(Lawrenceville, Ga., May 20, 2016) – Two Gwinnett County Fire and Emergency Services personnel were recently recognized at a prestigious EMS Awards Banquet held in Atlanta.  The banquet is an annual event hosted by Georgia Region III EMS to honor and recognize the outstanding efforts performed by pre-hospital emergency medical service professionals from the public and private sector in an eight-county region of metro Atlanta.  The awards banquet was held on Thursday, May 19, 2016 at 7pm at WellStar Development Center, located at 2000 South Park Place in Atlanta.  Attendees included EMS and healthcare professionals from a number of fire-based EMS systems and private emergency medical care providers.

Battalion Chief Phillip Merck is a veteran firefighter-paramedic and currently serves as the Chief of Training for the Gwinnett County Department of Fire and Emergency Services.  Chief Merck received the Distinguished Service Award from representatives of Georgia Region III EMS.  Chief Merck was nominated based on his outstanding contributions to emergency medical care.  Chief Merck heads up one of the most important and robust EMS programs at the Gwinnett Fire Academy and has mentored over 250 EMT and paramedic students over the past three-years.  His enthusiasm and personal commitment to the EMS profession and the community are without comparison. 

Lieutenant Chad Bird is a veteran firefighter-paramedic with the Gwinnett County Department of Fire and Emergency Services and currently serves as an Instructor at the Gwinnett Fire Academy.  Lieutenant Bird was also nominated based on his outstanding contribution to entry level training and continuing education of department personnel.  Lieutenant Bird has trained hundreds of students at the EMT and paramedic level.  He has been instrumental in the development of the department’s ACLS (advanced cardiac life support) and CPR (cardio pulmonary resuscitation) recertification and the CAAHEP (commission on accreditation of allied health education programs) accreditation of the paramedic training program.  Lieutenant Bird also coordinates the department’s Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) Team.  Lieutenant Bird has dedicated his life and his career to the mission of saving lives and protecting property.

“We are extremely proud of the recognition of our personnel.  Both individuals are shining examples of the caliber of men and women who make up the department,” said Gwinnett County Fire Chief Casey Snyder.

The Gwinnett County Department of Fire and Emergency Services is a proactive citizen-oriented fire and emergency medical service provider.  The department protects an area of 437 square miles and operates 30 strategically placed fire stations within the community.  The fleet of response vehicles includes 30-ALS Engines, 25-ALS Medic Units (ambulances), 10-BLS Ladder Trucks, 2-Squads and a host of other specialty team, incident command and support units. The department responds to over 74,000 emergency incidents annually.