Kyle Fire Department and San Marcos/Hays County EMS members were recently honored for their role in saving a woman’s life this summer. The honored include (front to back, left to right) paramedic John Mills, Captain Rey Villanueva and Paramedic Jon Newcomb; firefighter/paramedic Charles Royall and Lt. Terry Wright; Battalion Chief Mike Vasil and Deputy Chief Rick Beaman. (Photo by Jen Biundo)

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