By Bill Carey
EMS1
COPAKE, N.Y. — The Columbia County Fire Coordinator’s office announced the line-of-duty death of an EMT in Copake.
Steven Walsh, an EMT with the Copake Rescue Squad and a firefighter with the A.B. Shaw Fire Company, died after suffering a medical episode during a 24-hour EMT shift on Nov. 16, NEWS 10 reported.
Walsh, 60, served as a pilot and flight engineer with the Air National Guard’s 105th Airlift Wing in Newburgh from 1992 to 2001, participating in wartime and peacetime missions. He was training to become a certified Advanced EMT with the Regional Emergency Medical Organization.
“Steve was a one-of-a-kind student who showed a true passion for EMS and his community. He did what he loved every day, was kind, always early for class like he was for his shifts, looked out for his classmates, and had a positive attitude every session,” a REMO instructor said in a social media post. “As the first student to join our course, we knew he was excited to become more involved as a field provider at the ALS level, learn all he could, and continue to develop his knowledge and skills. We already miss all the stories he would share with us every week, and most importantly, we, his instructors and classmates, miss his warm presence in our classroom. His memory and service will live on.”
