NORTH WEBSTER — The Board of Directors of the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians recently recognized Ken Strong, a Paramedic/Firefighter for the North Webster Fire Department and Flight Paramedic on the Parkview Samaritan Helicopter, for achieving 20 consecutive years as a Nationally Registered Paramedic. 

In order to maintain his status as a Nationally Registered Paramedic, Strong has completed, on a biennial basis, the most comprehensive certification program for Emergency Medical Technicians in America. He not only completed courses to refresh his fundamental knowledge and skills but also attends numerous hours per month of additional continuing education courses to advance his knowledge of new lifesaving skills. By maintaining his Nationally Registered status, Strong is considered among the few elite Paramedics with the most training in pre-hospital emergency care in the nation.

Strong began his career in 1993 as a volunteer Firefighter/EMT for Avon Fire-Rescue in Avon.  He went on to become one of the department’s first full-time career firefighters in 1994, during which time he completed his Paramedic training through St. Vincent’s Hospital of Indianapolis. In 1996 Strong moved to Northern Indiana where he was hired as one of three original full-time Paramedics to serve Tippecanoe Township on the North Webster Fire Department & EMS. Strong is the only original full-time employee remaining at the department to date.

In 2003 Strong also achieved a lifelong goal of becoming a Flight Paramedic on the Parkview Samaritan Helicopter. Parkview’s two emergency response helicopters, based in Ft. Wayne and Rochester, respond to accident scenes and hospitals to rapidly transport critically injured and ill patients to trauma and specialty care centers.

Strong has continued to work both full-time jobs, at North Webster Fire Department and on the Samaritan Helicopter, concurrently for the past 13 years. Though his career on the helicopter frequently requires his greatest skill and expertise, Strong admits that he has “seen a lot” in the small town of North Webster. Of the thousands of calls that he has responded to with the North Webster EMS, Strong has been a familiar face on some of the most memorable local incidents.

He was the first medic on the scene the day that five school buses collided in a chain reaction accident on State Route 13, Strong responded from North Webster and became the primary medic on one of the lead search and rescue teams the night an EF3 tornado ripped through the Nappanee community, and he was the first Medic on the scene of the recent road rage turned shooting incident in downtown North Webster.

Through all that he has witnessed on the job, Strong admits, “Most of the time we are responding to the aftermath of an incident. The trauma is done and we are just there to stabilize the situation and care for the wounded. However, when you see it happen, it changes everything.”

Of the numerous accidents he has responded to in his two-decade career, Strong recalls one incident very vividly. He was in the ambulance returning to his North Webster base from a previous call. Strong, at the wheel, was waiting to make a left turn and was looking at the traffic ahead when he saw a body flying through the air. He had just witnessed a child get struck by a vehicle and watched, in horror, as the child’s body landed on the roadway. Strong and his EMT-A Partner at the time, Trent Nabinger, immediately called their dispatch center to notify them of the accident as they proceeded to the scene to render care. Strong says, “My hands were on him within seconds of the accident. Unfortunately, this was one of those calls that reminded me that, despite any amount of training or experience and despite all the skills that we are qualified to perform, ultimately, we have no control over who lives and who dies.” He added, “Though we strive to do everything we can, to the best of our ability, sometimes our job involves comforting someone in their final moments.” Strong also reflects on some of the more joyous moments of his career, including taking part in three live birth deliveries outside of the hospital. To this day, he continues to keep in contact with the family of one of the babies he assisted with delivering, along with partners Mike Oberg and Alyssa Schmucker, in the back of the ambulance in 1999.

Strong considers it a blessing to have had the opportunity to serve his hometown community over the past 20 years. It was at the North Webster Fire Department that he met his wife, fellow firefighter Corie Cox. The two were married in April of 2014 and have recently relocated to Warsaw where they share a professional photography and video production business in the little “spare time” they have. Strong has recently became one of the Nation’s first Commercially Licensed FAA Certified sUAS (Drone) Pilots, a designation he plans to use to further his video production business. When not working in emergency services or with their private business, the Strong’s enjoy spending time with their family and traveling.

In light of the recently publicized turmoil within the North Webster Fire Department, Strong points out that his employment has outlasted three Township Trustees, seven EMS directors, and numerous other full time employees in his twenty plus years on the department. There have been many growing pains and changes through the years. He admits that he has not always agreed with the decisions made by his administrators or publically elected officials. However, he has never, once, considered walking off the job.

He states, “I cannot speak for others. I know that people have their reasons and personal justifications for the actions that that have taken. However, this is not a factory job. We are not here to serve a boss or a business. We are here to serve a community that is trusting that we will be there for them on, what is potentially, the worst day of their lives. That is a trust that I do not take lightly.”