Snohomish County Fire District 26, located in Gold Bar, and the Redmond Fire Department said farewell to one of their own in September.
Les Putnam, a 66-year-old paramedic who lived in Gold Bar with his wife, Cindy, passed away unexpectedly on Thursday, Sept. 18 from a massive coronary incident.
Les had been with Snohomish County Fire District 26 for nearly 12 years, and had worked for the Redmond Fire Department since 2003. A 37-year career paramedic, Les transitioned to the fire department from Evergreen Hospital, where he had worked since 1977.
A United States Veteran, Les joined the Navy when he was 17 years old. He served as a Hospital Corpsman, and was assigned to the Marines as a combat medic in Vietnam.
Les met his wife-to-be, Cindy, in 1977 at Evergreen Hospital where they both worked; Les as an emergency medical services provider, and Cindy as a nurse. The newlyweds moved to Gold Bar in November of 1980. They've lived in the same house ever since.
"It's very small but it's been ours for 34 years,GÇ¥ said Cindy. "It's kind of empty now without him.GÇ¥
Les was passionate about his career as a paramedic, and during his time at District 26, had become more than just a co-worker to the young firefighters who volunteer there.
District 26, a 100 percent volunteer department, serves as a training ground for EMTs who want to pursue a career in fire service. Les was an integral part of the program, serving as a mentor to young EMTs just starting out. The station located on U.S. 2 includes living accommodations for eight volunteers, who are able to reside at the station while they gain experience. Chief Eric Andrews explained that the rural district gives volunteers opportunities for learning that don't exist elsewhere.
The district serves the city of Gold Bar, along with approximately 36 square miles of the surrounding rural area. In 2004, through a contract with King County, the district started paramedic services, also referred to as Advanced Life Support services, which extend all the way up to Stevens Pass.
It was this need for a King County paramedic which brought Les to the Gold Bar Fire Station in 2003. He willingly began to share his extensive experience, strength and medical knowledge with the volunteers who would joke with each other that Les "has forgotten more about medicine than you'll ever know.GÇ¥
District 26 firefighters were devastated by the sudden and unexpected loss. His co-workers described him as an exceptionally kind and gentle man who had a lively sense of humor. They shared that, whenever Les reported for a shift, he would address them with a cheerful "Greetings and salutations,GÇ¥ always smiling and ready for whatever the day might bring.
"He was nice and polite and respectful to everybody,GÇ¥ said resident EMT Katie Eshelman. "He was awesome.GÇ¥
Another thing that stood out to his co-workers in Gold Bar was that, to Les, his last day of work was exactly the same as his first; his desire to help people had not diminished. Despite the challenges of the demanding high-stress profession, Les had a positive attitude which remained intact throughout his entire career.
"Mainly what I remember about him is that he was always, always a gentleman,GÇ¥ said District 26 volunteer Davi Martin. "I don't think I ever saw him upset or angry, no matter how horrible the call was. No matter how chaotic, no matter how bad things were going; he was very calm, very cool, and kind to the EMTs.GÇ¥
Long-time co-worker Mike Hilley, who has been with the Redmond Fire Department since 1994, shared that Les could handle anything, even the most difficult patients. Cindy and Hilley both agree that it was Les' experiences in Vietnam that enabled him to be so calm and adaptive to any situation.
They shared that Les transformed remarkably after starting in Gold Bar; his teaching abilities and his infinite patience enabled him to really come alive while serving as an advisor to the young volunteers. It was a restorative opportunity for Les, and one that he truly loved.
"He was more human than anybody I know because he never, ever would raise his voice to any of those kids,GÇ¥ said Cindy. "He always showed patience.GÇ¥
One night he showed up at the station with dinner for all the residents, after which he gave instruction on intraosseous IV; a life-saving technique which can be used to deliver medication to someone whose veins have collapsed. Other times he would stop by to show them something on YouTube that he thought was funny; one night it was a commercial which featured a cat doing chest compressions on another cat.
By all reports, Les was a gifted teacher and a cherished mentor to the young EMTs in Gold Bar. Endlessly patient, Les always took the time to answer their questions, frequently going above and beyond the call of duty. He spent time with them often.
"He's the guy that, if he was driving by the fire station and saw those kids out there washing the fire trucks, he would turn around and go back and help those kids wash the fire trucks,GÇ¥ said Hilley.
Cindy concurred that there were numerous occasions in which Les told her he was "just running into town to get the mailGÇ¥ and would be gone for several hours. Inevitably, that meant that he had driven past the station and noticed the volunteers outside working, and had decided to stop and help.
Although he had been talking about retiring from the Redmond Fire Department, he was still planning on volunteering in Gold Bar. "I'm not sure he was ever going to quit doing that,GÇ¥ said Hilley. "He loved those guys up there.GÇ¥
Hilley shared that Les' exceptional work ethic was known to his co-workers in Redmond, as well. The two worked together for 20 years, and in all that time, Hilley was continually amazed by Les. Always the dedicated professional, Les liked to show up early, stay late, and he consistently managed to maintain a positive attitude.
"That's where we got the saying that "You always get more from Les,'GÇ¥ said Hilley, explaining that Les was rather flummoxed by the silly saying. To him, he was just doing his job. "We started laying off of it after a while. The other one was; "You know Les is more, right?'GÇ¥
"That was him,GÇ¥ Hilley continued. "That really was him in a nutshell.GÇ¥
Les' good health made his unexpected death even more shocking to his friends and family. Of the two, it was Cindy who faced significant health challenges this year due to complications from Multiple Sclerosis. The situation grew increasingly dire, and Les eventually took medical leave from his job in Redmond to care for her.
After numerous trips to the hospital via ambulance, Les got Cindy situated in Evergreen Hospital, at which point she began to make a distinct turnaround.
"When she got better Les was overjoyed,GÇ¥ said Hilley.
Perhaps remarkable after 34 years of marriage, Les and Cindy thoroughly enjoyed each other's company. In July, the two had packed up their dogs and embarked on a camping adventure.
"We had a ball,GÇ¥ said Cindy. "We had an absolute ball.GÇ¥
Importantly, the two loved to laugh together. Cindy shared a recent experience in which both she and Les ended up in the kitchen in the middle of the night; both having forgotten what they went in there for. They stood there, together, in the middle of the night and just laughed with each other.
In addition to being an animal lover, Les was passionate about music and classic cars. He was a trumpet player in his younger years, and when he was 40, he decided he wanted to learn how to play the guitar. His taste in music was extremely eclectic; he loved classic rock, blues, country-western, jazz and reggae. The walls of his home are lined with part of his record collection.
"He was a man of laughter and music,GÇ¥ said Cindy.
He enjoyed showing his 1967 Oldsmobile 442 and will be missed by his fellow classic car enthusiasts. "I have a 1970 Mach 1 Mustang, so we'd always banter about who would win,GÇ¥ said Chief Andrews.
Les also had a cherry red 1967 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser which he had refurbished himself.
After Les passed away, the firefighters banded together to care of Cindy and make sure she was alright. They also cared for Les, as is tradition for firefighters. When one of their own passes, they stay with the fallen individual throughout the entire process; until that person has been put to rest.
"Myself and the Gold Bar firefighters moved Les from his house. We put him in a medic unit and took him down to the funeral home in Monroe, and we immediately put a watch on him,GÇ¥ said Hilley. "Every time his body needed to be moved, he was put into that medic unit and taken to the next destination.GÇ¥
Either a firefighter or a paramedic remained with Les 24 hours a day, seven days a week, up until Thursday, Sept. 25, when a formal procession brought him from Gold Bar to the church in Woodinville where his services were held. Firefighters, EMTs and paramedics from Skykomish, Index, Gold Bar and Redmond joined the procession, which was led by motorcycle officers from the Snohomish County Sheriff's Department.
As they passed District 5 in Sultan, as well as District 3 in Monroe, along with several other fire districts on the way, the firefighters and medics stood at attention, waving and saluting as they went by. The procession, which left Gold Bar at around 9 a.m., took over two hours to arrive at the church in Woodinville, where hundreds of firefighters waited for their arrival.
"That whole thing was phenomenal,GÇ¥ said Cindy. "It was breathtaking.GÇ¥
Hilley described Les as one of the original pioneers of emergency medical services in the Northwest and shared that Washington was one of the first states to actually deploy medical services of such a comprehensive nature.
"He dedicated his life to this,GÇ¥ said Hilley. "He was a fantastic man and I'm going to miss the hell out of him for a long time.GÇ¥
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