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Three firefighters receive medals for river rescue Three Southern Oregon firefighters received the Medal of Valor for their rescue of nine college students stranded on a rock in the Rogue River. Joe Pariera and Bart Qualls, members of Jackson County Fire District 3 special operations group, and Luke Kieffer, an Ashland Fire and Rescue firefighter and paramedic, were honored at the Oregon Emergency Medical Services awards banquet in Portland Sept. 28. The award recognizes an act of personal valor or heroism in the delivery of emergency medical care or saving a life under extreme conditions or extraordinary circumstances. The nine students were on a rock about the size of a coffee table approximately 30 feet above Powerhouse Rapids, a class 4 rapid. The rescue - performed in the dark last summer - lasted about five hours and involved 54 EMS personnel. Six agencies received the EMS Unit Citation for this rescue. fire districts 3 and 4, Medford Fire Department, Jackson County Search and Rescue, the sheriff's department and Mercy Flights were honored. Mount Ashland Ski Patrol also received a Unit Citation for rescuing an 18-year-old snowboarder who was severely injured outside the ski area boundary, 370 feet below the parking lot. Rescuers had to lower a 300-foot rope to raise the injured man to the parking lot for helicopter evacuation. The Unit Citation recognizes acts of providing emergency care under extreme circumstances. Three are awarded statewide a year. Two other local men received awards at the Oregon EMS awards banquet. Brian Murdock, a Mercy Flights supervisor and field training officer, was named Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedic of the Year. The award recognizes an individual who is exemplary in his or her quality of patient care and dedication to the community and the EMS system. Chaplain Larry Blight received the Civilian Service Medal for providing extraordinary service during an EMS emergency. Blight has responded to fires, car accidents, homicides, domestic assaults and suicides. He counsels victims, their family members, jail inmates, police officers, paramedics, firefighters and dispatchers. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.