Local men and women do what they do best

Transcription

1 Fort Bend Inspirations Local men and women do what they do best save lives Written by Crystal Rawls Police Officer Brennan Echols was named the 2012 Officer of the Year by his peers 88 sugar land magazine Visit SugarLandMagazine.com for Fort Bend jobs, events, news and more.

2 When the world is falling apart, heroes are the ones who put the pieces back together. They don t shy away from disaster - they run toward it - risking their lives to save those who cannot save themselves. As of May 2011, there were 14,340 police officers; 4,230 firefighters; 3,420 emergency medical technicians and paramedics; and 44,600 registered nurses in the Houston- Sugar Land-Baytown Metropolitan Division, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Sugar Land Magazine has chosen four individuals to feature that represent the thousands of heroes walking among us every day, making sure we are safe, binding our wounds, or rescuing us from disaster. Police Officer Brennan Echols Law enforcement is in Brennan Echols blood. The son of a 28-year veteran of the Missouri City Police Department, there was never any question that young Echols would follow in his father s footsteps. In 2007, at just 21 years old, Echols joined the Sugar Land Police Department s patrol division. Through the good days and bad, Echols keeps his family as his first priority. You take one day at a time and do the best you can do. Every day your main goal is to go home no matter what. You take one day at a time and do the best you can. Every day your main goal is to go home no matter what. - Brennan Echols The longer I m in law enforcement the more I realize I do want to promote and make a career out of this; work my way up through the ranks, says Echols, who joined the Police Department s Impact Team in I enjoy making a little bit of a difference here and there. Putting people in jail, stopping crimes, catching burglars, that s all rewarding to me, and it s fun at the same time. Diligent in his service, Echols was named the 2012 Officer of the Year by his peers. It was a very rewarding day in my career. Out of a department of a couple hundred officers, they chose me. Fire Inspector/Investigator James Serrano, Life Flight Pilot Darrel Creacy, ER Nurse Krista Mabry, and Police Officer Brennan Echols enjoy making a difference in the Fort Bend community To advertise, call or sales@sugarlandmagazine.com sugar land magazine 89

3 Krista Mabry treats each patient like a new friend ER Nurse Krista Mabry ER Nurse Krista Mabry wears a necklace with a silver charm in the shape of Africa, a reminder of the weeks spent there as a medical missionary. It was one of the hardest things I ve ever done, but very much worth it, says Mabry of her work in Africa. It was an amazing experience. Mabry discovered her passion for nursing at the age of 15 and entered a nursing assistant program in high school. After graduation, she studied to become a Licensed Vocational Nurse, and eventually a Registered Nurse, all while working full time at Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital. I was terrified, recalls Mabry of her transfer to ER nurse in But it was close to home and I wanted to learn. Now I never want to leave. Working the 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. shift, Mabry treats each patient as a new friend but admits some days are a little harder than others. It s not frowned upon to cry in our line of work, she admits. The first time I did CPR on a child, I cried all the way home. But you get tougher. Nominated by her peers for the Nursing Excellence Award in 2009, Mabry is currently studying for her Bachelor s in nursing and hopes to continue her studies to become a nurse practitioner. It was one of the hardest things I ve ever done, but very much worth it. - Krista Mabry To advertise, call or sales@sugarlandmagazine.com sugar land magazine 91

4 Darrel Creacy has been awarded United States Air Medals for saving lives Life Flight Pilot Darrel Creacy In 1976, a helicopter demonstration determined 10-year-old Creacy s fate. As soon as he could, at the age of 18, Creacy joined the Coast Guard and toured the world. Still fascinated with aviation, he earned a degree in professional aeronautics and a minor in aviation safety through the Coast Guard s Pre-commissioning Program for Enlisted Personnel. Creacy was awarded two United States Air Medals for saving lives during and after natural disasters. So, it was a natural fit for Creacy to join Life Flight in Saving people seems to be what God has put me here to do, he says. The most satisfying part of my job is the fulfillment of helping those in need; the bad part is not being able to save everyone. During the course of his day, Creacy arrives at work by 5:30 a.m. for a 12- hour shift. My job is something like a firefighter. I inspect the helicopter, clean it, and do administrative work until we get a call, says Creacy. The most I have flown in a day has been five flights, which makes for a long shift. Recently, Creacy was able to transfer Representative Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, to the Memorial Hermann TIRR facility. We do really neat things. Saving people seems to be what God has put me here to do. - Darrel Creacy 92 sugar land magazine Visit SugarLandMagazine.com for Fort Bend jobs, events, news and more.

5 One of the biggest rewards of my job is the amount of fire loss that my co-workers and I have prevented. - James Serrano City of Sugar Land Fire Inspector/Investigator James Serrano James Serrano always knew he wanted to serve, but as an 18-year-old college student, was unsure of where to start. I remember the day I got my calling. I was at a stoplight in downtown Richmond asking God what I was going to do with my life, he shares. A few minutes later, Serrano got his answer. I drove up on a car accident. A car had struck a tree. Quick-thinking Serrano approached the car and stayed with the elderly couple inside until the emergency personnel came. He worked alongside the firefighters and paramedics to help the couple. The next week, Serrano signed up to be a volunteer firefighter. He soon graduated from both the fire and police academies. In 2003, he joined the City of Sugar Land s Fire Marshall s Office as a fire inspector/ investigator. One of the biggest rewards of my job is the amount of fire loss that my co-workers and I have prevented. It is amazing what we have accomplished, says Serrano. One of my closest friends who was a fire marshal would always tell me we can save more lives if we can prevent fires from happening and provide the fire protection needed in buildings and homes to keep a tragedy from occurring. I still believe that to this day and always will. SLM James Serrano is proud of the amount of fire loss he has helped prevent Crystal Rawls is a freelance writer and marketing specialist at Fluor. To advertise, call or sales@sugarlandmagazine.com sugar land magazine 93