Скачать или смотреть Emergency responder recognized for 50 years of service in Michigan

Since 1975, the Village of Paw Paw could count on one man to help them through their worst days.

Quick Response Team Leader John Redmond's retirement closes a career of saving lives both in and outside of the ambulance.

At a ceremony at the Paw Paw Fire Department Sunday, the admiration for his efforts went beyond his co-workers as county and state leaders paid tribute to him.

Over thousands of calls, Redmond kept emergency victims alive before any other help arrived on scene.

He began his career as a merchandise supervisor with Spartan Stores before volunteering to do first aid for an ambulance company.''

As he tells it, he had little experience at first, but eventually earned an EMT and then a paramedic license, finally starting Paw Paw’s first Quick Response Team in 1987.

"It grew on me, to see the difference we could make in peoples' lives," he said.

Redmond shared stories with of keeping patients stable and getting them to breathe again in the harshest winter conditions.

He recalled times when he had to work without equipment and of times when all someone needed was a hand to hold.

"I learned that just being there for a lot of people was enough," he said.

His team was independent of village or county services and said he couldn’t have done what he did without the support of the community.

Several agencies expressed their confidence in working alongside him and how quickly he could make a plan when seconds counted.

"When you saw John there, you knew everything was going to be ok," Paw Paw Fire Chief Kyle Richardson said.

"His legacy will carry on forever," Quick Response Team First Responder Morgan Jackson said. "...because of the impact he had on so many different people and so many different backgrounds and areas.”

The Quick Response Team has ended with Redmond’s retirement, but Van Buren County EMS is now working to start a new one.

Redmond was presented with awards from Paw Paw Village, the fire department and Van Buren County EMS.

Read: https://wwmt.com/news/local/paw-paw-q...
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