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News: Firefighters with Roane State ties honored

From left are Gage Seymour, Trey Gaff and Adam Thomas

Aug. 11, 2017

By Bob Fowler
Roane State staff writer

Lessons learned at Roane State Community College were of vital use in saving the life of a critically injured person trapped in a burning vehicle, officials said.

The firefighters involved in the rescue were recently honored by a civic organization.

Winners of the Optimist Club of Knoxville’s “American Hero of the Year Award” are Rural/Metro Fire Department employees Joe Cardio, Adam Thomas, Gage Seymour and Trey Gaff.

Cardio graduated from Roane State’s advanced EMT program at the Knox County Center for Health Sciences in the spring of 2015. Thomas obtained his Roane State paramedic certificate that summer. Seymour is enrolling in the center’s emergency medical technician program this fall. Gaff completed the EMT program in the spring of 2016.

The four firefighters responded to a Feb. 7 multi-vehicle accident on Asheville Highway and were the first to arrive, finding a heavily damaged vehicle on fire at the bottom of an embankment.

One person was pinned inside, according to an incident report. After the blaze was extinguished, Thomas gained entry through a window of the wrecked vehicle and found the occupant with “numerous traumatic injuries,” according to the report.

The victim “needed to be removed immediately if he was going to survive,” it continues. Working together, the firefighters freed the victim, who was carried up the embankment. They immediately began medical care.

“The victim was in the hospital for weeks but is going to make a full recovery,” the report states.

The firefighters “acted above and beyond their level of training,” Rural/Metro Capt. John Clift wrote in an email. “They are an asset to Rural Metro Fire and the citizens of Knox County.”

The firefighters and other providers of emergency services in Knox County were honored recently during the 15th annual Optimist Club of Knoxville’s “American Hero of the Year” awards luncheon.​

Learn more about Emergency Medical Services programs at Roane State.

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