Former Gilmer paramedic honored for lifetime service

A former Gilmer County firefighter/paramedic was recently recognized for her extensive contributions to EMS training and programs at both the state and local levels. 

Kelly Buddenhagen received the Dr. Zeb L. Burrell Jr. Distinguished Service Award at the Georgia EMS Association (GEMSA) awards reception held March 26 in Buford.

“There aren’t enough words to describe how grateful and humbled I am to have been recognized by the Georgia EMS Association with this award,” Buddenhagen said.

Similar to a lifetime achievement award, the honor specifically recognizes a person’s or organization’s outstanding contributions to the development and/or enhancement of the delivery of prehospital emergency medical care.

“Her resume is long, and her heart remains big for EMS in Georgia,” said GEMSA Executive Director Kim Littleton in presenting the award. “For over 20 years, Kelly has been well known across the state for her many accolades and extensive resume in the EMS world. Her love and dedication have always been in children’s programs.”

For several years, Buddenhagen worked with both the local fire and rescue department and at the state level with Georgia EMS. She finished working with Gilmer Fire in 2016 and retired from emergency services in 2018.

“When I went to work with the state, I went part time with Gilmer. Because I was in a non-regulatory position with the state, I was allowed to still do other things,” she said. “I was in numerous capacities for Gilmer, (including) paramedic/firefighter, paramedic instructor, a training person and working on EMS protocols. I had many different roles over the years.” 

For some time, Buddenhagen, who’d previously worked emergency services in Florida, was the primary EMS training instructor for Gilmer Fire.

“At one point, I had trained the majority of folks in the county and taught at North Georgia Tech, Appalachian Tech and the Georgia Paramedic Training Center, as well as doing classes at the county level,” she said.

During that time, Buddenhagen held numerous state and national certifications including nationally certified critical care paramedic and level 3 paramedic instructor. 

“I was as trained as you can possibly be,” she said. “I held so many certifications, I had to retire them. I couldn’t keep up with keeping them up.” 

Contributing to better EMS care for children is among the accomplishments of which Buddenhagen is proudest. In leading local, regional and state Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMSC) programs, she was involved with childhood accident prevention programs, review of pediatric deaths, child abuse programs, programs for children with special needs and various prehospital and hospital pediatric care programs, Littleton said.

Those programs included car seat training in conjunction with the Gilmer Health Department and automated external defibrillator (AED) training for schools and police and fire departments. According to the Georgia Department of Public Health, the mission of the EMSC program, federally funded in the state since 1994, is to reduce child and youth mortality and morbidity sustained due to severe illness or trauma.

“I did a lot of pediatric specialty things around the state and locally to try to hopefully make things better for kids,” Buddenhagen said. “Every child, no matter where you are, deserves the same amount of care, expertise and equipment. It shouldn’t matter where something happens to whether or not you’re able to survive.” 

Having worked alongside Dr. Burrell gives added significance to receiving the award named for him, Buddenhagen noted. Burrell has been called the “father of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in Georgia” because of his extensive role in the development of EMS protocols, equipment and training in the state.

“He and his wife were instrumental throughout the state (in advancing EMS care). They were from the Athens/Clarke County area, but were involved across the state, as was I. We got to work on a lot of the same projects together over the years,” Buddenhagen said. “The honor of this special award was made even sweeter by my friend Kim Littleton’s presentation of it.”

Buddenhagen has been officially “off the trucks” (firetrucks and ambulances) for almost 10 years, but she still lives in Gilmer County. 

“I moved here in 1998. No matter where I worked, I always resided here,” she said.