Exchange Club of Albany honors firefighters, paramedics

ALBANY — To honor the public safety personnel who help protect the lives of area residents, the Exchange Club of Albany honored Dougherty and Lee county firefighters and paramedics during the the organization’s annual public safety awards luncheon Friday.

The Southwest Georgia civic club, which has been recognizing the community’s public safety personnel for more than 30 years, presented the 2016 paramedic and firefighter of the year awards at the club’s regular meeting, presenting plaques and a small cash award to members of the Lee County EMS, Lee County Fire Department, Dougherty County EMS, and Albany Fire Department.

“I think they need to be recognized and we need to let them know that we support them,” said Exchange Club President Kay Griffin. “We rely on them every day, and anybody that goes beyond the call of duty should be recognized.”

The 2016 Lee County Firefighter of the Year was Billy Davis; Lee Paramedic of the Year was Pete Radano, and Albany Firefighter of the Year was Tawanna Davis, all of whom were chosen by their peers to receive the honor. Additionally, a plaque and a cash award was given to the entire Dougherty County EMS Department after director Greg Rowe said he was unable to single out any one individual.

“Everybody has done everything that was asked of them and more,” Rowe said.

Dougherty EMS was the first collective to be recognized. Steve Ebel accepted the plaque on behalf of his fellow paramedics.

Ebel’s acceptance was followed by comments from Lee Public Safety Department interim Director Wesley Wells, who is also a captain with the Albany Fire Department. Wells thanked the Exchange Club while also saying a few words about Davis.

“Thank you very much for recognizing all of public safety; everything we do is done for the public, and it’s nice to have these ladies and gentlemen recognized for everything that they do,” said Wells. “To explain the reason for the recognition of Billy Davis today, it is his unending dedication and desire to serve in public safety. He is the type of employee, as well as friend and comrade to all of his co-workers, that no matter what training, what exercise or a major incident, Billy is always the one that is standing there ready to either give direction, assist, teach, train or just give a hand or inspiration to the person next to him.

“That’s the kind of individual we all need to have working beside us.”

Upon accepting the award, Davis simply thanked the Exchange Club, his fellow employees in both Lee and Dougherty counties — since he serves in some capacity in both — and his family.

Lee County EMS Director Bobby Watkins introduced Radano, saying the paramedic, and now firefighter, is a vital part of the public safety community.

“This year’s paramedic of the year came to us about 20 years ago as a green EMT, not knowing much, and has progressed and climbed the ladder so that today he is supervisor of a shift,” Watkins said. “He is well-thought-of and well-respected by his peers. In fact, his peers are the ones that elected him paramedic of the year.”

While accepting his award, Radano not only thanked his peers for selecting him, but he also gave special thanks to Davis, congratulating him on his recognition.

“Being elected by your peers makes it that much more special to me,” Radano said of earning the award. “I just want to touch on what Director Wells said. We trained to be firefighters in Lee County and Billy (Davis) was a really big part of that. He helped me personally achieve that, so I want to say ‘thank you, Billy.’ As far as an EMT goes, his patient care, his bedside manner and his skills are top-notch. He’s definitely deserving of that award.”

It was Albany Fire Department Assistant Fire Chief Sebon Burns who introduced Maples, sharing a little about the qualities that led to her being chosen as Albany Firefighter of the Year.

“For our firefighter of the year, I tried to think of a word that described this person. The word I came up with is persistent,” said Burns. “The definition of persistent is refusing to give up or let go, especially in spite of opposition, obstacles and discouragement.

“For about five years, this young lady tried to get on at the Albany Fire Department. She applied, she went to Albany Tech, finished the firefighter course, and in the meantime she ended up working at Winn Dixie, Publix, Walmart, she even tried to do hair, all with the dream of working at the Albany Fire Department. In 2012, her dream came true.”

Burns said Maples has continued to distinguish herself as a firefighter and earned special praise from her comrades earlier this year when she performed the Heimlich maneuver on a fellow firefighter who was choking. Burns read a commendation Maples got from her supervisor, Capt. Billy Davis.

“I believe that the fast, appropriate actions taken by Maples likely saved (Dewayne) Arnett’s life,” read Burns. “And for this, I’d like to recommend her for Firefighter of the Year.”

After accepting the honor, Maples thanked her captain and the rest of her public safety family and shared that she has always wanted to help people.

“It’s great to receive this award,” said Maples. “When I was little, I wanted to be a firefighter. In my heart, I knew that’s what I wanted to do.”

“I want to thank y’all for the opportunity, thank you for every single year recognizing people in public safety,” said Albany Fire Chief and Dougherty County Emergency Management Director Ron Rowe after awards presentations. “One stat that I want to throw out that’s horrible, but it’s part of it, last year we had 113 firefighters commit suicide in this country. That was more than were killed in the line of duty. It’s a high stress job, and I really want to thank y’all for recognizing our people and what they do.”