Members of DeKalb EMS were honored with the Upper Cumberland EMS Directors Association Region IV Call of the Year Award for their service at a recent head-on crash where three young men were seriously injured.

The award was shared by Jamie Parsley-AEMT, Tyler Grandstaff-CCEMT-Paramedic, Jonathan Rudd-EMT-Paramedic, Houston Austin-EMT-Paramedic, Donna Melton-AEMT, Greta Stone-EMT-Paramedic, and Tim Briggs-EMT-Paramedic, and was presented at the Upper Cumberland EMS Directors Association's Annual Education Symposium in Cookeville on Oct. 13 and 14.

The winners were nominated by DeKalb EMS Director Hoyte Hale nominated the crew for the award based on their response to a serious two vehicle crash August 12 on Allen Ferry Road in which a 2002 Chevy Silverado driven by Cody Randolph, 28, of Smithville collided with a 1997 Nissan Maxima driven by 18-year-old Dustin Utley. Utley apparently crossed the center line into Randolph’s lane of travel.

Utley’s vehicle carried two passengers, his younger brothers Daniel Hudson, 10, a Northside Elementary student, in the front seat, and 14-year-old Christian Utley, a DCHS student, in the back seat.

All three brothers were airlifted by Life Force and Air Evac helicopters. Randolph was transported by DeKalb EMS to Saint Thomas DeKalb Hospital, and later to Cookeville Regional Medical Center, with a possible broken ankle.

In his nomination, Hale wrote:

“On behalf of DeKalb County EMS, I would like to take this opportunity to nominate a team of outstanding and dedicated Emergency Medical Technicians that shows exemplifying qualities daily in their knowledge, skills, as well as compassion for their patients for the 2016 Region IV Upper Cumberland EMS Director’s Association Call of the Year Award.

“At 7:10 a.m. the morning of August 12, the tones dropped, and at that moment the entire crew that was on duty would be faced with critical life changing decisions and the knowledge and skills each of them hold would be put to the test. That Friday morning began as three brothers making their way to school and a PE teacher on his way to work collided. Responding unit 5 arrived and assessed the scene to witness four patients that were involved in a head-on collision, three of those patients, ages 10, 15, and 18, all brothers, were critical. The 10 year old patient was found in a ditch with severe seat belt contusions and a ridged distended abdomen hypotensive. The 15 year old suffered an open puncture wound to the upper chest and a laceration to the head and the 18 year old had an open femur fracture, broken arm, decreased breath sounds and signs of internal injuries," Hale wrote.

"Paramedic Briggs arrived on the scene to assist with the patients as the two additional units, unit 2 and unit 3 were called to respond. Air Evac 44, Air Evac 19, and Life Force 5 were also dispatched to the scene of the accident. All units on the scene were faced with a situation that most of us hope that we are never faced with in any child, however with the quick thinking response and lifesaving actions by all three crews, each boy is expected to have a full recovery from their major injuries with a lifelong story to tell," the director continued.

"All three boys have been released from Vanderbilt Hospital, but all are still faced with many surgeries to overcome in the near future. Without the immediate response, the years of skills, training, and dedication to their community the EMS team put to use on that day, the outcome for these three boys and their family could have been devastating," Hale wrote.

"Many other prehospital providers from our region have provided great service for their community and deserve to be recognized but I feel this crew deserves the EMT of the Year Award for the way they pulled together as a team and diligently worked to save the three brothers. With the years of hard work and training this crew holds, they touch numerous lives daily and make a difference in each patient’s life. The PE teacher was treated for non-life threatening injuries and was transported to the local hospital,” the nomination letter concluded.

The honor marks the third year in a row that DeKalb EMS members have received the award.