Honorees

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Year Honored
2012
Honoree
Robert H. Wood
Title
EMT
Agency
Montrose Minute Men
Agency City
Montrose
Agency State
PA
Last Call
2/24/85
Cause of Death
On-duty Cardiac
Biography
Bob Wood was a pioneer of EMS in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania.<br /> Mr. Wood started his career in EMS as a medic in the United States Army. Although he had worked for 33 years as a machinist, Bob had the dream of providing EMS services to the people of Montrose.<br /> <br /> A friend of Bob?s gave him ten dollars and told him to "do what you believe in." So, on November 17, 1955 with a $10 gift and a borrowed $425, Bob and agroup of concerned citizens formed the Montrose Minute Men. It was the first ambulance service in the area, and they started out with a converted delivery truck. Until a garage was erected to house the ambulances, the service was run from the Wood?s home. Bob?s wife, Alice, manned the home phone 24 hours a day.<br /> <br /> Bob was one of the first in the area to learn and teach first aid and CPR. Through him, many people became educated in the emergency medical field. Bob was also responsible for bringing upwards to 50 babies into this world who otherwise may have not survived without Bob?s being there for the mothers.<br /> <br /> On February 24, 1985 Mr. Wood was responding to a motor vehicle accident. He was driving one of the ambulances when he apparently suffered a heart attack. The vehicle that he was driving left the roadway and rolled over onto its side. The passenger in the vehicle, along with other members that were responding to the scene, extricated Bob from the vehicle and started CPR on him. He was then transported to the local hospital in Montrose. At the hospital every life-saving measure possible was performed, but after an hour of working on Bob, he was pronounced dead.<br /> <br /> Since his passing, a scholarship had been established in his memory for students following an education in the medical field.<br /> <br /> Honored 2012