The Ultimate Gift Selfless Paramedic Honored

In a season dedicated to celebrating good will and selflessness, it’s especially fitting today to remember the name Les Parkhurst.

The paramedic gave the ultimate gift during a fairly routine emergency run last Friday.

Transporting a 5-year-old Spokane girl who had an asthma attack, Parkhurst suffered a fatal heart attack in the back of an American Medical Response ambulance as it sped along a South Hill street to the hospital.

Being in an ambulance with equally trained peers may sound like a best-place scenario for cardiac arrest. But one of the most emotionally difficult facts for medical professionals to learn is that sometimes there is nothing anyone can do.

Parkhurst’s time had run out. He was 47.

News of his death rocked the area’s tightly knit community of emergency service workers. Despite a history of irregular heart rhythms, Parkhurst’s tireless work ethic had established him as something of an iron man.

In addition to his regular job, Parkhurst presided over the volunteer ambulance organization in Deer Park, his hometown.

It was largely through his efforts that the ambulance service evolved from providing basic services. Deer Park Ambulance now offers advanced life support 24 hours a day with state-of-the-art equipment and three full-time paramedics.

A co-worker noted that Parkhurst died at the same time the American Medical Response Christmas party was being held.

Considering his seniority, she said, Parkhurst could have easily been sipping punch instead of working. But “Les died doing what he loved doing,” said Dawn Wright, a senior crew member with Deer Park Ambulance. “Taking care of people.”

The respect Parkhurst earned through such devotion to duty was evidenced at his funeral Wednesday. Some 500 people gathered in the Deer Park High School gym. Many of them wore uniforms representing at least 15 different agencies.

The emotional service included prayers, marching bagpipers blaring “Amazing Grace” and choked-up people sharing fond memories.

The unassuming Parkhurst probably would have hated all the attention.

“You could get in a fistfight trying to convince him that what he did was important,” said paramedic Scott Duchow, one of Parkhurst’s longtime friends. “He never took credit for anything.”

Those who knew him best, however, say his skill was unquestioned. He had a reputation of treating each patient with tenderness and compassion. “He gave and gave and gave,” said Evelyn Boardman, now acting president of Deer Park Ambulance.

In 1993, Parkhurst was honored as the county’s Advanced Life Support Provider of the year. Mike Turay, director of American Medical Response, said a paramedic scholarship is being set up in Parkhurst’s name. On Wednesday, the flags over Spokane fire stations flew at half-staff.

The fuss may have made Parkhurst uncomfortable. But the simple truth is that untold hundreds of lives have and will be saved thanks to this son of a dairy farmer who grew up wanting to help others.

Nearing the end of Wednesday’s service, a squad of white-shirted emergency workers stood at attention. A few feet away was a blond wood casket over which an Indian hunting blanket had been draped.

A tone sounded. The slightly distorted voice of a radio dispatcher called out: “Last page for Les Parkhurst, Dec. 23, 12:20 p.m. He will be missed.”

On the road to Deer Park’s Woodland Cemetery, 31 emergency vehicles - ambulances, fire trucks and police cruisers - followed the hearse with their red and yellow lights winking in silent honor.

“Les didn’t want any sympathy. He didn’t want any thanks,” observed Duchow. In fact, he’s probably upset that all these people and equipment are fussing over him and not out on the job.