Girdwood Fire Department Wins Governor’s Award for Outstanding Ambulance Service 2007

Roger Baty/Turnagain Times Lt. Governor Sean Parnell stands next to Girdwood EMTs, Landon Forth and Jewels Shibley, who placed second in a statewide skills competition.

By Roger Baty
Turnagain Times

Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell presented Girdwood Fire Chief William Chadwick and the Girdwood Fire Department the “Governor’s Award for Outstanding Ambulance Service 2007” in a ceremony at the awards banquet of the annual State EMS Symposium on Saturday, Nov. 10.
The Governor’s Award for Outstanding Ambulance Service is sponsored by the Alaska Council on Emergency Medical Services. The Award honors the Girdwood Fire Department for outstanding success in providing year-round community service and in gaining support and involvement of the entire community in its service and educational activities. The Girdwood Department was chosen because it exemplifies the outstanding service that ambulance organizations and rescue squads provide to the State of Alaska.
The Girdwood Fire Department was specifically recognized for its service in meeting the challenges of motor vehicle crashes on the Seward highway, mud flats rescue, ski and avalanche rescue, cruise ship passenger assistance and mutual aid response to surrounding departments.
The fire department also won second place in the EMT’s skills competition.
The skills competition is where the EMT’s get together and go through some scenarios and treat simulated injuries. They are then graded on their performance by proctors and ranked according to how well they follow the protocols and skill sheets.
The award was the outstanding ambulance service award that exemplifies outstanding service.
“We’re the 30th one,” said Girdwood Fire Chief Bill Chadwick. “This is a real feather in our cap.”
The EMT’s won the award primarily for its work on the highway, work in the mud flats, and mutual aid that was provided to adjoining communities.
“I’m so proud of these guys,” Chadwick said. “It was really the hard work by the people of this department. They don’t just hand these things out. These guys worked really hard for it. The people of Girdwood really got a reason to be proud of these guys for working so hard to get this.”