Members of Gamber & Community Fire Co. received two different awards from the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, May 15, 2019 for incidents that occurred in 2018. This is the third year the Chamber of Commerce has held the Carroll County Public Safety Awards.

Gold Medal of Valor

This award may be given to an individual who has courageously risked his/her safety and/or life under extremely hazardous conditions to save another while operating within standard operating procedures.

On July 25, 2018, an evening storm dumped around eight inches of rain in numerous areas of Carroll County. Units had already been dispatched to water rescues in the Westminster area. Just after 7pm communications received a 911 call for an occupied vehicle in swift water on Sullivan Road near Lemmon Road. Utility 3 from Westminster was the first to arrive and advised they had a passenger van with four occupants unable to leave the vehicle due to the moving water. Chief 3-1 arrived and established Sullivan Road Command. They had a white van with water over the hood and rising upwards toward the windows. The vehicle was filling with water, windows were up, and the vehicle had no power. It was determined that there were four occupants in the vehicle; three adults and one minor. Command received a report from a bystander that her husband was in the water attempting to reach the van and is now missing. Command requested an additional boat and swift water team. Aviation was also requested to search for the victim. Aviation was unavailable due to the weather.

Five Members from Gamber’s Water Rescue Team donned swift water rescue suits to make entry to the vehicle. ATR 30, Utility 3 and ATV3 handled "river right", Rescue Squad 9 and ATV4 handled "river left", accessing from the north side of the incident via Lemmon Rd. Both teams had throw bags and were the safety downstream. Command requested a boat, swift water team and engine company to stage at Bennett Cerf Park downstream as the next access to recover a victim if needed. Chief 3, Utility 13 with Boat 13 and Engine 102 went to Bennet Cerf Park. Engine 33 staged river right on south incident scene as additional support. The bystander reported missing earlier was found downstream and uninjured on his property. Attempts to float a swift water boat to the occupants of the van was unsuccessful due to the water speed.

Three swift water rescue technicians made their way out to the vehicle with four victim Personal Floatation Devices (PFD’s). The rescuers punched out 2 windows of the vehicle, quickly assessed the condition of the victims (all unharmed but scared) and had them put on their PFD’s. Rescuers removed the minor from the vehicle first, taking her back upstream to a guardrail that was submerged in the water. The guardrail acting as a barrier to help slow the water. One of the three rescuers walked the minor out, pinning her between the guardrail and the rescuer, handing her off to the other two swift water rescue technicians midway and they continued walking the minor back to the shoreline. The rescuer went back to the vehicle. They would continue this one by one until the remaining three adult victims were removed from the vehicle in the same fashion.

Once to safety, the occupants were evaluated by EMS and no injuries were reported. Units cleared the scene and responded to multiple other water rescues that night.

Incident Command Asst. Chief Jon Haddad Westminster Fire Dept.

Dive 13/ Boat 13-1; Gamber
Captain Chad Hastings
Lt. Shawn Chenoweth
Lt. Ian Runkles
Sgt. Patrick Livesay
Bo Stansbury
George Syfert
Christopher Windsor

Utility 3/ATV 3; Westminster
Lt Corey Milewski
Sgt Bryce Ballard
Michael Diehl
Anthony Gramiccioni

Engine 33 ; Westminster
Tyler Bowers
Edward Burrell Jr.
Billy Buck
Andre Berry

Medic 39; Westminster
Matthew Hafler
Eric Bostian

ATR 30; County Team (Both Members from Pleasant Valley)
Chief Forrest Shaw
Danny Leister

Rescue Squad 9; Reese
Chief Michael Knight
Lt. Jeffrey Schaeffer
Darryl Cornett
Kyle Hale
Darryl Tawney

Utility 4/ ATV 4; Manchester
Lt Jeremy Sperlien
Ben Eppley

Chief 3 Jason Tyler ; Westminster

Utility 13/ Boat 13; Gamber
Lt Joel Caple
Sgt. Jeremy Hutton
Michael Franklin
Sean Baldwin

Engine 102; New Windsor
Chief Thomas Coe
Assistant Chief Mike Moser
Jeff Lease
John Grauel
Marcy Munsharr

Life-Saving Award

This award may be given to an individual directly responsible for the saving of a human life and shall be issued to personnel whose actions, skills, and knowledge in the application of pre-hospital emergency medical care were vital to saving a life.

On August 6, 2018 at 4:45pm the 911 center received a call for a male subject having an allergic reaction after stepping in a bees nest. Gamber's ambulance was already on another call so a support piece from Gamber and a Medic Unit from Reese were dispatched to the location. As the call taker continued to talk with the caller it was noted that the patient was struggling to breath. The utility from Gamber arrived on the scene at 4:51pm to find the patient unconscious. Approximately 5 minutes later the crew advised that they had a cardiac arrest. The patient was no longer breathing and the Medic Unit was not yet on the scene. Firefighter/EMT Jack Brown initiated CPR as Firefighter/lVT Jesse Clagett administered Epinephrine while they awaited the arrival of Medic 99. The Medic Unit arrived within 2 minutes as well as a second support vehicle from Gamber. Providers on scene prepared the patient to be transported to the hospital while CPR was still being administered. Medic 99 began transport to Carroll Hospital Center and encountered difficulty getting a good airway for the patient. CPR was continued while en route to the hospital with Firefighter Clagett assisting on Medic 99. Lieutenant Chenoweth transported the caller to Carroll Hospital Center so she would not have to drive herself. The quick response of initiating CPR by Firefighters Brown and Clagett as well as the assisting crew from Gamber consisting of Chief Charlie Green, Lieutenant Shawn Chenoweth, and Engineer Dale Bollinger was crucial in the initial care of the patient. Medic 99's patient care and swift response to the hospital was also a vital part of patient care which led to the patient making a full recovery. The patient started breathing on his own and regained consciousness and has made a full recovery.

Gamber Providers
Firefighter/ EMT Jack Brown
Firefighter/ IVT Jesse Clagett
Engineer Dale Bollinger
Chief Charles Green Jr
Lieutenant Shawn Chenoweth

Reese Providers
Firefighter / EMT Gerald Shaw
Firefighter / Paramedic Danny Bloskey

We would like to congratulate all members involved in both incidents

Video provided from Community Media Center of Carroll County.