South Pend Oreille Fire and Rescue continues the volunteer appreciation program called SPOFR Volunteer Spotlight. This is a way to recognize the volunteers when you see them in the community grocery store or at any local activities.
January 2023 Volunteer Spotlight
John Dugger, EMT, Diamond Lake Station
Our fourth volunteer recognized in February is John Dugger who has been with SPOFR since 2019 and is currently a volunteer firefighter and paramedic with the agency. He recently began the process of obtaining an SEI (Senior EMS Instructor) certificate and is teaching his first EMT class. John grew up in Pend Oreille County and graduated from Newport High School in 1995. He said, “It’s an honor and privilege to work for SPOFR and to be able to give back to the community that I get to call my hometown.” Along with SPOFR, John also works full time with POEMS (Pend Oreille Emergency Medical Services). POEMS is an ALS (Advanced Life Support) ambulance service based out of Newport, WA. POEMS covers 911 calls for a large portion of the county and acts as the primary transport agency for Newport Hospital. He has been with POEMS since 2019 and is currently its training officer. John’s wife ,Melissa, works at Sacred Heart Medical Center. She’s a nurse in the pediatric ER. This is an extremely demanding job working with very sick and injured kids. Along with working as a nurse, she also precepts new nurses and students and rotates as charge nurse. Congratulations, John, on being our SPOFR Volunteer Spotlight recipient for February 2023.
Photo and Text By
SPOFR PIO Rick OBrien
