EMS honors Altenhoff, Weinheimer
By SHANNON CRABTREE scrabtree@leader-news.com

L-N Photo by Shannon Crabtree Earning Honors El Campo paramedic Steven Weinheimer was honored as the department's part-time medic of the year during a luncheon last week. Last month, he was hired onto the full-time staff. EMT Joan Rawlinson presented him with the award.

They're there because they care, but every once in a while it's still nice to receive a pat on the back.

That, a quick congratulations and a small plaque were all the thanks the El Campo EMS Department's Full- and Parttime EMT of the Year received during their annual Christmas banquet.

Long speeches are for groups who don't spend their lives wondering when the next alarm will sound.

For Ben Altenhoff, the fulltime paramedic of the year, the award signifies an official thanks for more than 26 years of service.

"To be in this job this long you have to be half crazy," Altenhoff told his fellow EMTs. "All I am is a link between God and the patient. That's what's kept me strong."

Altenhoff's start in the business of taking care of people is based on the shocking experience of a 12-year-old boy, he said.

L-N Photo by Shannon Crabtree Top Medic For 2007 El Campo paramedic Ben Altenhoff, right, accepts the department's award for Full-time EMT of the Year during their annual luncheon last week. Altenhoff has more than 26 years service with the department. Presenting the award is paramedic Gerald Ripple.

On a Boy Scout trip, he and others attended a seminar on first aid.

But being young boys, he said, they were more interested in playing than paying attention.

Ignoring the lessons on bandaging and other life-saving skills, he and his fellow Scouts soon found themselves presented with a compass, a trail and a mission to find a wounded man.

The test was designed to be as realistic as possible, the San Marcos native said.

"When I saw the wounds, they looked so real. I was so stunned and did not know what to do," Altenhoff said. "I swore that would never happen again."

As a young man, he started learning first aid skills and ultimately became a paramedic.

His first full-time medical job is what brought him to El Campo at the age of 19.

Daytime Paramedic Gerald Ripple presented Altenhoff with the award.

"He's an excellent report writer and, if you want a helicopter, he's the man to get it done."

Steven Weinheimer was named the part-time EMT of the year.

Weinheimer was recently hired as a full-time shift worker.

All of them deserve praise, department medical director Dr. Ron Goelzer said.

"I tell people this is the best EMS program year in and year out and I don't have anyone dispute me," he said. "This is a link in the chain right here."