NAEMT President Ken Bouvier was among the mourners at a February 26 memorial service in Hope, Arkansas, for Jeffrey "Cornbread" Ferrand, 37, and John "Jay" Rook, 23, both of Hope, and Christopher Clingan, 23, from Texarkana, Texas, who were killed February 19 when their ambulance collided with a train near Fulton, Arkansas. The men were transporting a stroke patient to a hospital in Fulton. She survived the crash with injuries.
According to the Texarkana Gazette, Bouvier offered encouraging words and to let the community know that it is OK to mourn the three men's death, but to also remember they died doing something they loved doing.
He reminded EMTs and paramedics in attendance that on the three men's last call, they performed business as usual.
“They do the same thing on every call that you and I do,” Bouvier said. “We talk about it ... they probably made fun of the dispatcher on their way. We say hello, we comfort the patient, we get their vital signs, we put them on the stretcher ... and our goal is to provide the best patient care that we can give,” he said.
Bouvier told the EMTs and paramedics in the audience to keep the legacy of Ferrand, Rook and Clingan alive by going beyond the call of duty on each run they make.
“The life of Jay, Jeffrey and Chris was cut short on Saturday, but they wanted to be EMTs and paramedics a long time and now they are not here. So we as EMT and paramedics each have to do from this day, to do a little bit more on each call we go to, do a little bit extra because you're carrying on their skill,” said Bouvier.
Among the other memorial attendees were Ken Kelley, president of the Arkansas Ambulance Association; Rod Barrett, the president of the Arkansas Association of Emergency Medical Technicians; Terry Bracy, governor of the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians; Nora Jean Miles, with the office of EMS and Trauma Systems; and state Rep. Chris Thomason (D-Hope), who presented the families with flags, certificates and medals.