HVFD EMS Lieutenant Patricia Thomas was recognized recently as the recipient of the “Volunteer EMS Captain George H. Linnell Memorial Award for EMS Excellence” by the Prince George’s County Volunteer Fire & Rescue Association at its annual awards ceremony.
In just four short years since joining our department, without any prior Fire/EMS experience, Patricia has led our rapidly rising EMS program. She has worked tirelessly, alongside our leadership, fellow officers and membership, to completely retool, upgrade and passionately lead our EMS efforts across the board.
The HVFD EMS program’s accomplishments over the last 12-18 months include implementing weeknight duty shifts, revamped mentorship and Field Training Officer programs, expanded EMS only training opportunities. Patricia played a key role in the launch of our online scheduling platform, developed improved workflow in new volunteer processes and has overall had a very positive impact on our operations as staffing demands on our volunteers increase.
The award is named for Volunteer EMS Captain George H. Linnell, who died in 2007 from a lung disease acquired through his many years of work and dedication to the Fire/EMS Department. The award honors and commemorates his tireless efforts to achieve EMS excellence throughout Prince George’s County and the Volunteer Fire Service. The award is awarded to an individual member of a volunteer department in the county or organization for contributions towards the advancement, betterment and improvement of EMS in the community.
As a direct result of her leadership, the HVFD has recruited and trained/is training over 30 new EMTs including 15+ new active EMS only members among other cross Fire/EMS recruits over the last 16-18 months with 10 more members currently in or registered for EMT class. This has also expedited our need to order a second new BLS unit we hope to place in service on a frequent basis once it is delivered.
Patricia was nominated for the award by the HVFD’s leadership and presented with it at the annual PGCVFRA convention on September 17th. She also serves as the HVFD’s treasurer and is currently taking courses to become a certified Paramedic in Maryland. She was promoted to Lieutenant at our September company meeting.
