Roane State adjunct professor Jason Fox, right, is pictured with Capt. Joseph Cate, also with the Morristown-Hamblen EMS, as they receive the statewide “Star of Life” award. Fox, Cate and the Morristown-Hamblen EMS, along with Hamblen County 911, were awarded the Dr. Michael Carr Tennessee EMSC State Star of Life Award during a ceremony last month in Nashville.
June 13, 2017
By Bob Fowler
Roane State staff writer
A Roane State Community College adjunct instructor in the college’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS) program helped save the life of a newly-born premature infant who had stopped breathing and had no pulse.
Jason Fox, who has been with Roane State for a year, is also a lieutenant with the Morristown-Hamblen EMS. He is credited, along with Morristown-Hamblen EMS’ Capt. Joseph Cate, for reviving the infant who was three months premature when he was born at home.
“We asked what the baby’s name was and told her (mother Kellie Henrikson) that we would do everything in our power to save his life,” Fox said. The EMS professionals used cardiopulmonary resuscitation to revive Tanner Enix after the infant hadn’t been breathing for 11 minutes.
For their actions, which Fox said were a “combination of training, instinct and a miracle,” Morristown-Hamblen EMS and Hamblen County 911 received a statewide award titled the “Star of Life.”
“We did our work, we did our training and we left it to a higher power for the finer workings of it,” Fox said. The incident occurred late last July.
Today, the infant shows no signs of “neuro-deficits” and made a full recovery, according to the Tennessee Emergency Medical Services for Children (TN EMSC) organization.
For their lifesaving effort, Fox, Cate and the Morristown-Hamblen EMS, along with Hamblen County 911, were awarded the Dr. Michael Carr Tennessee EMSC State Star of Life Award during a ceremony last month in Nashville.
The award, now in its ninth year, honors prehospital medical care providers for lifesaving actions, an EMSC spokeswoman said.
“Jason has brought exceptional work ethic from the field into the classroom to inspire the next generation of EMS professionals,” said David S. Blevins, the director of EMS education for Roane State.
To learn more about Roane State’s EMT and paramedic programs, contact David Blevins at (865) 354-3000 ext. 4768 or blevinsds@roanestate.edu.
Roane State Community College does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, ethnicity or national origin, sex, disability, age, status as protected veteran or any other class protected by Federal or State laws and regulation and by Tennessee board of Regents policies with respect to employment, programs, and activities. View full non-discrimination policy.
