(Cushing, Okla.) Cushing leaders and grateful citizens came out to congratulate the first graduates of the paramedic program. Cushing Firefighters Ronnie Lightfoot, Daniel Myers and Justin Ward recently completed their paramedic training and were honored at a reception held Wednesday afternoon in the Auxiliery Education Room at Cushing Regional Hospital.
“Today is a proud day for Cushing,” Mayor Evert Rossiter said. “I want to thank the community, my fellow commissioners (past and present), Central Tech and everyone else who has done what it takes to make this happen.”
Cushing Regional Hospital Foundation president Lee Roy Kalka listed many of those who have played a role in raising the funds needed to provide scholarships to the Cushing firefighters. “I’d like to thank Cushing Masonic Lodge, Central Tech, Cushing Regional Hospital, Davis Funeral Home, Palmer Marler Funeral Home, Joe and Kay Smith, Doug Carson, Lions Club, the Auxiliary, Bank of Cushing, SPI, Ahrberg Milling and the Firefighters Union for their donations of $1,000 or more,” Kalka said.
City Manager Steve Spears continued the thank yous, thanking Marian Gilkerson (CRH Foundation director) and the CRH Foundation for having the celebration. “Truly this was a community effort,” Spears said. “It is a perfect example of how local government should work. The community expresses a desire and a need, then the city government puts it all together to help make it happen. The Foundation, Cushing Regional Hospital, the Masonic Lodge and the citizens of Cushing who voted to pass the continuation of the 8 tenths sales tax – we thank you.” He went on to say it was the “can do attitude” of Fire Chief Brent Kerr and Deputy Chief Chris Pixler and the firefighters themselves. “It was never ‘if’ but ‘when’. I also want to thank the graduates for their hardwork and personal sacrifice.”
Phil Wahl, Central Tech Superintendent, said, “It was a great opportunity for Central Tech to help the community. This is amazing. I also want to thank their instructor Lisa Dyer from Kiamichi Technology Center. We are proud of our students.”
The paramedic program was created by Central Tech with the help of Central Tech’s Patti Pounce and Dyer, who provided them instruction via video conferencing. Although it was put together as a way to educate Cushing firefighters, it is open to others who wish to receive such training.
Chief Brent Kerr reiterated their gratitude to everybody, including those community leaders in the past for their foreward thinking. “Back when Andy Katz was City Manager, he asked for us to assess our department and why we did what we did and what we wanted. He said, ‘Because we’ve always done it that way is not the right answer.’ When we decided we wanted paramedics, we had no idea it would happen this fast.
You don’t find a community like we have,” Kerr said proudly. “It’s unbelievable. We’re spoiled – but I’m proud to be spoiled.” He went on to thank the graduates for their hard work and diligence in completing the program. “And I also want to thank the families of these guys. This was a year and a half of time away from their families.”
Not only was thanks given to the families of the graduates, but to the rest of the firefighters and their families who “took up the slack” for the ones who were attending the training. “If something happened and we need someone to come in – that’s who was called,” Kerr said.
The goal of the fire department is to have a minimum of nine trained paramedics on staff. With the new graduates, they now have five (two took training on their own before the scholarship program was in place). Three more firefighters are currently in school – Jody Johnson, Levi Collier and John Perryman. Having trained paramedics will only improve the quality of service in the community. It will allow more procedures to be performed in emergencies, such as attaching a heart monitor and administering drugs on site and enroute.
“We care about our people,” Kerr said “and we’re excited that we will be able to do that even better.”
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