HCMC EMS providers to be remembered at National EMS Memorial Service on June 25

Hennepin EMS will be in Colorado, participating in the service itself. We will also participate in the National Moment of Silence at 2030 hours on June 25. This is why:

Since 1992, the National EMS Memorial Service has honored EMS providers who have lost their lives in the line of duty. The 43 individuals honored this year join 538 others previously honored by the National EMS Memorial Service. Each year, at a service held in Colorado Springs, members of the honoree’s families are presented with a medallion, symbolizing eternal memory; a U.S. Flag which has flown over the Nation’s Capital, symbolizing service to the country; and a white rose, symbolizing their undying love. In addition to the presentations made during the service, each honoree’s name is engraved on a bronze oak leaf which is added to the “Tree of Life,” the National EMS Memorial.

On June 25, three Hennepin EMS personnel will be inducted into this national memorial. EMS Manager Doug Gesme and members of the Minnesota EMS Honor Guard, including Hennepin EMS Paramedics Brad Johnson, Denny Combs, and Dustin Speed, will travel to Colorado to take part in the service and represent Hennepin EMS personnel. The newly inducted honorees will join paramedic Jim Blanchard, who was inducted in 2002. Jim died in the line of duty of a cardiac arrest following an incident response and transport in 2002; he was 47. He left behind a wife, daughter, and son.

The 2011 Hennepin EMS personnel who will be honored are as follows:

• Dale Eidsvig died in the line of duty in an ambulance-involved motor vehicle crash on October 29, 1972 at the age of 45. He left behind a wife, daughter, and 2 sons.
• EMS Supervisor and Paramedic Nelson Schaefer died in the line of duty after a duty-related cardiac event on January 14, 1985 at the age of 62. Nelson left behind a wife and 2 daughters.
• Paramedic Ryan Sorek died in the line of duty on March 9, 2007 at the age of 25 from lymphocytic myocarditis after an on-duty exposure. Ryan was survived by his wife and one-year-old daughter.

Additional information on the National EMS Memorial Service is available at http://nemsms.org/

Watch the service streamed live here:  http://live.nemsms.org/