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The Dr. George Johnson, Jr. EMS Award
 In August, 2000, the State EMS Advisory Council voted to
establish an award to be named for the late chairman emeritus of the council.
The Dr. George Johnson, Jr. award is awarded to individuals deemed by the
council to individuals who have made significant and outstanding long-term
contributions to EMS in North Carolina. Dr. Johnson chaired the Advisory
Council from November 1977 until August 2006.
The award is given at the pleasure of the council and may be
awarded to more than one person during a year, or it may not be awarded if
no suitable nominee is presented for a given year.
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| The first award (2000) was presented to Dr. Charles P.
Blomely of Polk County in recognition of his pioneering efforts toward the
development of EMS in Western North Carolina and for his 27 years of dedication
and service to Polk County EMS and the citizens of his region. |
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second award (2001) was presented to Dr. Llewellyn W. (Lew) Stringer, long time
medical director of Forsyth County EMS and a key national figure in the Disaster
Medical Assistance Team (D-MAT) Program. He is also founder and head of
the North Carolina-based Special Operations Response Team (SORT). |
The third award (2002) went
to Dr. Donald Vaughn, longtime medical director for Wake EMS, and someone
who was hugely instrumental in working with the NC Medical Society to
develop and implement the Pre-hospital DNR form which is used all across
the state. |
The fourth award (2003) was
given to P. Michael Eddinger, who recently retired as Assistant Chief of
the Office of EMS. Eddinger was recognized for 30 years of EMS
service which included much of the work on the recent rewrite of EMS
regulations in the state. Eddinger's career began as a paramedic in
Guilford County. |
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| The fifth award (2005) was
given to Wayne Ashworth, retired director of Surry and Rowan County EMS and
longtime member of the State EMS Advisory Council. He was one of the
state's first paramedics and is webmaster of the NCEMS web page. |
The sixth award (2006) was
presented to former OEMS Assistant Chief Ed Browning. Ed was
recognized for his long term service and in particular for his work in the
areas of education and rules updates. |
The seventh award (2009) was
made to Dr. Elizabeth Kanof of Raleigh, a member of the State EMS Advisory
Council and former president of the NC State Medial Society, the NC State
Medical Board, and the Wake County Medical Society. She was very
instrumental in passage of HB-878 |
The eighth award (2010) went
to Dr. William Atkinson, President of Wake Med Health and Hospitals in
Raleigh. Dr. Atkinson was cited for his work, first as a paramedic and later
as chief executive of several hospitals including New Hanover Regional
Medical Center and Wake Med. |
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| The Ninth Award was given in
2011 to former OEMS Chief Bob W. Bailey. He was honored for his long service
to EMS in the state, beginning in 1973 in Rutherford County and which still
continues in his consulting work. |
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To nominate someone for the award, please submit a nominating
letter to any member of the EMS Advisory Council or to
any OEMS staff member
by end of July of each year. The nominations will be reviewed by a
committee of the Advisory Council and then recommendations made to the
full council at their August meeting. All awards are made at the
annual Emergency Medicine Today Conference banquet. |
