Five finalists were announced for this year’s Capt. Dara Fitzpatrick Award on International Women’s Day (8 March), and the award ceremony will be hosted by the School of Medicine at the University of Limerick on Wednesday 1 May.
The Capt. Dara Fitzpatrick Award was launched by the Irish Paramedicine Education and Research Network (IPERN) at the University of Limerick (UL) on 8 March 2023 to honour the memory of one of Ireland’s first female search and rescue pilots.
Capt. Fitzpatrick lost her life in March 2017 during a rescue mission off Mayo’s north coast, which also claimed the lives of her three R116 crew members – Captain Mark Duffy, and winch operators Ciarán Smith and Paul Ormsby.
The award ceremony on 1 May will once again celebrate those women working in full-time or voluntary roles who have distinguished themselves on particular callouts or events within the Irish pre-hospital setting and the emergency services community.
The IPERN’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Special Interest Group announced this year’s award finalists on 8 March to mark International Women’s Day. “Following on from last year’s inaugural award ceremony, we have yet again been overwhelmed by the response to the call for nominations and by the nominees themselves who are shining examples of women at the height of their professions,” according to Dr Niamh Cummins, IPERN Chair.
“All of our nominees embody Dara’s values of Compassion & Kindness, Strength & Bravery, Leadership & Teamwork, and Professionalism. It was an extremely difficult task for the award review panel,” noted Dr Cummins, who is Associate Professor in Public Health at the School of Medicine in the University of Limerick.
Finalists for this year’s award:
- Caitriona Edgar (National Ambulance Service)
- Emma Henebery (An Garda Síochána)
- Nicole Carroll (Irish Defence Forces)
- Olivia Byrne (RNLI Galway)
- Sinead Campbell-Gray (Air Ambulance Northern Ireland)
2023 AWARD WINNER: Donegal paramedic Frances Griffin was the winner of the inaugural Capt. Dara Fitzpatrick Award last year. Representing the National Ambulance Service, Frances was one of the first responders at the scene of the explosion in her local community of Creeslough, Co. Donegal which claimed the lives of 10 people in October 2022.
Commending the paramedic’s strength and bravery at the award presentation, Dr Cummins said: “She was involved in removing the most seriously injured patient from the rubble, and also treated and stabilised another seriously injured patient at the scene. Both of those patients survived, and she personally knew everyone involved.”
Pictured at the inaugural award presentation on 8 March 2023 (l-r): Dr Niamh Cummins, IPERN Chair; award winner Frances Griffin, NAS paramedic; Grainne O’Shea, IPERN Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion lead; and Orla Fitzpatrick, sister of the late Capt. Dara Fitzpatrick.
