Browsing: first responders

Baylor’s Arctic Acclimatization & Sleep Optimization Research Center is a first-of-its-kind facility that supports advanced, collaborative research and testing. It focuses on developing knowledge products and biomedical technologies to evaluate and reduce how factors in the Arctic affect different factors in soldiers and first responders, including sleep, cognitive abilities and physical performance.

1. Jerry Chapman was born April 7, 1987 in Pampa, TX, and was a firefighter for Abbott Volunteer Fire Department. In his West Memorial eulogy, Chapman’s parents said he was blessed with a kind spirit from childhood onward – a child who had been unique in his love for helping people from the beginning. He was a hard worker, and was ultimately able to discover his passion for service through the Abbott Volunteer Fire Department. This is what inspired him to return school to become a certified emergency medical technician.

Twelve flag-draped caskets stood next to twelve smiling portraits of the first responders who died in last week’s explosion in West.

In front of each stood a uniformed figure. Some old and some young, some with the decorations of rank and office and some unadorned. Periodically a column of similar figures would march in front and raise a hand slowly in a salute. With a quick step to the side, the first responders change places and continue their vigil — a vigil they held from early Thursday morning until the service concluded Thursday evening.