Call it luck, fate or divine intervention, but when AMR Captain Kyle Brule of Stone Mountain, Georgia, packed up to call it a day at work on one spring day, he probably had no idea that he would become the answer to someone’s desperate plea for help.
It happened when Brule was driving from work on an interstate when he noticed traffic coming to a stop. The scene wasn’t a typical rush-hour bottleneck because drivers were pulling off the shoulder. Then, once Brule drove closer to the scene, he saw the reason for the slowdown: A vehicle had overturned and was fully engulfed in flames. What’s more, there was a person, waist down inside the vehicle, burning and screaming for help.
By all appearances, no attempts were being made to help the person. The individual was also not able to self-extricate. That’s when, Brule, who was off duty, stopped his car and pulled the person out of the automobile, ultimately saving the individual’s life.
But it doesn’t end there. Brule would go on to console the patient, who had suffered severe burns on at least half of their body. He stayed at the scene, caring for the individual, until fire and emergency teams arrived for further care and transport.
The event almost sounds like a storyline taken straight out of a Marvel heroes comic book, with the difference being that it actually happened. The heroism and compassion that Brule demonstrated that day so greatly impressed his leaders, that they would go on to select him as one of GMR’s 2022 Stars of Life, the most prestigious EMS award in the nation.
“As a five-year paramedic and supervisor with AMR, Captain Brule has dedicated himself to the EMS profession and his employees. Kyle is someone who walks the walk, a model employee going above and beyond each day to make sure others' needs are met,” said Lance Hester, Operations Manager for AMR.
In addition to the Stars of Life designation, Brule was also honored by the Georgia EMS Association (GEMSA), who awarded him with the 2021 Georgia Paramedic of the Year Award at their event ceremony in March 2022.
“When I heard the news that I was nominated for both the Stars of Life and the Georgia Paramedic of the Year, I was speechless. It is an extraordinary honor to be recognized at this level, and I feel deeply appreciated,” said Brule. “I did what I knew how to do best in the moment. While we never wish incidents like this to happen, I would do the exact same thing if it happened again.”
There’s an old saying that “timing is everything,” and when it comes to that dramatic rescue, where a patient could have died a gruesome and painful death had it not been for Brule stepping in when he did, the saying couldn’t have been truer. And for a humble, servant-leader who lives out the EMS mission in the most organic way possible — on his time off — Brule serves as a representative of all that is good and honorable in EMS.