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EMS Honors Fallen Providers Each year in May the National EMS Memorial Bike Ride hits the East Coast to honor and celebrate the lives of those who serve the public with emergency medical services every day. This year, the ride was delayed due to increased numbers in the COVID-19 pandemic. The annual long-distance cycling event memorializes EMS providers who have fallen ill or injured while performing their duties, made a significant impact in the EMS field, and those who have lost their lives in the line of duty. The sevenday 565-mile journey is not for the faint of heart and traveled through Connecticut and Pennsylvania from Boston, MA to Washington, D.C. In 2021 four Schertz EMS employees (Brandon Hill, Tyler Bowker, Mike Shown, and Ashley Cammack) took the challenge and completed the Bike Ride (September 19 - 25) in honor of some very special public safety servants. Schertz EMS Division Chief - Operations, Brandon Hill commented, "This year was extremely challenging, both for the logistics of the ride and for the ride itself. The ride really resembled the struggles of the past year and a half; a lot of rough terrains, fighting to overcome adversity, and celebrating and honoring those who we lost.” Every year, there are five different routes to complete for the bike ride, the East Coast (Boston to Washington, D.C.), Southern (North Carolina to Washington, D.C.), Midwest (St. Paul to Chicago), Colorado (Snowmass to Littleton), and West Coast (Reno to San Francisco) routes. All five routes rode simultaneously this year. Due to the high number of honorees, each route honored those lost from their respective regions. Since our EMS employees rode the East Coast route, their honorees are from that area. Hill rode for Randy Templin from Northwest EMS in Elizabethtown, PA, Bowker rode for Jonathan Damon from Tupper Lake EMS in New York, Shown rode for Rachel Cunningham from Survival Flight in Ohio, and Cammack rode for Brittney Jayne from Kingman EMS in Kansas.
“It was a rewarding experience to ride with this amazing group of people for such a great cause,” said Cammack. “Memorializing these fallen men and women who dedicated their lives to helping others in some form of EMS is just an emotional experience that’s so hard to explain. Every mile, was for our honorees. I rode this year for Brittney Jayne, who passed away in April of 2020 after battling cancer. She was a beloved EMT with Kingman EMS in Kansas. She was only one year younger than me and also had dreams of being a paramedic. Wearing her dogtags around my neck was like a burst of strength every time I felt like wanting to quit.” Usually held in May, the National EMS Memorial Service was held on July 24 due to COVID restrictions. The memorial service honored 144 line-of-duty deaths this year by a ringing of a bell, and a presentation of a yellow rose and American Flag to the family. These honorees will forever have their names on the EMS Tree of Life Memorial, and eventually at a permanent memorial in Washington, D.C.
