Paramedic receives health-care award

By William K. Alcorn

Criteria for the award also include community leadership and service.

HUBBARD — Michael Kerr, a paramedic who is regional cardiopulmonary resuscitation program instructor for St. Elizabeth and St. Joseph health centers, is the Ohio Hospital Association’s 2008 Health Care Worker of the Year.

Kerr said he was “honored and humbled” to receive the award, named after Albert E. Dyckes, which was presented to him June 2 at the OHA annual meeting in Columbus.

He teaches advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) skills for adults and pediatric advanced cardiac life support (PALS) to doctors, nurses and other front-line staff at St. Elizabeth, St. Joseph and St. Elizabeth Boardman.

Kerr, 45, lives in Hubbard with his wife, the former Sandra Banjak, and three children: Rachael, 18; Joshua, 15, and Benjamin, 10.

Criteria for the award include not just medical skill, but leadership at work and in his community, community service and having overcome odds to succeed.

A 1981 graduate of Youngstown East High School, Kerr grew up in the Kimmelbrook Apartments housing projects on Youngstown’s East Side, one of three sons of Theodore and Pauline Kerr, both deceased. His brothers are Theodore III, a minister in Michigan, and Ronald, a supervisor with the Burdman Homes in Niles.

In addition to his workplace activities, Kerr is a second lieutenant in the Eagle Joint Fire District (Hubbard city and township), where he wants to get an emergency ambulance service started. He is the department’s safety officer and is secretary of the Hubbard Volunteer Fire Department Association.

Kerr has traveled internationally as a member of a disaster medical assistance team (D-MAT) under the auspices of the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services and Homeland Security.

A D-MAT is a sort of civilian M.A.S.H. unit, consisting of licensed medical personnel such as physicians, nurses and paramedics, who “perform our skills in austere environments,” Kerr said.

For Kerr, those environments have included Guam after it was hit by a typhoon, Louisiana twice after Hurricane Katrina, and Korea, where he was part of a D-MAT that did training for the American Heart Association.

In his home community of Hubbard, where he has lived 20 years, he is a member of the Parent-Teacher Organization, serves as a chaperon for school events and works concession stands for the high school band, swim team and varsity soccer events.

He has been a youth soccer coach and Cub Scout leader for many years, and is a member of St. Patrick Church. He is 1 pint shy of being a 6-gallon blood donor.

Kerr is attending Youngstown State University and taking online classes from the University of Maryland, pursing a bachelor of science degree in allied health or disaster medicine.

“Mike makes a difference in people’s lives on a daily basis,” said R. Ann Fitzgerald, registered nurse and director of organizational development and learning for Humility of Mary Health Partners, in nominating Kerr for the award.

“If staff needs to discuss a serious matter, Mike is there. If they need to vent, Mike is there. If any of us need a smile, Mike will gladly give us one of his. It is rare today for someone to be in health care for over 22 years and not to have become jaded. But Mike has survived with his ideals, his commitment and his humor intact,” Fitzgerald said.

alcorn@vindy.com