Members of DeKalb County EMS, DeKalb 911, and Erlanger Life Force were honored Thursday, May 5 at the 8th annual EMS Star of Life Awards Dinner and Ceremony held in Nashville by the Tennessee Emergency Medical Services for Children.
For their efforts in helping save the life of an eight year old boy who was critically injured last summer in a boating accident on Center Hill Lake, Misty Green, AEMT and David Hamlet, EMT-P, both of DeKalb EMS; Chase Ferrell and Tony Thomas, both DeKalb 911 Dispatchers; and Ray Cadwallader, EMT-P, Laura Kirk,RN; Heather Marsh, Karen Mulvaney, RN; and Chuck Nabors, Pilot all of Erlanger Life Force received the Dr. Michael Carr Tennessee EMSC Star of Life Award, the highest award given at the dinner.
The EMS Star of Life honors the accomplishments of EMS personnel from Tennessee who provide exemplary life-saving care to patients. The Awards Committee reviews nominations and selects winners from each of Tennessee’s 8 EMS Regions and a state winner based on the EMS provider’s service to their community and commitment to their patients. The awards were presented by Dr. Michael Carr, Tennessee EMSC Board member, for whom the award is named, and Donna Tidwell, EMS Director of the Tennessee Department of Health.
Last June, eight year old Aiden Brown, his family, and friends were on Center Hill Lake enjoying their new pontoon boat. Aiden was sitting near the front of the boat and his mother, Julie, was sitting near the back of the boat watching Aiden. Julie turned to look at the tube that was being pulled behind the boat with someone on it. When she looked back for Aiden, he was gone.
They immediately shut down the engine and Aiden resurfaced about 10 feet behind the boat.
His life vest was shredded and he was bleeding badly. Aiden’s father, Troy, dove in as the person on the tube began to swim to Aiden, too. They pulled him onto the boat and 911 was called. Fortunately the call was able to get out as most of the lake has bad reception.
Aiden’s face, head, and neck had been cut badly by the rotor on the boat. Along with lacerations to his face, he had an open wound that extended across his neck to his bottom lip, and an 8 inch laceration across his chest that exposed his heart and lungs. They used towels to apply pressure and do all they could to control the bleeding while driving as fast as they could to the closest marina.
When DeKalb County 911 received the call, they not only dispatched DeKalb County EMS to the marina, they also put LIFE FORCE 2 in Sparta on standby. As the family pulled into the marina, the ambulance was backing in. Troy carried Aiden to the ambulance and he and the EMS crew worked to control the bleeding while rushing to the nearest landing zone. LIFE FORCE 2 had just landed in the grassy area as the ambulance pulled up.
The LIFE FORCE 2 crew joined the EMS crew in working to stabilize Aiden. Within 26, minutes, his bleeding and airway were controlled, he was placed on a ventilator, under anesthesia, given pain medication and loaded into the back of the aircraft all through the efforts of Aiden’s dad, DeKalb County EMS, and LIFE FORCE.
During the 25-minute flight to Children’s Hospital at Erlanger, Aiden received warmed blood and plasma and his vital signs and color began to improve. Once arriving at Children’s Hospital at Erlanger, Aiden went straight into the children’s trauma unit and was immediately evaluated by Pediatric Trauma Surgeon, Dr. Pete Kelley, and the pediatric trauma team. He was rushed to surgery where they repaired his open chest wounds including the heart, lungs, spleen, liver, and sternum. He was then taken to CT for evaluation of his head, neck, and facial injuries and returned to surgery where those were also repaired. During surgery, Aiden received four additional units of blood products and following surgery, was admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit.
The second day after surgery, Aiden was taken off the ventilator, his breathing tube was removed, and he was awake. On day three, he continued to improve and his right side chest drainage tube was removed. The fourth day after surgery, his left side drainage tube was removed and on day five, he started a liquid diet, taking medications by mouth and was moved out of PICU, into a normal room. On day eight, Aiden was discharged and returned to Sparta with his family.
Last December Aiden was named one of Children’s Hospital’s Miracle Children.
“I am very proud of my crews who tended to and assisted in saving the life of Aiden. DeKalb County should also be proud to have such trained and dedicated personnel in our community working for us,” said DeKalb EMS Director Hoyte Hale.

Sounds of music filled the air at Greenbrook Park Friday evening as caring neighbors from throughout our community gathered to rally support for cancer survivors and to help raise money in the search for a cure during the 19th annual Relay for Life.
The theme of this year’s Relay was ““Paint Your World Purple” and the event featured lots of food, entertainment, and fun things for kids.
Cancer survivors took center stage during the opening ceremony to give a personal testimony as to just how long they’ve been a survivor and then they took the first lap around the track as the evening’s activities got underway.

Luminaria bags and tiki torches were lit during a ceremony held later in the night in honor or remembrance of those who have battled cancer.

A federal judge has dismissed a law suit filed by a teacher/county commissioner claiming retaliatory actions were taken against him by the DeKalb County Board of Education and former Director of Schools Mark Willoughby.
Bradley Hendrix, a teacher at Smithville Elementary and a 3rd district County Commissioner, filed the suit two years ago claiming a history of retaliatory action against him because of a vote he made as a county commissioner.
But in documents filed last week, U.S. District Judge Kevin Sharp granted a motion by the defendants to issue a summary judgement in the case in favor of the school board and Willoughby.
At the heart of Hendrix’s claims was a March 11, 2011 vote by the county commission on the purchase of land for a new school. Hendrix voted against the purchase.
Court records indicated that in December that year, Hendrix left a field trip to a Chuck E. Cheese in Murfreesboro early to attend a basketball game in Smithville. Hendrix’s principal, Dr. Billy Tanner, claimed he left early without permission and recommended to Willoughby that Hendrix be suspended for one day without pay. Willoughby approved. Hendrix appealed to the school board and by the end of a hearing, the suspension was increased to three days.
On May 11, 2012, Hendrix received a letter of “reprimand and plan of corrective action,” signed by Willoughby, that said Hendrix had a history of leaving school and school activities early without permission and pointed to the Chuck E. Cheese incident as an example. The letter went on to say Hendrix attended an Autism program” in April, 2012 but left without good cause or permission.
Hendrix argued that when the Supervisor of Attendance position in the central office was posted in May 2013 he applied for the job but was not selected, even though he had an “administrator’s endorsement” and had filed for a “supervisor of attendance endorsement” by the time he had applied and received such endorsement a few days after his application was filed.
Willoughby chose Joey Reeder for the position, saying he was the most qualified and the only one with prior experience in the position. Willoughby also claimed, according to court documents, had he not appointed Reeder, he would have chosen David Gash because he had prior experience as an administrator. Willoughby further stated had Hendrix been the only applicant, he would not have chosen him and would have reposted the job because of Hendrix’s history of leaving school without permission to attend to personal matters.
Judge Sharp wrote in his ruling that Hendrix “can identify no retaliatory actions that occurred between the letter of reprimand of May 11, 2012 and his failure to receive the Supervisor of Attendance position in June 2013.”
Hendrix filed the lawsuit in May 2014 claiming “that after he voted against the land purchase in March 2011, he was subjected to harassment and retaliation by Mr. Willoughby and Mr. Tanner in a myriad of ways.”
“The arguments he raises in support of his continuing violation theory are not supported by the record,” Judge Sharp wrote in his order granting summary judgment.
The judge went on to say, “The lack of factual support for a continuing violation theory aside, Plaintiff’s retaliation claims based on those alleged violations fail for lack of causation. The first alleged retaliatory action after the vote on the land purchase that can be attributed to Defendant Willoughby was his approval of a one day suspension for the Chuck E. Cheese incident some nine months after the land purchase vote. The other two decisions that can be fairly attributed to Defendant Willoughby—the letter of reprimand and the refusal to hire Plaintiff as Director of Attendance—occurred some 14 and 26 months, respectively, after the vote. In the absence of anything more, the temporal proximity between those decisions and Plaintiff’s vote on the land purchase is too remote to show causation.”
In conclusion, Judge Sharp said “This Court has considered the entire record, including Plaintiff’s (Hendrix) deposition testimony, but finds insufficient evidence from which a reasonable jury could conclude that Plaintiff was retaliated against because he voted against the land purchase in his role as a County Commissioner. In fact, on the only alleged retaliatory act which took place within the statute of limitations, the record reflects that Defendant (Willoughby) chose the individual who not only had the specific license for Supervisor of Attendance but who also had experience in that position.”

Ashli Chew, a senior and member of the DCHS Lady Tiger Basketball Squad, has been selected to the Tennessee Sports Writers Association 2015-16 Girls All-State Team in Class AA.
During her high school basketball years, Ashli scored a career high 1150 points. That is really a 3 season total because she had an ACL and MCL tear at the end of her freshman year that required surgery and kept her sidelined for the majority of her sophomore year. With hard work and determination she came back strong in her junior year and was named MVP. She led her team to the first win over Livingston Academy in 31 years this past season by sinking 2 free throws with only 3 seconds left on the clock. Her senior season alone Ashli led her team in scoring with 619 points, and led in rebounds with 255 rebounds. An average of 16.9 points per game and 6.8 rebounds per game. Her free shooting was at 70 % this season. She also led her team to a win over Cannon County for the first time in 17 years in February scoring the winning points with .9 seconds left on the clock. Her team had a 3rd place finish in the District Tournament and made an appearance in the Regional Tournament.
Ashli was selected to the All Freshman Team in the district as a freshman; 3rd Team All District and Upper Cumberland Honorable Mention and Junior-Girls 3-point Shooting Champion her Junior Year; And in her senior year she was named 1st team All District; All Upper Cumberland 2nd team, District 8AA All Tournament Team and now All State Basketball Team for AA. She is only 1 of 16 players across the State of Tennessee selected for this honor.
Ashli recently signed a Basketball Scholarship to play at the college level with Bryan College in Dayton, Tennessee

DeKalb County Schools and traveling athletic teams at DCHS will soon have access to EpiPen kits, which can be used to treat a student in the event of an allergic reaction.
The Board of Education Thursday night voted to accept the kits as a donation from the Cookeville Regional Charitable Foundation at no cost to the school system. Others will be obtained free of charge through EpiPen4Schools.
John Bell, Director of the Foundation addressed the school board along with Dr. Charles Womack of Cookeville Regional Medical Center. “We are working on a project in partnership with Dr. Womack and a few other physicians at the hospital to provide EpiPens to Putnam County and all the surrounding counties. There is a program called EpiPen4Schools which is a national company that provides free EpiPen kits for any public school in the nation. The first component of this project is to make sure everyone is aware that you can order these kits free of charge annually for all of your schools. We are happy to help you walk through that process and Dr. Womack has offered to write prescriptions that are necessary in order to receive those free kits,” said Bell.
“As a secondary part of the same project, through donations to the charitable foundation we are able to fund additional kits for traveling sports teams in high schools. We have provided kits to all of the Putnam County High Schools for their sports teams and at White County and we are hoping that you will come on board as well,” Bell added.
Each EpiPen kit contains two epinephrine auto injectors and a training DVD. Training will be administered to coaches and appropriate high school staff in cooperation with the coordinated school health program.
“The legislature passed a law in 2013 authorizing school personnel to use the EpiPen kits in an emergency with liability immunity,” said Dr. Womack.
Epinephrine is a synthetic version of adrenaline. It constricts blood vessels to increase blood pressure, relaxes smooth muscles in the lungs to reduce wheezing and improve breathing, stimulates the heart (increases heart rate) and works to reduce hives and swelling that may occur around the face and lips. According to national food allergy guidelines, epinephrine is the only recommended first line of treatment for anaphylaxis.
Having EpiPens on hand could literally save lives according to Dr. Womack. “If someone gets stung by a wasp or has a reaction playing baseball, football, or soccer you have the kit and the trainer. You can pass the EpiPen set from football to baseball to basketball. You don’t need to have one for each team. You can have two or three sets,” said Dr. Womack.
“It can be the difference between life and death. If you have a peanut allergy or get stung by a bee or wasp, it can be just a matter of minutes before you are in a life threatening crisis. The EpiPen automatically gives three tenths of a cc to an adult. There is a pediatric set for children under 66 pounds and an adult set with two pens per pack for children over 66 pounds,” he continued.
“The EpiPen kit costs about $400. It’s quite expensive. But if you purchase it through the school program you can buy them for just over $100. We have raised money to buy kits for the sports teams and we’ll do this annually as long as we’ve got the money,” said Dr. Womack.
It is estimated that one in every 13 children has an allergy that can lead to anaphylaxis, a severe and potentially deadly reaction. Allergies often do not become apparent until children reach puberty.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reports that allergic reactions result in more than 300,000 ambulatory-care visits each year among children under the age of 18.
The EpiPen4Schools® program, offered by Mylan Specialty, the marketer and distributor of EpiPen® (epinephrine injection) and EpiPen Jr® (epinephrine injection) Auto-Injectors, was developed to help improve access to epinephrine in the event a person experiences a life-threatening allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) in the school setting.
In the event that the free supply is used to respond to an allergic emergency (anaphylactic event), qualifying schools are eligible to receive a replenishment order of EpiPen® or EpiPen Jr® Auto-Injectors prior to their annual eligibility date at no additional cost.

Scholarships and other awards will be presented to members of the Class of 2016 at DeKalb County High School during the annual Senior Awards program Monday night, May 16 at 6:00 p.m. in the DCHS gymnasium.
Representatives of colleges, universities, branches of the armed services, businesses, civic groups, and other organizations will make the presentations.
Meanwhile, graduation for the DCHS Class of 2016 will be Friday, May 20 at 7:00 p.m. on the high school football field.
(CLICK LINK TO VIEW SENIOR PHOTOS: NOTE THERE ARE FOUR PAGES OF PHOTOS)http://www.wjle.com/graduation-2016-page-1

After seven years as head coach of the DCHS Lady Tiger basketball program, Joe Pat Cope will not be back for another season next year. He is also not expected to return as teacher.
School administrators have decided to make a change. Cope is also out as the DCHS golf and tennis coach next year.
Cope teaches World History/Geography at DCHS
In his seven seasons as the Lady Tiger Coach, Cope compiled an overall record of 126-102. His district record was 18-68 and his post-season mark was 4-10.
The job opening has been posted on the TSSAA website:
“DeKalb County High School is seeking Head Girls Basketball coach. Current teaching positions available: Secondary Math and World History/Geography. If you are interested, contact Kathy Bryant: (615) 597-4094 or kathybryant@dekalbschools.net.”

Pre-K and Kindergarten Registration will be held Friday, May 6 at Smithville Elementary School and Monday, May 9 at DeKalb West School.
Pre-K registration will be from 9:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. at both schools
Kindergarten registration will be from 8:30 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. at both schools
Parents should bring the following items for their child:
*Original Certificate of Birth (certified copy with the state seal, not the hospital copy or mother’s copy)
*Current Physical Examination
*Current Certification of Immunization(These must be on a Tennessee Department of Health Certificate of Immunization, which can be obtained from your doctor’s office or the Health Department)
*Proof of Income for All Household Members
*Proof of Residency (i.e. gas/electric bill)
*Your child (they will be tested on kindergarten registration day)
Parents are encouraged to register all students for pre-K who will be four (4) years old on or before August 15.
Children who plan to attend kindergarten must turn five years old on or before August 15, 2016 in order to enroll for the 2016-17 school year.
For information call:
Michelle Burklow
615-597-4084

DeKalb County Road Supervisor Butch Agee has announced that a portion of Holmes Creek Road will be closed Tuesday, May 10 for a paving project between V.L. Wilson Road and Shady Place.
Meanwhile, Agee said construction is completed on the replacement of the Underhill Road bridge over Sink Creek in the Blue Springs community. Concrete Structures, Incorporated of Charlotte, Tennessee was the contractor for the project. The cost was $310,729. The project was funded under the state’s 1990 Bridge Grant Program. The Tennessee Department of Transportation paid for 98% of the costs .

Smithville Firefighters and Police Officers recently attended a week long Homeland Security training at New Mexico Tech in Socorro New Mexico.
Pictured Left to right: Deputy Chief Hoyte Hale, Lieutenant Danny Poss, Chief Charles Parker, Firefighter Glen Lattimore, Firefighter Robin
Summers, Detective Brandon Donnell, Captain Steven Lefew.