The close-knit communities of firefighters and paramedic/EMTs in Columbus are remembering Scott Gordon as an instructor beyond compare and a health care provider who put the care in caregiving.
Gordon, 56, who was "working a truck" as first responders describe working on an Columbus Regional Health ambulance, died Nov. 15 at Columbus Regional Hospital after an eight-day battle with COVID-19.
A drive-thru memorial service is planned for 10 a.m. on Saturday at Columbus Municipal Airport followed by a procession of emergency vehicles through the city, said Adam Hoskins, ambulance service manager at CRH, who worked with Gordon for seven years.
The memorial service organized by "Supporting Heroes" is open to the public, but anyone who attends must remain in their vehicles to avoid spreading COVID-19 during the service, Hoskins said. The Columbus Police Department and Columbus Fire Department Honor Guard will be at the memorial.
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An EMT and a paramedic, Gordon is believed to have been exposed to the virus after his partner on the ambulance also became infected. He is the first CRH employee who has died from COVID-19, hospital officials said.
Until he contracted the virus, Gordon was serving in a supervisory role as shift coordinator for CRH EMS Services, but was still providing patient care, Hoskins said.
Hospital officials said Gordon, who had led the ambulance service’s training department for decades, was tragic.
“He’d been with CRH for almost 20 years, and just was very highly respected by his peers. He was a leader in his department and ambulance services, did a lot of training and a lot of onboarding with paramedics and EMTs. Nobody had a bad thing to say about him. He just is really, really well liked and well known in our organization and is going to be dearly missed," said Kelsey DeClue, hospital spokeswoman.
Hoskins sat in on some of Gordon’s classes and said he was a "wonderful" and "engaging" instructor who had a talent for making high-level technical information easy to understand and digestible.
"He taught a lot of classes in this community," Hoskins said. "He taught people from the very beginning stages who wanted to become EMTs … and he taught paramedic classes, taking people from that step of EMT to paramedic. Over the years, I couldn’t even tell you how many students he had."
Many Columbus firefighters who have been "on the job" for years knew Gordon well, because he was their training officer for EMT and paramedic certifications.
Those who were trained by Gordon knew he placed a lot of emphasis as a first responder on performing the job as a "craft," said Capt. Mike Wilson, Columbus Fire Department spokesman, who was once one of Gordon’s students. "His approach to teaching was that you would live and walk the walk," Wilson said. "You had to be booksmart but you had to also have the compassion — he taught you to put the care in ‘care provider,’ " Wilson said.
Gordon was passionate about his job and "enjoyed the challenge of trying to figure out or diagnose an issue and the making (patients) feel better before they got to the hospital," Hoskins said.
"He just had such a passion and a drive not only for the people he was taking care of, but also for the first responders in the area that he worked with, from nurses and doctors to firefighters," Hoskins said. "He always took that extra bit of time to even mentor or teach in the middle of taking care of somebody and it never affected his patient care. He would be telling people what he was doing to kind of educate them while he was doing it."
Wilson noted that Gordon was a big guy — a "gentle giant" — and some were a bit intimidated by that. But he said Gordon was also one of the funniest guys on the EMS staff.
"When you work in public safety, we have a defense mechanism of dark humor, and he had a little bit of that in him," Wilson said. Gordon liked to read and was known for always having a great movie quote in response to something funny in conversations.
He also liked to travel, spend time with friends and "absolutely loved" ice hockey, particularly the Boston Bruins, Hoskins said.
Gordon had also worked as an EMT/paramedic in Indianapolis and had a wide variety of stories to tell about the calls he went on there.
One comfort to those grieving Gordon’s death is seeing the firefighters he trained and his friends sharing photos and remembrances on social media about their memories and the loss of their friend.
"It’s great to see his legacy being remembered and what he brought to us," Wilson said. "He essentially had a role in all types of firefighter training. Everybody knew Scott."
Columbus Fire Department Lt. Leroy Armstrong described Gordon as "one of a kind," a friend and co-worker for more than 18 years.
Gordon was focused and knew what he was doing on the job, and also shared that knowledge with those around him, Armstrong said. He was a stickler for good grammar, even from firefighters, and would let Armstrong know when auditing a fire run that his writing skills could sometimes use some improvement.
But what really struck Armstrong about Gordon was his empathy towards patients as he worked with them in trying situations.
Armstrong said friends and colleagues were texting and calling Gordon at the hospital over the weekend before he died, because they were not allowed to visit due to the COVID-19 virus.
"I’ve always said, if I’m ever in need of an ambulance, if I opened my eyes and saw Scott there, I know things were in my favor," Armstrong said.
Co-workers, friends, first responders and "even people you wouldn’t think" have been deeply affected by Gordon’s death, Hoskins said.
"He was the type of person that touched everybody’s life," Hoskins said. "He had such a lasting effect on everybody that he encountered and, you know, for every life that he saved, you can imagine the trickle effect that has for spouses, for children, their friends and family and things like that. And even the people that he taught, now they’re in a position because of Scott that they’re saving lives and affecting other people. It’s kind of like throwing a pebble into a pond. You’re going to have that ripple effect. Even though it’s one action, you can see how far it goes."
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Supporting Heroes has organized a memorial drive-thru from 10 to 11 a.m. Saturday near the Cummins Corporate Aviation hangar at Columbus Municipal Airport.
Those wishing to attend should enter through the gate at the end of North Warren Drive for the drive-thru.
At the conclusion of the memorial, there will be a procession that will pass Columbus Regional Hospital and then CRH Emergency Medical Services headquarters.
The route of the procession will be:
- Exit the airport via North Warren Drive
- Left on Cunningham Drive
- Right on Central Avenue
- Left on North National Road
- Right on 17th Street
- Right on Central Avenue
- Ending after passing EMS headquarters at 27th Street.
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