Award Honors Owego EMS Chief

EMS Chief Karen L. Rathke of Owego’s Southside Fire Co. and First Responder Unit was named the EMS Provider of the Year by the Firemen’s Association of the State of New York.

Rathke was slated to be honored with a medal and plaque Wednesday at a FASNY ceremony in the Thousand Islands region. EMS chief for the past three years, Rathke joined the company in 1994 at the age of 16.

On Dec. 11, fire and EMS crews were sent to the scene of a motor vehicle accident. The car, which struck a tree, then caught on fire. Rathke and her husband, Southside Capt. David Rathke, responded to the scene.

David Rathke knocked down the flames with a fire extinguisher, allowing the victim to free himself from the wreck. Karen extinguished the man’s burning clothes with her hands, began treating the victim and updated dispatchers on the situation, requesting a helicopter. The victim was transported to a Syracuse hospital for burns, and Karen Rathke then supervised extinguishing the blaze.