08/10/2025
Talbot Paramedic Foundation Marks 40 years of Advanced Life Support!
On March 13th, 1985 at 12 noon, the mid-Shore’s first Advanced Life Support (ALS) unit began responding to emergencies in the Easton Fire District as an experimental pilot program. The program was sponsored by the Easton Volunteer Fire Department with support from Memorial Hospital and the Maryland Institute of Emergency Medical Services Systems. New dispatch protocols were developed by Talbot County’s Emergency Management Agency to ensure the unit’s response to the most serious medical calls.
Five EVFD volunteers, newly certified as Cardiac Rescue Technicians, staffed the unit for most of the first year and operated an emergency vehicle kept with them to respond directly to emergency calls. The initial unit was an old Easton ambulance that was retrofitted to allow heated interior space, while the unit was with the responder at home or work, to keep the drugs and other equipment warm. Later the EVFD purchased a vehicle specifically to operate as a “ALS chase unit.”
The duty vehicle was a new concept that allowed rapid response directly to the scene of the emergency. This was a radical change from volunteers responding, first to the fire station and then to the emergency scene. The ALS program was required to be staffed 24 hours a day every day, which proved to be very challenging for the group.
The five EVFD volunteers were Wayne Dyott, Gary Jones, Kevin Knussman, Marc Stockley, and Ray Taylor. All were seasoned EMTs with years of experience treating patients.
The program worked so well that plans were made to expand ALS to cover Talbot County a little over one year later which resulted in the formation of Talbot County Advanced Life Support Services, Inc., a nonprofit program that eventually merged into Talbot County Emergency Medical Services, later Talbot Department of Emergency Services. The Paramedic Foundation plans to recognize Talbot’s program next year on the 40h anniversary of the county-wide service. It was the struggles to create ALS that was the reason the Talbot Paramedic Foundation was formed.
Current president of Talbot Paramedic Foundation, Wayne Dyott, remembers the excitement of that first year, “It was all new and we learned a great deal that would result in putting together what would eventually become a successful county-wide operation.”
Each provider brought a unique personality and an ability to make the program survive during that first year.
Dyott especially recalled his close friend Jones, who recently passed away, “Gary had a tremendous amount of respect within the hospital community where he was director of Cardio-Pulmonary Services. Gary opened many doors with local doctors so they would accept the idea that medications would be given by local providers in the field. Jones was a charter member of the Talbot Paramedic Foundation.
Taylor had a construction business and eventually went to work at the hospital as a Respiratory Therapist where he helped open the cardiac catheterization lab. He was one of the first EMTs in Easton and is so respected by the Easton volunteers that he has the nickname “Doc.”
Marc Stockley ran an antique refinishing shop out on Route 50 and floated much of the weekday coverage hours by taking the unit to the shop where he responded to calls. He and Taylor used their craftmanship to design the interior of the ALS units.
Knussman was a Maryland State Police trooper who had recently transferred to their Aviation Division. Kevin brought ideas from across Maryland where ALS programs had operated for years and had recently been selected as the Aviation Trauma Technician to open a new medevac helicopter “Trooper 6” based out of Easton.
Dyott says Knussman had the vision to see a future county-wide program which would be professionally managed by Talbot County, which is now a part of their Department of Emergency Services.
“Kevin constantly advocated towards a county-wide program and pushed to have Talbot County become responsible for EMS operations,” Dyott said. “We all worked together to ensure the future included improved emergency medical services throughout the mid-Shore.”
Subsequently Caroline, Queen Anne’s, Dorchester, and Kent counties joined Talbot in providing county operated advanced life support programs. This eliminated the last large region of Maryland without advanced life support. The five were recognized with awards by the Maryland Institute of Emergency Medical Services Systems for creating the program.
Dyott, Knussman, Stockley, and Taylor plan to get together on August 13th for lunch and reminisce about the successes and struggles of their first year, and especially remember their close friend, Gary Jones.
Easton Volunteer Fire Dept. MD
Talbot County Emergency Services (DES)
Talbot County Volunteer Fire and Rescue Association
Talbot County Government
Shore Regional Health
Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems (MIEMSS)
