By Jo Garcia-Cobb
Getting everyone home safely has been Victor Hoffer’s passion and a life work that earned him this year’s Meritorious Service Award from the State of Oregon Emergency Medical Services & Trauma Systems Division of the Oregon Health Authority.
Presented Oct. 5 in Bend, the award recognized Hoffer, a Mount Angel lawyer, paramedic, and fire volunteer, for his advocacy for Emergency Medical Services and highway safety. Hoffer was cited as having made significant contributions toward making EMS a priority in Oregon’s Traffic Safety Action Plan and in developing the plan.
“To have Emergency Medical Services as the number one priority in a highway safety plan is a first in Oregon and the nation,” House Representative Vic Gilliam said.
Hoffer assisted in the formulation goals and objectives for the TSAP and more than 100 action plans. The award recognized Hoffer’s work to secure funding and conduct statewide EMS training, as well as his service to others.
Hoffer was nominated by Gilliam, Bob Renggli, Community Liaison at Rural/Metro Ambulance, and Capt. Mark Hornshuh of Banks Fire Department.
In helping to develop the traffic safety plan, Hoffer led public hearings throughout Oregon. “We listened to what community members had to say and took their concerns to heart,” he said.
A long-time EMS advocate, Hoffer has had a direct influence in advocating for EMS and highway safety since Gov. John Kitzhaber appointed him to the Oregon Transportation Safety Committee in 2008. The committee’s 10-year vision is to have as many zero fatality days as possible.
“I will never forget the day my son never made it home,” Hoffer said. His 31-year-old son, Victor III, who was an Army Captain, died on Jan. 2, 2009, after he lost control of his vehicle during a flash hail storm in Salem. On Christmas Eve in 1999, his brother John died from a car wreck on his way to Tillamook. On Dec. 17, 1991, Hoffer’s father died in a car crash on Hwy. 214, between Mount Angel and Silverton.
Hoffer’s younger son, Paul, was in the car with his grandfather. Paul was three years old and was not expected to live, but he survived. Now a graduate engineering student at the University of Arizona, Paul, 23, has worked with his father as an intern for the Traffic Safety Division of the Oregon Department of Transportation.
“Paul did all the data analysis and created all the Powerpoint presentations for us. He gave the entire presentation at the initial public hearing. I’m happy that he did so much work for the ODOT,” Hoffer said.
Sustained efforts during the last 20 years in the four major areas of traffic safety — engineering, education, enforcement, and EMS — have resulted in a dramatic decline in Oregon’s traffic death rate.
The TSAP of 2011 reported that traffic crashes are still the leading cause of death for persons under 35. Speed, alcohol and not wearing safety restraints are major factors in fatal crashes. Drivers less than 21 years of age accounted for 22.29 percent of the drivers involved in fatal injury crashes, yet are 6.3 percent of the driving population.
“Advances have been made,” Hoffer said. “In 2010, Oregonians set a record for the lowest fatality rate on state highways since the mid-1940s.”
The plan’s top priority is the development of strategies to assure the recruitment and retention of EMS and fire volunteers.
“In an accident, what matters the most is the presence of someone of who can help save lives and minimize injury,” Hoffer said.
As a paramedic, Hoffer has seen it happen many times. “When someone calls 911, fire and EMS volunteers can make all the difference in that person’s life. It’s a beautiful thing to be there to help and comfort a person in need.”
A member of the National Association of EMTs, the British Association of Immediate Care, and the faculty of pre-hospital care of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, Hoffer has not only volunteered to help fire and traffic accident victims – he has delivered a lot of babies.
He said his parents instilled in him a sense of civic responsibility. His father was Mount Angel’s fire chief from 1972 to 1987. His father worked to establish a volunteer ambulance service as part of the Mount Angel Fire Department, and he asked Victor for help. His mother, Margaret, was Mount Angel’s mayor from 1981 to 1987, and served on the city council for 20 years.
Hoffer sees a great need to recruit and retain EMS and fire volunteers. Hoffer hopes that more people will step up to the plate of volunteerism. He cited various EMS incentives, including scholarships and educational opportunities.
“There’s a need to inspire and invigorate community members to volunteer and to love doing so.”
