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Hoisington EMS team honored at KEMTA
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Hoisington was in the spotlight last weekend as two dedicated EMS personnel were honored by their peers in Topeka.
Scott Fleming is director of Emergency Management Services for the City of Hoisington.  He attended the annual Kansas Emergency Medical Technicians Association conference in Topeka last week where former Hoisington Director of EMS Joyce Pace was posthumously inducted into the Kansas EMS Hall of Fame.  
Paramedic Elea Durr was also recognized as the Kansas Outstanding Attendant of the Year.  She has been a volunteer with Hoisington EMS since 2003, in addition to working full-time in Ellis and part-time in Russell.  She became a paramedic in 2012.
“People don’t become EMTs for the recognition, they do it because they truly want to save lives,” Fleming said.  “This is one way we say thank you.”  
Fleming’s nomination of Durr states she “..has sepnt more time serving the public than most people will spend in a life time.”  
Hoisington’s EMS has experienced notable growth, nearly doubling in it’s volunteer staff since Fleming was hired in May.  Several of the newly licensed EMTs are currently going through training and will soon be serving the Hoisington service area.
“I would have no problem with any of them taking care of me if I needed it,” he said.  

Pace
Described as “one of the most outstanding pre-hospital care provider and patient care advocates I have ever met,” by City Manager Jonathan Mitchell in his nomination letter, Pace was a driving force in building Hoisington’s volunteer ambulance service.  
According to her August 27, 2010 obituary in The Great Bend Tribune, she worked part-time as a registered nurse at Clara Barton Hospital and the nursing home, also as a school nurse for USD 431 for 17 years, and for 26 years with the Hoisington EMS/Ambulance Service.    She left nursing and began her full-time career with Hoisington EMS in June of 1997.   
She provided dedicated service through several health concerns until she lost her battle with cancer in August 2010, while still serving as Hoisington’s EMS Director, Mitchell wrote.  She encouraged many young people to give EMS a try, and several went on to become career health workers.
“Joyce was committed to helping deliver healthcare to those in need but also helped many of those that were lost find their way into the field of pre-hospital care,” he stated. “If there were a proverbial “diamond in the rough,” you could bet that Joyce would find it and polish it up.”
Pace’s children and grandchildren attended the ceremony, Fleming said.  Several of them have also entered the pre-hospital and healthcare fields.  
Soon, Pace’s photo and narrative will be on display along with each of the other Hall of Fame inductees on the wall of the Kansas Board of EMS offices at the Landon State Office Building, 900 SW Jackson Street, Room 1031 in Topeka. According to the website, visitors are welcome at any time during business hours.  The Hall of Fame is limited to only retired or deceased members who devoted their lives to EMS in the State of Kansas.