Jessica Seefeld
Baraboo District Ambulance Service
2020 Wisconsin Star of Life

Jessica Seefeld joined Baraboo District Ambulance Service in 2014 and has also served Colby Ambulance Service, the Spencer Area Ambulance Service & Fire Department, and Spirit Medical Transport. She also worked as an adjunct instructor for MSTC after her graduation.

 Jessica enjoys the various tasks you must perform as a Critical Care Paramedic. She says that no two days are the same and serving the citizens that live in the response area of Baraboo District Ambulance Service is exciting and humbling. Being a Paramedic exposes you to diverse and unexpected situations that challenge your problem solving skills. Her actions consistently make a positive impact during calls that are often a very trying time in a patient’s life. For example, Jessica was recently involved in a call for assistance by a homeless veteran who was living in his truck. After taking care of the patient, she took additional time getting him in touch with the Veteran’s Crisis Center who then helped him with his medical care and finding a place to live. This is one of the many instances that Jessica has gone above and beyond to help a person in need.

Jessica has a special connection with veterans and she currently serves in the Wisconsin Nation Guard as a Sergeant. Jessica returned last year from a deployment in the Middle East as part of operations Enduring Freedom, Spartan Shield, and Inherent Resolve.   

Jessica is an Acting Lieutenant with Baraboo Ambulance and is in charge of the Billing Department. In the past she has received the Chief’s Award for Outstanding Service and the Employee of the Year Award.

Jessica is currently enrolled in college, working on her Bachelor of Science Degree in Emergency Management, where she is sustaining a GPA of 4.0. She was also selected to the Alpha Chi National Honor Society and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars. Jessica is married to Command Sergeant Major Micheal Seefeld.

We are proud to honor Jessica as a 2020 Wisconsin Star of Life!

Brian Pekarske
Paratech Ambulance
2020 Wisconsin Star of Life

Brian Perkarske began his career in EMS back in 2008 as an EMT. Since then he has served as a Paramedic, Critical Care Paramedic, and Operations Supervisor. Additionally, Brain is a graduate of the UW Milwaukee Community Paramedic Program.

Recently while responding to a Motor Vehicle Crash (MVC), Brian’s squad was involved in a significant MVC of its own. Footage of the incident shows another vehicle run a red light and striking Brain’s squad. Without hesitation or evaluation of his own well-being, Brian rushed to the vehicle that had struck his squad to provide aid. Brian’s selfless, heroic actions in this response is just one exemplary example of why he is a Star of life.

Brian is a US Army Veteran; he served two tours in Iraq with the 101st Airborne Division. Outside of EMS Brian is a simple guy who enjoys spending time with his wife and daughter who loves pineapple on his pizza. He does not have any dogs or cats, instead he has several pet rodents!

Paratech Ambulance is proud have Brian as a part of our team and are honored to nominate him as a 2020 Wisconsin Star of Life!

Kim Reimer
Meda Care Ambulance
2020 Wisconsin Star of Life

Kim Reimer joined Meda Care Ambulance as an EMT in 2018 and received a promotion to Divisional Supervisor in March of 2019. Her attitude, compassion and commitment to providing the very best patient care is unmatched. Kim quickly earned the respect of her colleagues, leading by example and always putting an emphasis on teamwork and making a difference on every call.

Kim grew up in Milwaukee and is passionate about her family, faith, and any outdoor activity. She has two biological children and one adopted son. When she is not with her family or on a hike, she is probably running a call with her local volunteer fire department.

Meda Care Ambulance is proud to have Kim on our team and call her a 2020 Star of Life!

Noelle Gross
Bell Ambulance, Inc
2020 Wisconsin Star of Life

Noelle Gross has been serving Bell Ambulance for four years. While this is not necessarily a lot of time, her impact on the company has been extraordinary. She started as a shy EMT-Basic, however by 2017 she had received her Paramedic certification, and dove head-first into her new role. She quickly became a knowledgeable and aggressive Paramedic. It didn’t take long for her to venture into Critical Care, and in 2018, she attended the UMBC Critical Care Program.

Noelle shows a true passion for EMS and now, as a field training officer, she is sharing everything she has learned. Noelle breathes a breath of fresh air into the company every day, bringing an energetic attitude and a fun disposition.

Just this past December, Noelle responded to a healthcare facility for a patient complaining of weakness and increased edema. When she arrived, she found the male patient very lethargic and unable to speak. During the assessment of the patient, she discovered that he was suffering from hypotension and a heartrate of only 34 bpm. Noelle and her partner swiftly placed pacer pads on the patient and set the heartrate at 70. With that, the patient became more alert, and his blood pressure stabilized. Noelle and her partner administered analgesics to help the patient tolerate the pacer, and they successfully delivered him to the ER. This is just one of many examples of her excellent care in the field.

Noelle lives with her boyfriend Josh in West Allis. Noelle is also a Paramedic with the Thiensville Fire Department and spends most of her days off playing doggy-mom to her Blue Tick Coonhound and her German Shepard. We are grateful to have Noelle as part of our team and are happy to nominate her as a 2020 Wisconsin Star of Life!

Ashleigh Sagat
Bell Ambulance, Inc
2020 Wisconsin Star of Life

Ashleigh Sagat has worked for Bell Ambulance since August of 2015. Ashleigh has spent the majority of her career with Bell Ambulance as an EMT Field Training Officer. Ashleigh shows a true passion for Emergency Medical Services daily through the compassion and empathy she has for her patients.  In 2019 Ashleigh was promoted to EMT Supervisor.  Aside from patient care, you will be hard pressed to find someone who cares more for employee morale and the overall wellness of their coworkers than Ashleigh. She does what she can to make sure they have the knowledge and training needed to succeed.  With Ashleigh, whether people new or veteran, everyone is welcome and an important part of the team.

Ashleigh is a lover of dogs, and currently has two little Yorkie pups at home.  She was a big softball Player throughout college and she is even in the Alverno College Hall of Fame for her performance.

There is no doubt EMS is more than a job to Ashleigh, it is a calling. Ashleigh makes us proud every day and we are lucky to have her as part of the Bell Ambulance team and nominate her as a 2020 Star of Life.

Dawn Swanson
Gundersen Tri-State Ambulance
2020 Wisconsin Star of Life

Dawn Swanson began her career in EMS seven and a half years ago when she decided to go from owning her own beauty salon to a working full time as an EMT at Tri-State Ambulance. Looking for something more challenging and a way to help a wider variety of people, she spent two years as an EMT before going back to school to become a Paramedic in 2014. After proving herself as an effective medic, she moved on to become a Preceptor and Field Training Officer, training EMT and Paramedic students and new employees. After four years of exemplary performance in these endeavors, Dawn is now a leader in the field as a Corporal, leading the coordination of retention and recruitment efforts, scheduling employees, and working directly with management to provide top quality patient care and service to the community.

Dawn truly enjoys teaching and leading the EMTs and Paramedics at Tri-State and has received much praise from former students and trainees and her current coworkers for her patience, caring attitude, and dedication to everyone she works with. She is always willing to answer questions, sit down to review something, and take time to check in on her co-workers. She truly cares for each individual at the company and is an excellent provider. She is an outstanding example of leadership at Tri-State and has goals to continue advancing further within the organization.

When not on an ambulance, Dawn enjoys spending time with her family. Her daughter is a freshman in college and her son is a sophomore in high school and their various athletic events keep her busy. She also loves new experiences, especially traveling. We are proud to nominate Dawn as a 2020 Wisconsin Star of Life!

Rick Conway
Gundersen Tri-State Ambualnce
2020 Wisconsin Star of Life

Rick Conway currently works as a full-time dispatcher and call taker for Gundersen Health System’s Medical Communications – MedComm, where he provides lifesaving EMD pre-arrival orders to 911 callers in a five-county region and dispatches ambulances and helicopters to an even broader area. When he is not in MedComm, Rick can be found working on an ambulance or for the Onalaska Fire Department as a Firefighter and EMS Training Officer.

Rick began his career in public safety in 1977 as Firefighter in a small rural Wisconsin community. In 1984 he successfully completed EMT training and began his EMS career volunteering for multiple rural Wisconsin communities. In 1988 he moved to La Crosse and began working for Tri-State Ambulance as both an EMT and a Dispatcher. Back then, Tri-State only operated two ambulances full-time, one at the paramedic level and the other at the EMT level, with crews rotating between dispatch and ambulance duty.

One of Rick’s favorite ambulance assignments is working special events. Rick’s friendly and accommodating attitude has made him a go-to person at most of our routine special events. Just last year, our local stock car racetrack honored Rick by featuring him on their social media pages and through crowd announcements. Everyone knows Rick by name, and he represents both EMS and our organization very well.

When asked what his favorite part of working in EMS is, Rick’s responses were not at all surprising. His favorite part is caring for people in need and his second favorite part is having the opportunity to meet and interact with so many people on a daily basis, particularly at special events.  

Rick currently lives in Onalaska, Wisconsin with his wife Kari and has two sons and three grandchildren who live nearby. Rick’s primary joy in life is his family and the time he spends with them whether that be at family gatherings or just a quiet night at home. We are so thankful to have Rick as a part of our team and are happy to award him as a 2020 Star of Life!

Nate Allen
Gundersen Tri-State Regional Ambulance
2020 Wisconsin Star of Life

Prior to his full-time work in EMS, Nate Allen spent seven years with the Wisconsin Army National Guard where he performed a wide variety of duties including heavy equipment operations and heavy vehicle operations. From 2012-2013, Nate was deployed to the Kandahar Province in Afghanistan where he was part of Operation Enduring Freedom, working as part of the Battlefield Circulation Team supplying and re-supplying the deployed platoons.

Nate has worked for many years as an EMT and AEMT and has his Associate Degrees in both Law Enforcement and in EMS as a Paramedic. Nate continues to expand his knowledge daily and remains up to date with new clinical developments and EMS related issues. Nate also gives back to the community by teaching CPR, first aid, and tourniquet training to a variety of community groups, churches, and law enforcement agencies. He is always willing to modify his schedule to accommodate community education.

Nate receives praise from his co-workers, who refer to him as “a walking textbook.” He is always willing to answer questions or explain things, especially to newer employees. He is a huge patient advocate, and he always wants to do what is best for them. Nate has some of the best patient assessment skills that his educators have observed and is extremely detailed with each and every patient. Nate’s goal is to one day become an EMS service director.

Nate was born in Lancaster, WI and is the youngest of five kids. Nate and his wife, Chasity now live in Bloomington, WI and have three children of their own, ages 12 to 3 years old. They also have seven rabbits and two cats. Nate's hobbies include Firefighting, EMS, radio programming, and spending time with his family. We thank Nate for his service and are honored to nominate him as a 2020 Wisconsin Star of Life!

Dr. Mark Moore
Gold Cross Ambulance
2020 Wisconsin Star of Life

Dr. F. Mark Moore was recruited by Dr. Thomas Loescher to come to Appleton, WI at the ACEP conference in San Francisco in 1972. Dr. Loescher was spearheading an effort to provide 24-hour emergency room physician coverage in the Emergency Department at St. Elizabeth Hospital and he also had plans to develop a paramedic program in Appleton. 
One of the things about Dr. Moore that interested Dr. Loescher, was that he had served in Vietnam, and had seen first-hand the value of medics saving lives on the battlefield. Dr. Moore agreed to come to the Fox Valley to work in the ER, but the job also entailed helping train the first groups of paramedics outside of Madison and Milwaukee.
While Dr. Loescher took care of the administrative duties, the training of the medics was entrusted to Dr. Moore, who arrived in 1973. Dr. Moore taught the EMTs emergency medicine and supervised their clinical experiences in the emergency department. He also enlisted other Appleton physicians to teach special areas, including intubation, cardiology, obstetrics, psychiatrics, orthopedics, and pediatrics. Dr. Moore said, “We decided to train the paramedics here rather than sending them to Madison or Milwaukee so that the local physicians could be involved in the teaching; they would know what the paramedics were capable of doing and would understand how the program works. And this approach has worked. The physician community in Appleton is very supportive of the program. There was no written curriculum and no guidelines to follow. We designed and taught the equivalent of basic, intermediate and advanced paramedic skills in blocks.” Dr. Moore and other ER physicians rode along on EMS runs, provided public education, lectured at EMS conferences, and sought federal funding for equipment for the ambulances. They even made a film to be shown to the public to promote “this new EMS” to the public. He went on to say, “The paramedics are our eyes, ears, and hands in the field. They are a special breed of people.”

In 1980, Dr. Moore issued written “Protocols of the Appleton-Neenah-Waupaca Paramedic Program.” In 1981, under his direction, these same paramedics became the first EMS group outside of Madison and Milwaukee to be certified in Advanced Cardiac Life Support.

Dr. Moore truly was one of the pioneers of EMS in Wisconsin. He served for 48 years in emergency medicine before retiring in July, 2019 and now lives in Berlin, WI.We are very excited to nominate Dr. Moore as a 2020 Wisconsin Star of Life!

Please nominate yourself or another person for the Professional Ambulance Association of Wisconsin's open board seat by March 1, 2020. This is an interim seat, with a term of service ending at the 2020 PAAW Annual Membership Meeting in the third quarter.

Please note that in order to nominate a candidate your organization must be a member in good standing. The person nominated (whether yourself or someone else) must be a professional member of PAAW in good standing from a Governmental (i.e., municipal, county-owned, or fire-based) service as this is the member type for which there is a board vacancy.

If you have multiple nominees, please complete and submit multiple times.

Nominations will be reviewed by the PAAW board and an appointee will be selected to fill the vacant seat.

Thank you for your ongoing support and participation.

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