EMT Randy Eshelman Receives Star of Life Award

A long-time Tri-Community South EMS employee was honored by the Ambulance Association of Pennsylvania as a recipient of the 2007 Star of Life Award. The award was presented to Randy Eshelman at the first annual Pennsylvania EMS 911 Event in Harrisburg on September 11th.

Click photo for caption and larger view The Star of Life awards are given to EMS providers who particularly exemplify the "efforts and importance of the job our everyday heroes provide to the residents of this Commonwealth." Randy was one of eight recipients of the award for 2007.

Randy Eshelman is one of three employees who have been with Tri-Community South since 1978. He serves as the Equipment and Supply Coordinator as well as functioning in the field as an EMT. He is a member of the Pittsburgh Critical Incident Stress Management team, the Federal Disaster Management Assistance Team, and is also a CPR/AED Instructor and Hazardous Materials responder. He has responded to many notable incidents as both an EMS responder a CISM debriefer, including the crash of USAir Flight 427 in Hopewell and to Shanksville on September 11, 2001.

The Pennsylvania EMS 911 Event was established to honor EMS providers who have died in the line of duty, and to establish a foundation to perpetuate the retention and recruitment of paramedics, EMTs and first responders in Pennsylvania. Currently, twenty-eight Pennsylvania EMS providers are recognized at the National EMS Memorial in Roanoke, Virginia as having died in the line of duty since the first memorial service in 1993. To date, 350 providers from across the USA are honored at the memorial, including 19 who died as a result of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Click photo for caption and larger view The celebrity guest speaker at this year's Pennsylvania event was actor Randolph Mantooth, who played Firefighter/Paramedic Johnny Gage on the 1970s television show Emergency! This show was instrumental in bringing EMS, a new profession at the time, to public attention and in helping EMS spread across the country. When the show first aired, few cities had EMS systems, and most of these were strictly Basic Life Support systems. Today, Advanced Life Support EMS is accepted as the standard of care nationwide.

The Ambulance Association of Pennsylvania (AAP) is the lead organization for the advancement of the needs of its members in the emergency and non-emergency ambulance and medical transportation industry. The AAP advocates the highest quality patient care through ethical and sound business practices, advancing the interests of its members in important legislative, regulatory, educational and reimbursement issues.

For more information on the AAP, the Stars of Life award, or for any other questions Emergency Medical Services, call Tri-Community South at 412-831-3710, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. or visit our website at: http://www.tcsems.org