Maine Paramedic Receives Lifetime Achievement Award

Sun Journal, Lewiston, Maine

George Farris Jr. has a reputation for disappearing at the scene of an accident.

One minute he's standing nearby. The next, he's worming his way into the deformed vehicle.

It's a dangerous job. Farris can never be quite sure what he's getting into. But with half a century of emergency response experience, there's very little he hasn't seen.

Last week, Maine EMS announced that Farris will be one of five people to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award this year. As a volunteer for the Greene Fire Department since 1973 and a 41-year veteran paramedic for United Ambulance, there are few individuals in the state with a more impressive legacy of service.

Fellow volunteers say Farris, the assistant rescue chief, is the most active and reliable EMT with the department. As the owner of a local construction company, he's able to respond to calls at nearly any time of the day, and he often does, dropping everything at a moment's notice.

Farris has prioritized the needs of the community above himself and his business for decades, so much so that locals look for him whenever tragedy strikes. It's a choice that, at times, comes with costs to his business and personal life.

"I don't think people understand that," Ben Westman, a volunteer with Farris, said. "They just expect him to show up."

And when he does step on scene, their anxiety noticeably diminishes.

"You can actually see the relief," said Eric Farrenkopf, a fellow volunteer in Greene. "Everybody knows George."

Eyes and Ears

Farrenkopf and Westman quietly worked with Farris' wife, Gayle, to nominate him for the award. Their granddaughter interviewed Farris under the guise of writing a school paper in order to collect necessary details for the application.

With a cool collected demeanor in the face of crises, Farris likes to tell others he doesn't have a heart.

"That's what he says, all the time," said Westman. "That's his line. I said, 'That's the biggest farce I've ever heard of ... you have the biggest heart, you just try to hide it.'"

Once inside wrecked vehicles, Farris assists responders with extracting occupants, sometimes even providing medical care from within.

"He's our eyes and ears in the vehicle," said Greene Fire Chief John Soucy.

When cutting the seatbelt is the only way to free someone from a rollover, Farris puts himself between the roof and the patient to help cushion their fall.

"That's just George," said Assistant Fire Chief Phil Lavoie. "Whatever needs to get done, he does it."

First of Many

Born and raised in Greene, Farris joined the department at 22 years old. He'd always dreamed of becoming a doctor, earning his paramedicine license in 1987.

Since then, he's especially proud to have grown Greene's volunteer EMT force. At one time, Farris was the only EMT in the department. Now there are six.

Beyond his service as a volunteer and paramedic, Farris is a CPR and basic fire school instructor, teaching lifesaving techniques to local firefighters, EMTs and child care workers alike.

At 71, Farris said he has no plans to retire from the fire department. To him, saving lives and training others is most important.

Just as Farris was preparing to lock up the Greene Fire Department Tuesday night, his wife by his side, his radio crackled to life. An uncooperative 80-year-old man with dementia was in need of medical assistance.

"I'll be home shortly," he told his wife, heading out to help.