Avery Baldwin Recognized as EMS Person of the Year
We’d like to congratulate Avery Baldwin for being recognized by the Sparks Elks Lodge as the 2019 EMS Person of the Year! Below is the recognition letter presented by a member of the Sparks Elk Lodge.
Avery currently serves as an EMS Supervisor, Education Coordinator and the Team Leader for REMSA’s Tactical EMS Program. As an Education Coordinator, Avery taught the EMT, AEMT, and REMSA Paramedic Program. Like everything Avery does, he put everything he had into getting his students the necessary training to be successful.
When Avery tried out for the TEMS team, Avery trained harder than anyone I have ever seen. He put all of his time and effort into making sure he would not fail. After being accepted into the team and awarded this great privilege he understood that the work would not stop. Now that you fought to get here, you have to fight harder to be what many others were striving to be. He understood that the SWAT teams and our community were relying on him to be ready for anything when the time arose and did everything he could to prepare for that day. When tragedy strikes in our community, our TEMS medics want to be there to support the teams and community we serve. We know that every SWAT activation has the potential for officers and civilians to be injured. Avery dedicated himself and responded to more callouts than any other team member. This meant leaving his wife during dinner and events on many occasions.
To further demonstrate his dedication, he did this all while working on his degree at UNR. And it wasn’t without challenges. One day, he was on his way to school when an officer-involved shooting occurred at Hug High. Avery quickly diverted to the callout and was the first TEMS medic on scene. He wasted no time integrating with Law Enforcement on the scene and assisted with the coordination of the medical response
As a Team Leader, Avery took the initiative to identify areas of improvement and set goals for the team. He built lesson plans and orchestrated trainings to improve the team’s capability.
Avery took the lead in helping REMSA build a B-Con class “Bleeding Control for the Injured.” This program was directed by the Hartford Consensus to build resiliency within communities by training civilians in advanced bleeding control techniques because we know that when an incident like an active shooter occurs, it will be the person next to you who may say your life, not necessarily the paramedics, 10 minutes away.
REMSA’s TEMS Team had always looked for a Tactical Medic competition to see how we stacked up against others and learn what we could do better. Last year, Avery and his partner Cody had an opportunity to compete at the National Tactical Medical Competition in Charlotte, North Carolina. There were teams from across the nation, as well as Australia, Canada and the Netherlands. Avery and Cody did an outstanding job and placed fourth overall.
I’d like to thank the Sparks Elks Lodge for recognizing heroes like Avery. Please join me in congratulating Avery Baldwin for the Sparks Elks Lodge EMS Professional of the Year.
