{"id":9740,"date":"2016-02-01T14:51:29","date_gmt":"2016-02-01T19:51:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/?p=9740"},"modified":"2017-04-14T15:46:27","modified_gmt":"2017-04-14T19:46:27","slug":"natural-resources-employees-recognized-for-saving-lives-of-crash-victims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2016\/02\/01\/natural-resources-employees-recognized-for-saving-lives-of-crash-victims\/","title":{"rendered":"Natural Resources Employees Recognized for Saving Lives of Crash Victims"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"BoatingHero.Feb16\"<\/a>

Ozzie Wilkinson, Jim Wilson, Rob McVicker and Paul Carey receive Governor’s Certificates of Appreciation from Sec. Mark Belton.<\/p><\/div>\n

Four employees with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Boating Services unit were recognized last week for their lifesaving actions in two separate vehicle accidents. Natural Resources Secretary Mark Belton and Boating Services Director Mark O\u2019Malley presented certificates of appreciation from Governor Larry Hogan to Ozzie Wilkinson, Jim Wilson, Rob McVicker and Paul Carey for their quick thinking and bravery.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cI am continuously amazed at the skills and talent demonstrated by the employees in our department,\u201d Secretary Belton said. \u201cYou four are a prime example of what makes our workforce special: different backgrounds, skill sets, and a genuine desire to help others, by going above and beyond the call of duty wherever and whenever needed. Thank you for your heroic actions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Overturned<\/a>

Overturned car on Aug. 24, 2015.<\/p><\/div>\n

On the afternoon of Aug. 24, 2015, investigators from the Boat Tax Enforcement Unit, Jim Wilson of Allen, and Paul Carey of Salisbury, both retired Natural Resources Police Officers, along with Rob McVicker of Denton, a retired U.S. Coast Guard master chief, were traveling on Route 50 to conduct vessel surveys on the Eastern Shore. While driving through Mardela Springs, they saw a mangled, overturned vehicle and immediately pulled over to help. The three men worked to rescue the four entrapped and seriously injured passengers (three children and their father), cutting seatbelts and removing the victims through broken windows, and spraying leaking gasoline with a fire extinguisher.<\/p>\n

Ozzie Wilkinson, from Hebron, who served for 11 years in the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, works at the department as the engineer on the J.M.\u00a0Tawes. \u00a0On Sept. 24, 2015 while travelling to Crisfield, Wilkinson noticed oncoming vehicles veering into his lane.\u00a0 After pulling to the side of the road, he saw\u00a0a minivan on its side and on fire. \u00a0There was a man inside the vehicle who appeared dazed and in dire need of assistance, so Wilkinson immediately ran over\u00a0to pry\u00a0the door open, cut through the seatbelt and pull the driver\u00a0out of the van, just as fire began burning through the dashboard.\u00a0 After walking the man to a stopped Maryland State Police vehicle, the blaze\u00a0consumed the entire vehicle.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am extraordinarily proud of these men who risked their own personal safety to assist others,\u201dO\u2019Malley said. \u201cTheir actions bring great honor upon themselves and the department.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Four employees with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Boating Services unit were recognized last week for their lifesaving actions in two separate vehicle accidents. Natural Resources Secretary Mark Belton and Boating Services Director Mark O\u2019Malley presented certificates of appreciation from Governor Larry Hogan to Ozzie Wilkinson, Jim Wilson, Rob McVicker and Paul Carey for  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[957,3171],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appnews","category-boating"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9740"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9740\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9758,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9740\/revisions\/9758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}