Willmon honored, paramedic scholarship supported in Aug. 19 golf tournament

   Emergency medical professionals tend to be taken for granted when an emergency isn’t actively happening. For those who work in the field, however, potential emergencies are never far from their minds. For director Brady Ring, he knows all the behind-the-scenes needs of Holyoke EMS, and those needs have motivated the first EMS golf tournament Saturday, Aug. 19, beginning at 8 a.m. at Holyoke Golf Club.
    It may come as a surprise that in Holyoke there are only three paramedics. Around eight EMTs are crucial to keeping the local EMS running, but Ring emphasized that they really need more paramedics in the service, too. The majority of the funds raised at the Aug. 19 golf tournament will go into the Melissa Memorial Hospital Foundation’s paramedic scholarship.
    The tournament and scholarship were established in memory of Stan Willmon. When Willmon died last year, his family created the paramedic scholarship and requested that his memorial contributions be made to it. The idea of the “home-grown paramedic” scholarship is to support local individuals who are interested in completing paramedic training and returning to Holyoke to become paramedics for MMH.
    “The MMH Foundation is honored to represent Stan’s family and carry out their wishes by offering this scholarship,” said executive director Nancy Colglazier.
    MMHF and Holyoke EMS have set a goal to raise $10,000 for the scholarship. According to Ring, the amount would cover the cost of one person’s paramedic training. Long term, they hope to host the tournament and provide the scholarship annually.
 

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