Local first responders honored with luncheon

Businesses in Texarkana recently came together to celebrate local heroes.

LifeNet Inc. recognized first responders, law enforcement officers and firefighters with a luncheon at Silvermoon on Broad during National EMS Appreciation Week. Luncheon organizers expected to feed approximately 250 first responders during the event.

“All the guys here work in quiet and anonymity so to have a chance to say ‘Thanks’ is always great,” said David Baumgardner, executive director of LifeNet.

First responders never know what they’ll find arriving at a scene, from traumatic injuries to violent situations. It’s a high pressure job that’s done for the safety and benefit of the community.

“There’s always a lot of uncertainty. What you may find when you arrive isn’t what’s always relayed from dispatch communications,” Baumgardner said.

EMTs are often a life-saving bridge from the field to the hospital. They provide basic an advanced medical care to people in a variety of emergency situations from heart attacks to accidents.

“We’re mobile healthcare. ‘Mobile Healthcare’ is a new term but it’s what emergency responders have done for years,” Baumgardner said. “We’re bringing that critical care medicine to your house at a moment’s notice. We can be there to help stabilize patients and start their recovery.”

LifeNet invited the gamut of first responders to the event to recognize how their jobs are intertwined whether they’re EMTs, employed with the police or fire department, dispatch or a volunteer.

“We invited everybody that’s involved with helping us, including volunteers. We all have roles. They often stabilize the scene so we can do our job. It’s very, very important. They help us do what we do,” Baumgardner said.

LifeNet also partnered with Texarkana Emergency Center and McDonald’s during EMS Appreciation Week to provide first responders another free lunch.

EMS Week was authorized by President Gerald Ford in 1974.

“We’re bringing that critical care medicine to your house at a moment’s notice. We can be there to help stabilize patients and start their recovery.” —David Baumgardner

Staff photo by Evan Lewis above Jeremy Gingery is served a plate of barbecue during LifeNet’s annual First Responders Lunch in recognition of National EMS Appreciation Week. Fire, police and medical personnel from the area were treated to lunch at the Silvermoon on Broad to...