Paramedic Receives Medal of Valor

Dori Wood, a local resident and paramedic with Jasper County Emergency Medical Service recently received the Region V Emergency Medical Services Medal of Valor for her unselfish and dedicated service.

The award was presented at a reception following a Region V Council meeting. Mrs. Wood’s husband and parents were present when she received the award, for which she did not know she had been nominated.

Emergency Services Director Ed Westbrook had asked for Mrs. Wood’s assistance in creating a gift basket for the reception, which was the pretense he used to get her there.

Mr. Westbrook prepared the nomination:

On February 15, Jasper County Emergency Medical Services and Jasper County volunteer firefighters were dispatched to a call of a 45-year-old female fallen down a 40 foot deep well in Hills-boro, in southern Jasper County. Jasper County Paramedics Robert Taylor and Dori Wood in Jasper County Medic 3 were the first emergency personnel to arrive on scene of the incident.

Upon arrival they found a female who had been working on an old decorative well house in her yard. The flooring of the well house was deteriorating, and as she stepped on the edge of the well house the flooring gave way and she fell 42 feet into a hand dug well. There was no water in the well, only a damp muddy bottom.

The female suffered fractures in both ankles from the fall. Upon assessing the situation, the paramedics requested rope rescue equipment to be dispatched to their location.

After assessing available personnel, Paramedic Dori Wood volunteered to go down the well. Command agreed with this assessment due to her ability to provide patient care and her own physical size and weight. Paramedic Wood admitted that though she had no phobias that she was aware of, the idea of going down the well was not an inviting thought. The well was hand dug and approximately eight feet wide at the top and only about four feet wide at the bottom with rough loose earth siding.

After an intense and rapid instruction on high angle operations and equipment, Paramedic Wood was lowered into the well by the other rescue personnel to the patient. Once in the bottom of the well Paramedic Wood assessed the patient finding there was no way to maneuver the patient into a basket or onto a backboard because of the space restrictions and conditions.

Paramedic Wood agreed that she could place a belt harness onto the patient so that topside rescuers could raise her to the surface for treatment and transport in the now awaiting air ambulance.

With much difficulty due to space restrictions and patient conditions Paramedic Wood was able to secure the belt harness onto the patient attaching life safety line and belay. The patient was hoisted to the top while Paramedic Wood remained in the bottom of the well. Once the patient was secured, assessed and air lifted, Paramedic Wood and equipment were hoisted to the surface.

Paramedic Dori Wood put the life of the patient before any personal concern for herself. She was well aware of the fall dangers from the remaining well house components. She put her full trust in her fellow rescuers to lower and hoist her in and out of the well, while also trusting them to hoist the patient out of the well, above her head, while she remained at the bottom.

“I have been involved in Emergency Services in Jasper County for 32 years and have never seen a responder so willing to perform an operation in which they have no formal training or experience,” said Mr. Westbrook,.

“Paramedic Wood has never had High Angle Rescue, Technical Rescue nor Confined Space Rescue training, all of which were involved in this operation. She clearly put the welfare of the patient before herself and fully placed her own safety in the hands of the fellow responders,” said Mr. Westbook in the nomination.

Also at the reception, Jasper County received an award for “best basket.” Each service was asked to bring a gift basket that was indicative of the county, and the baskets were used as door prizes. Jasper’s basket was made of deer antlers (on table above) which were gathered by James Westbrook.

Ed Westbrook, Mrs. Wood, Jacob Strock and Rachael Webb helped put the basket together. It held donations from several local businesses.