People

William Barbre and Patricia Drake of Palm Beach State College’s Emergency Medical Services department were recognized Friday with Distinguished Service Awards from the Palm Beach County EMS Providers Association.

The association, which consists of the county’s fire rescue departments and education providers like Palm Beach State, meets monthly to share information and protocols. However, once a year they take the time to honor outstanding members.

Bruce Arbeit, the clinical coordinator for PBSC’s Paramedic and EMT programs, nominated Barbre and Drake, citing their hard work, attention to details and the extra hours they put into their jobs. Drake is an administrative assistant II for the EMS department, and Barbre is a clinical lead instructor for the Paramedic program, working out of the Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center, one of the program’s clinical sites. When not teaching, he’s a lieutenant with Palm Beach County Fire Rescue.

“I nominated Patti because, without this wonderful lady, the EMS programs would not run as smoothly as they do,” Arbeit said. “It takes a lot of time and effort to coordinate and confirm that everything is in place for our 375-plus students per year to attend their classes, not to mention the work it takes to make sure more than 100 instructors are ready to go.

“Regarding Will, the ER staff at the Gardens Medical Center constantly tells me what an asset he is and that he genuinely loves to teach,” Arbeit continued. “I saw that for myself before he was hired in 2011. I was doing my station rounds, and while at his fire station, I saw Will going over the 12-lead EKG procedure with one of our students. I sat down and listened and afterward thanked him for helping with our student’s education.”

Tom McCarthy, association president and EMS division chief at Riviera Beach Fire Rescue, presented over 35 Distinguished Service and other awards at a ceremony held at The Wine Dive restaurant in downtown West Palm Beach.