Fire department honors its own

The patient was on the floor, discovered there by his daughter. It looked bad. He wasn't breathing and the daughter could not move him to begin CPR instructed over the phone by a 911 operator.

Paramedics from the Sisters-Camp Sherman fire district arrived on the scene just three minutes after dispatch and immediately set to work to save the man's life. The situation could not have been more dire: the man was unconscious, wasn't breathing and he had no pulse. But the paramedic team did not give up. They performed CPR, administered drugs and persisted despite 22 minutes with no change in condition.

Then, after that fraught 22 minutes of work, they saw a change; they got a pulse and could detect his blood pressure.

Bad weather meant that they had to load the patient into an ambulance and drive to a rendezvous with AirLink. The man's condition deteriorated, but the AirLink crew got him to the hospital alive. And, Fire Chief Roger Johnson reported, "the patient ended up leaving the hospital a few days later." To the Chief's knowledge, he's still alive in Sisters.

The arduous effort of the Sisters paramedic crew - Captain Thornton Brown; fire medics Ben Bruegeman and Damon Frutos; and volunteers Bill Hayes, Graham MacDonald, Connor Briggs, Hayden Jones and Steve Huffman - to save that man's life earned them the Lifesaving Award at the annual Sisters-Camp Sherman Rural Fire Protection District awards banquet held on Saturday at FivePine Lodge & Conference Center.

That kind of quick, skilled, and compassionate response is the hallmark of the fire district, and the lodestar by which they orient the ethic and culture of the department. Keynote speaker Jeff Johnson, the Chief's brother and himself a lifelong member of the fire services, summed up the importance of inculcating a culture that demands that expectations be exceeded and accepts no standard short of excellence: "How dare we be anything but the best when the people we serve don't have a choice."

The department honored its best at the banquet, with awards that Chief Johnson was quick to point out carry special weight because they are voted on by the membership of the district - by the peers of the men and women so honored. And, Chief Johnson noted, while individuals are honored for their exceptional work, it takes all 80 or so staff, volunteers, board members, committee members, administrative staff and auxiliaries to make the district function at the level its patrons require.

The Fire Chief does proffer one award, titled, aptly, the Chief's Award for exceptional service to the district. This year's award went to Jeff Liming, who serves as the department's volunteer coordinator.

"We just wouldn't be the department we are without Jeff Liming," Chief Johnson said.

The department also for the first time created an award to recognize the relationships with other agencies in Sisters Country that, as Chief Johnson noted, "allows us to provide better service at lower cost."

The Partnership Awards went to Oregon Department of Forestry and USFS Sisters Ranger District.

The membership named Ron Ketchum Rookie of the Year. The Fire Fitness Award went to Dave Keller - who couldn't attend the banquet because he was living up to the award in Seattle, competing in a grueling firefighters' stairclimb event.

The Sisters fire district houses and employs several students who are going through the highly esteemed firefighting program at Central Oregon Community College. John Failla earned Student of the Year honors. He plans to take a fire-prevention track, in which he will be aided by the department's Volunteer of the Year, T.J. Johannsen, who specializes in that field.

Marsha Marr was honored as Auxiliary Volunteer of the Year for her ardent efforts to provide blood-pressure screening for Sisters Country residents. That work has turned up health conditions that could be

life-threatening.

Chief Johnson noted that 80 percent of the district's calls are for EMT service. Matt Millar was recognized as EMT of the Year for his skill and his especially compassionate manner in dealing with patients of all stations in life.

Ben Bruegeman was recognized for his consistently excellent level of work by being named the district's Firefighter of the Year.

Chief Johnson closed the proceedings with a humble and clearly heartfelt tribute to the men and women he leads: "I'm very proud to work with you and be part of your team."

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.

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