Award winner always on call

Jun 29, 2008 (South Florida Sun-Sentinel - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- ZZFJV | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- A veteran of Boca Raton's Fire-Rescue Services Department was recently named the 2008 EMS Provider of the Year for Palm Beach County.

Lt. Jamie Smith, a firefighter-paramedic and a rescue lieutenant at Station 5 on West Glades Road, was recognized for providing off-duty emergency care that helped save a man's life at a Lake Worth health club in late January. He also was lauded for teaching numerous courses to emergency providers in his career field.

"I love this job, and all I do is try to share that passion with others," said Smith, a Miami native who now lives west of Lake Worth.

It's the first time the Palm Beach County EMS Providers Association has given its annual award to a paramedic with Boca Raton's department.

"Picking the EMS provider out of the county, I don't know how they can do it because there are so many exceptional people," Smith said. "When I got the award, I said I think I'm kind of like the Forrest Gump of the event. I just always tend to be in the right place at the right time."

Smith, 41, was eligible because he was previously selected the Boca Raton Fire-Rescue Services Department's 2008 Paramedic of the Year, the third time he was chosen for the annual award. He began working for the department in July 1995.

"He's an exceptional paramedic," said Frank Correggio, the department's public information officer. "To be named paramedic of the year in your department, you need to go above and beyond. So he sits in an elite group of people."

His dedication extends beyond the normal workday. Smith performed emergency medical care while off-duty to a 39-year-old man who had suffered a heart attack at Stayin' Alive Fitness Center in Lake Worth.

"A gentleman collapsed on the treadmill. There were people standing all around this guy looking at him," Smith recalled. "So myself and an off-duty firefighter, Dave Gadberry, a district chief from Palm Beach County Fire Rescue, were both there when we realized the guy wasn't breathing, so we started CPR. I was doing mouth-to-mouth, and he was doing compressions. Then the Palm Beach County Fire Rescue arrived. They took him to the hospital. He had a triple bypass and a complete recovery."

Smith said continual practice of his skills made the difference between panic and success.

"I'm not any smarter, stronger, braver, but what it is -- I have prepared myself. Having a focus and understanding what needs to be done allows me to function and to act with certainty where other people would hesitate," Smith said.

A co-worker said Smith is "very caring" and is willing to assist whenever he can.

"If somebody is in need of help, he's willing to help them. He treats everybody like they're his family," said Chris King, a driver-engineer who works with Smith.

Smith is co-lead instructor for the paramedic program at Palm Beach Community College. He teaches medical classes in hospitals and other fire departments, and occasionally teaches at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Md.

Smith teaches advanced cardiac life support, pediatric advanced life support and international trauma life support, and is one of only about 17 people in the country qualified to teach the advanced life support response to hazardous materials incidents course.

"When we hire people, we want ... to make sure they reach the bar we have set. If people have a weakness, we put them with people such as Jamie, so that Jamie can enhance their capabilities and can get them to the bar," Correggio said.

Smith has been married to Cindy for about six years. He adopted his wife's daughter, Liana, 12, and together they have a 4-year-old son, Dylan. Though his busy schedule often separates him from his family, he said they realize the importance of his work.

"I have missed school plays. My daughter is very active in sports, and I have missed competitions. And that's hard ... But my daughter and my wife both know that what I do is trying to serve a greater good. It would be hard to do what I do without your family's support."

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