It is my honor (or honour) to announce Medic 999 as the Fire/EMS Blog of the Year for 2009. Medic 999 is run by Mark Glencorse who is a Paramedic for the North East Ambulance Service in England.
Mark has run Medic 999 since December 2008 and discusses the times and tribulations of being a medic in England as well as hot button topics of paramedicine and prehospital care.
Mark has recently enjoyed the spoils of being featured in the Chronicles of EMS. Chronicles of EMS was born from the efforts by Mark and Justin of The Happy Medic (San Francisco) to dissect the differences and similarities in EMS services at their respective departments.
I have a lot to say about the contest…what I learned, what I didn’t learn, what I will do differently, and how this contest will be over the top next year!
Unfortunately for Mark, the only prize this year is BRAGGING RIGHTS. However, I predict there will be more in the future!
Thank you for competing, thanks to those who nominated and voted for Medic 999, and thanks to everyone for publicizing the event!
I would also like to thank the judges who narrowed down the 23 nominated blogs down to 10 by judging on certain criteria…
2009 Fire/EMS Blog of the Year Judges
Marty Martin
Search Engine Optimization Consultant
Marty Martin is an Internet marketer and search engine consultant with over 12 years experience in the web industry. He has consulted for companies and government organizations across the USA and Europe and has been a guest speaker at business organizations, colleges and universities.
http://mear.is/me
http://twitter.com/mosquitohawk
Kirke Phillips
Kirke Phillips, known as ‘Mookie’, is a Firefighter/Paramedic/Web Designer in Texas. Mookie has been a firefighter since 1991 and is currently employed by the City of Leander. In 1997, he founded a personal website that has grown into what is today known as Texas-Fire.com, which provides news and community to Texas emergency services professionals. In 2001, along with his brother (also a firefighter) he founded CenTexFIRE Web Designs which hosts and designs websites. As of December 2009, Texas-Fire received over 3 hits a day, which includes Mookie, his brother, and their mother. On FaceBook
Andrew Catron
Andrew Catron is a career firefighter for the city of Kingsport in Kingsport, Tennessee. He entered into the fire service in 2005, and has been fulltime with KFD for two years. He is a member of the Town of Chilhowie Fire Department as well and maintains their website – www.chilhowiefire.org. Once he realized he enjoyed managing a web site he decided to start one of his own. Recently he began a web site for Tennessee Fire News. The web site is growing and he realizes nothing is built overnight. Check out TNFireNews.com – www.TNFireNews.com.
Medic 22
MEDIC 22 is a Radio DJ turned Paramedic Student in the Pacific Northwest. After over twenty years of working in the broadcast industry, M22 decided to quit his full time job, return to school full time, switch careers and write about it. His website, strangely enough called www.medic22.com details the trials and tribulations of a middle aged guy going through paramedic school. His website is full of polysyllabic words and sometimes people actually even read it. Oh, and he doesn’t like biscuits. Be warned.
More information on the contest to follow….
Great contest, great candidates and one great winner. Awesome job guys and a big congrats to Mark. Both Mark and Justin have done so much cool stuff with their blogs and joint video projects this year that either one of them could have easily worn the title of blog of The Year with pride.
Thank you for your comment Steve. I had a blast doing it and am very happy with the outcome. I must say that I found a couple new blogs through the contest and I think that many more found a lot more blogs to read!
Great contest, great candidates and one great winner. Awesome job guys and a big congrats to Mark. Both Mark and Justin have done so much cool stuff with their blogs and joint video projects this year that either one of them could have easily worn the title of blog of The Year with pride.
Thank you for your comment Steve. I had a blast doing it and am very happy with the outcome. I must say that I found a couple new blogs through the contest and I think that many more found a lot more blogs to read!