Two veteran Roane State Community College faculty members were recently honored for their longtime service to the emergency medical services education community, said David Blevins, Roane State Director of EMS Education.
Kirk Harris, director of Continuing Healthcare and Safety Education, won the prestigious Lige Turman Lifetime Achievement Award, while Roger Badger, an EMT/paramedic instructor, received the Full-Time Excellence in Teaching Award from the Tennessee EMS Education Association.
“Both are the highest honors,” Blevins said. The awards were bestowed during the association’s annual membership meeting, held recently in Murfreesboro.
To be eligible for the Lige Turman Award, a nominee must have at least 20 years in EMS education and a proven history of achievement in that field. “Mr. Harris has dedicated his career to engaging the next generation of medical providers, and his history of new techniques is well known,” Blevins said.
Harris is renowned for conducting quality programs, Blevins said, from overseeing the Wilderness First Responder program in sub-zero temperatures to live action in the Tactical Combat Casualty Courses.
Regardless of the course, Badger devotes his full attention to it, from EMT courses to paramedic level instruction, Blevins said. “No matter how challenged students feel during the program, they all compliment him on how well prepared he had made them for the field.”
“He has been inspiring students for many generations, and will continue for many to come.”
Other Roane State instructors who have been association award winners include lifetime achievement winner Rodney Byrd, and Mark Bodine and Marty Young.
“I am proud to call each of these guys my colleagues,” Blevins said.
To learn more about Roane State’s paramedic program and other emergency medical services programs, visit www.roanestate.edu/ems.
This press release was submitted by Owen Driskill of Roane State Community College.
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