On December 21, 2021, two EMS personnel were recognized for their heroism when they found themselves in the right place at the right time in the summer of 2020.
On July 2 at 12:49 p.m., Idaho State Police troopers were called to a three-vehicle crash along interstate 84 in Canyon County. Malik Morris, who is a firefighter paramedic with Tualatin County Fire and Rescue was driving on the interstate with his family that afternoon.
At the same time, Rene Miller, an Ada County Paramedic Captain was also on I-84 and both of them came upon the crash and went to work, all while off the clock.
“Coordinating together, and with other emergency response personnel, Morri and Miller performed advanced life-saving measures to two elderly patients who appeared to have life-threatening injuries, although this collision caused serious injuries to multiple patients, all involved survived,” ISP Director Col. Kedrick Wills said.
To honor them for their heroic actions, ISP awarded them with tokens of gratitude and presented a plaque of appreciation.
“Everybody fell into place when it needed to happen. It was the strangest thing. Rene comes up and it was like she dropped out of a cloud she was like “I'm here and I'm a medic,” and I was like ‘sweet!’ But how the rest of the call came together... I have to laugh because Rene was in Chacos and I was in flip flops,” Morris said.
“I just saw the commotion and next thing I knew; I was halfway across the median in my Chacos and we just start, assessing patients triaging and figuring out who needed to go where and how many resources we need,” Miller said.
Without the fast action of the off-duty EMS personnel, ISP investigators believe the outcome of this incident would have been much different.
To Miller, this call meant more to her than any other because it ended up being her last call due to a back injury earlier this year.
“I had a back injury March 1 and I'm not going to be able to go back out onto the ambulance and this was my last call,” Miller said. “I'm glad on that day I could make a difference and on my last call, I could really make a difference in someone's life."
This morning, two off-duty EMS personnel who stopped to help at a crash on I-84 last summer were recognized by @ISPHeadquarters for their actions.
— Nicole Camarda (@CamardaNicole) December 21, 2021
ISP investigators believe their efforts helped save all involved. @AdaParamedics pic.twitter.com/MVYKJpTHHl
