American Ambulance Association
Gives Awards to Two Sunstar Paramedics
The American Ambulance Association honored two of Pinellas County’s finest on March 19th in Washington DC. Sunstar Paramedic’s Larry Marshall and Megan Hollern were two of eighty recipients of the coveted American Ambulance Association 2013 Stars of Life Award. The annual award is given to medics around the nation whose heroism or character and commitment to EMS is exemplary. Marshall and Hollern attended a banquet to receive their award. They toured Capitol Hill and met with members of Florida’s congressional delegation to weigh in on issues relevant to EMS. “
We are extremely proud that Megan and Larry have been named for this award,” said Mark Postma, Chief Operating Officer. “Their dedication and skill exemplify what we strive for in serving the Pinellas County Community, and it’s an honor for them to be included among the nation’s best emergency medical service professionals.”
Larry Marshall began his EMS career in 1979 and joined the Sunstar Paramedics team in 1988. Megan Hollern, a newly promoted Filed Operations Supervisor started her career with Sunstar Paramedics in 2009.
Thank you to all of the Sunstar Paramedics employees who strive to provide the best care in the business. And this year, congratulations to Larry and Megan for raising the bar even higher!
2013 Commissioner Morroni Award Winners
Congratulations to Megan Hollern, John Hanshew, Jeff Banks and Michael Gonza-lez for being honored at the 18th Annual Commissioner John Morroni Awards lunch on January 25th. These four employees were nominated for their exceptional patient care at the 2012
On May 18th, Dawn Pelletier finished the run portion of the triathlon and passed the finish line. When her racing heart still didn’t slow down after several minutes of rest, Dawn found EMT Jeff Banks and Paramedic Megan Hollern on the beach in a medical Kubota. She asked if she could sit with them for a short time until she caught her breath. After several minutes with no relief, Jeff and Megan began to get concerned. They monitored her vitals and then convinced Dawn to let them take her up to the road so a proper assessment of her heart rhythm could be done in the am-bulance.
Upon her arrival to the ambulance, the paramedics placed her on the Lifepak heart monitor and found that she was in severe V-tach (Ventricular Tachycardia) with a low pulse and a dangerously low blood pressure. Michael Gonzalez and John Hanshew, the crew on stand-by that day at the ambulance, immediately cardioverted Mrs. Pelletier into normal sinus rhythm. She instantaneously felt relief. She was transported to Largo Medical Center for a cardiac evaluation and had a defibrillator surgically implanted a few days after her arrival.