Our paramedic of the year has been a licensed paramedic since 2018 and a member of the Florissant Valley Fire Protection District since December 2021.

Since joining the Florissant Valley Fire Protection District, she has established herself as a valuable member of the fire district.

She is an excellent paramedic with exemplary skills and patient interaction. She is an outstanding preceptor for paramedic students and takes time to give thorough explanations to the students, ensuring they understand what is happening with the patient or why they’re performing an intervention or doing a particular procedure. She is active in public education and is an excellent ambassador for the fire district.

One of her passions is promoting women in the fire service. She is a regular attendee of the Women in Fire Conference, which is a non-profit network providing education, support, and advocacy for fire service women. She is also a counselor at Camp Fury, an immersive experience where Girl Scouts join the ranks of elite local female fire fighters and law enforcement officers to learn how they ensure public safety in our communities. Campers practice search and rescue skills, learn crime scene investigation tactics, climb an aerial ladder, and extinguish a live fire.

This year, she took this advocacy a step further. She organized and ran the Fire Up St. Louis Female Fire Camp for women ages 18-40. There were 30 campers who attended the first annual camp, which introduced them to the hands-on and physical demands of the fire and emergency medical services (EMS). Additionally, campers learned the education requirements for a career in fire and/or EMS and building a resume to obtain a job. She recruited other area women in the fire service to assist as counselors for the camp. Based on this year’s response, She is looking forward to this becoming an annual event.

Kate Freshmans hard work, passion for the fire service, and advocacy for women in the fire service make her a deserving recipient of this year’s paramedic of the year award.