Riviera Beach paramedic is honored

Andrew Gionta, 24, is named Palm Beach County Paramedic of the Year.

When Riviera Beach Fire Rescue Paramedic Andrew Gionta responds to a scene he doesn’t let his mind overload itself.

The situation and his surroundings don’t matter. It’s only about doing everything he can for the patient.

“You don’t think about it,” he said. “It’s what we’re trained to do.”

The 24-year-old was honored Friday as the Palm Beach County Paramedic of the Year by the EMS Providers Association, a nonprofit that gives annual awards for outstanding work by agencies in the county. More than a dozen others were nominated and received plaques at Wine Dive in downtown West Palm Beach.

In the past year, Gionta responded to scenes where an 11-year-old was shot, a television fell on a child and to multiple cases of cardiac arrest.

But the call he remembers most came when two teens were severely injured in a personal watercraft crash into a jett y near Peanut Island.

Gionta got into a boat in the middle of the night, jumped into the water and got the teens ready for transport back to land.

One of the patients became combative because of a serious head injury, but Gionta handled the situation well, his battalion chief wrote in his nomination letter.

Gionta said his two years in the department have exceeded his expectations, citing his love for the brotherhood and the variety of important duties.

Though he hasn’t been on the team long, he’s already making an impression on the higher ups.

Fire Rescue EMS Division Chief Tom McCarthy said Gionta has been an integral part of the department and loves to see his work recognized.

“He got in there, and he never hesitated,” McCarthy said of Gionta’s time in Riviera Beach. “He’s been great.”

The organization also recognized Sally Waite with the Linda Schutte Achievement Award for her work with Palm Beach County Emergency Management. Waite recently switched positions to the Florida Department of Health in Palm Beach County.