No legacy for LeBron

by JEN BIUNDO

When 911 dispatchers paged out the emergency to the Kyle Fire Department and San Marcos/Hays County EMS around 5 p.m. on July 8, it sounded like a routine medical call.

A 48-year-old woman had apparently suffered a seizure while driving on Kyle Parkway near Dacy Lane and lost control of her vehicle, driving into a ditch.

But when first responders arrived on the scene, they found that the patient was unconscious, wasn’t breathing and had no pulse. They performed CPR on the woman as they swiftly transported her to nearby Seton Hays Hospital.

Last week, nine firefighters and paramedics received the Kyle Fire Department’s Phoenix Award, which honors life-saving work by emergency service personnel.

“They did their job, they did it right, and because of that, 20 days later this lady walked out of the hospital to continue her life,” said Kyle Fire Chief Glenn Whitaker.

San Marcos/Hays County EMS Director John Moseley said the training and practice undertaken by firefighters and paramedics paid off.

“Everybody came to work that day with the intent to do things right,” Moseley said. “Now we have somebody alive today who otherwise would not have been.”

Whitaker read a letter from Christopher Ewing, Kyle Fire Department’s Medical Director who is currently deployed to Afghanistan.

“The public puts its trust in you to protect them from accident, illness, and disaster,” Ewing wrote. “That trust is well-placed.”

LIST OF THOSE HONORED

Firefighter Clinton Vinup

Firefighter/Paramedic Charles Royall

Paramedic John Mills

Paramedic Jon Newcomb

Lieutenant Terry Wright

Captain Rey Villanueva

Battalion Chief Mike Vasil

Deputy Scott Vinup

Deputy Chief Rick Beaman