Honorees

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Year Honored
1997
Honoree
Bob Siekerman
Agency
Heartflite
Agency City
Spokane
Agency State
WA
Last Call
8/27/89
Cause of Death
Medical Aviation Accident
Biography
Respiratory therapist Bob Siekerman had lived in Spokane all his life. In his off-hours, he puttered around the house and took trips to Priest Lake, said his brother-in law, John Sullivan. But his work was his focus. He was known for his skill at intubating patients (the art of opening an airway in the throat of a person who can not breathe).<br /> <br /> "He was someone who could walk up to a scene and get that airway going when you didn't think it could be done," spoke Jean Bening, director of flight operations for Heartflite. It was his work that had brought Bob Siekerman his wife, another respiratory therapist, to whom he had been married for a little over a year.<br /> <br /> "Without question, he was one of the kindest, most caring persons," added Sullivan."It was natural for him to go into this kind of work and Heartflite in particular. It was a passion. The powerful emotions shared by the small group of rescue workers seeing so much trauma brought the Heartflite crew together. He loved the job, the closeness and the camaraderie. To Siekerman, his Heartflite crew were a part of his family."<br /> <br /> Bob Siekerman, 36, died August 27, 1989 when the Heartflite helicopter he was riding in, as he assisted a patient with a gunshot wound, went down killing all those on board.<br /> <br /> Honored 1997