For several years, a few SCEMS paramedics has sought to create an Honor Guard to appropriately represent our service in honoring decreased friends and family.  Unfortunately due to budget constraints, their efforts had been unsuccessful, leaving these few medics to attend funerals of fellow public service employees on their own, unofficially representing EMS.

 

Early in 2005, Lieutenant Paramedic Jay Finney, employed at SCEMS for 8 years, died unexpectedly.  While his death was not in the line off duty, it had a major impact on many medics as well as firefighters, polices and other community service members, not to mention friends and family.

 

His funeral was highly attended as a sign of respect and honor to his memory and dedication.  The Wichita Fire Department and Sedgwick County Fire Department was represented by their respective honor Guards as well as the United Stated Marine Corps; although most o Sedgwick County's Paramedics were in attendance of the funeral, we did not have an official Honor Guard nor did we have any protocol for such an event.

 

In light of this, several Paramedics began to reevaluate the need and possibility for an EMS Honor Guard.  A few months later through the efforts of dedicated paramedics and the generosity of EMS administration, what before was only a considerate thought was now a reality.