lives of her patients and fellow employees.

In her spare time Cyndy enjoys camping, traveling, spending time with her four dogs, playing piano, and serving the members of Fairview United Methodist Church.

As Hurricane Harvey worsened, AMR Houston committed to relocate dozens of patients from one hospital to another. Jamie volunteered to serve as AMR’s liaison at the receiving hospital. Over several hours, AMR evacuated 88 patients to safety and Jamie was hailed for beautifully overseeing this operation.

As the storm raged, a hospital asked AMR to return a discharged patient to his home. Two crews tried but were unable to reach the hospital. Jamie decided to give it “one last shot” and enlisted a crew partner. In darkness, heavy rain, and high winds, they made their way through less-flooded back roads to make the transport happen.

Jamie worked day and night, staying positive and frequently checking on the well-being of the crews. Many in the area had lost everything. When Jamie’s leadership told him to go home and rest, he went home but he didn’t rest. Instead, Jamie assembled a cooking team which provided four days of fresh meals to the numerous AMR personnel working in Houston, deployed from several states.

Jamie’s selflessness during Hurricane Harvey shows why he is known for total commitment to his calling.

With typical modesty, Jamie says everything he does is part of a team effort.

From the moment of his first EMS call as a paid on-call EMT in 2004, Brandon knew this career was his calling.

Brandon came to MedStar in 2012 as a Paramedic. He moved up to Field Training Officer and eventually was selected for promotion to MedStar Mobile Integrated Healthcare (MIH) team as a Mobile Healthcare/Critical Care Paramedic in 2015.

In this role, Brandon is responsible for managing high EMS system utilizers and patients at-risk for preventable 9-1-1 calls, hospital Emergency Department visits, and in-patient admissions.

Brandon enjoys the tangible impact he has on the patients he treats. On the MIH team, that impact is not simply a 30- to 40-minute patient encounter, but helping his MIH-enrolled patients over the long term. “As a field Paramedic, I can make patients better, but as an MIH provider, I can help make them well,” he explains.

Brandon was a contributing author of the Community Paramedicine textbook and is a member of the NAEMT Community Paramedicine Curriculum Committee and the Critical Care Paramedic Advisory Committee for the International Board of Specialty Certifications.

He has also presented at national EMS conferences such as EMS Today and EMS World, and he is a member of the Adult Protective Services of Tarrant County Community Board.

Brandon recently graduated from the University of North Texas Health Science Center’s Geriatric Practice Leadership Institute, where he developed a new screening, assessment, and intervention process for fall-risk patients.

“Infectious positivity” is the best way to describe Texas Medic of the Year Alex Aste, and that trait carries over into every aspect of his job at Acadian in Houston.

Alex joined Acadian with plenty of experience. He has a bachelor of science degree in paramedicine, worked as a combat medic during two separate tours in the Italian Army, and saw action in Afghanistan on a Medevac unit.

Alex came to the United States in 2011 to continue his education and received a bachelor’s degree in human biology with a minor in chemistry from the University of California San Diego.

Unfortunately, when Alex moved to Houston with his wife, who was pursuing a law degree, his Paramedic certification was not recognized, and he was forced to start over with his EMS education.

Now Alex is at the top of his class in the Paramedic program at Alvin Community College in Houston, and he’s looking forward to graduating in August and working again as a Paramedic.

Alex always puts the customer first and provides exemplary service regardless of the situation—he already has an impressive number of commendations. He has had perfect attendance and has never been late for work since starting with Acadian in August 2016.

He also plays an integral role in the Houston Life Gift Operations. In fact, if he isn’t at school or working an extra shift, you will find him serving as a Life Gift Operator.

Acadian Texas Paramedic of the Year Alec D’Storm is always professional and comes to work ready to shine. As a role model who strives for excellence, he holds other employees to a higher standard, and that makes them strive for excellence, too. 

Alec showed his aptitude and commitment to his career early on. He graduated in the top of his class and has received a Meritorious Service Award.

Based in Bexar County, Alec has been with Acadian since 2014, and he has become one of the most well-known medics in our area.

He has a background in management and puts that knowledge and experience to work in his role at Acadian. Or should we say many roles: He is a preceptor for EMTs and Paramedics, a Safe Baby Program trainer and co-coordinator, and a PALS, ACLS, and CPR instructor. 

Alec has volunteered for many different projects, including being the face of EMS at career days at area schools and Shattered Dreams programs. He has been loaned to Acadian’s Safety Management Systems as a medic for an onsite clinic, helped to make training videos, and assists with Baptist mobile health events.

And even with this lengthy list, he’s always looking for ways to contribute more. Alec started helping with our local Explorer program recently, and he assisted with our latest acquisition, too.