|
 Grandpa,
as Lyle E. Eckhart was known throughout Kansas EMS, was responsible
for much of the EMS system today.
Lyle’s
first contact with emergency care was operating a funeral home based
ambulance service.
In
1974, he attended the first Instructor/Coordinator class sponsored by
the Emergency Medical Training Program at the KU Medical Center.
He became an MICT in 1975, at 49 the oldest student in a class
of 12. He served as the
first Regional EMS Coordinator in 1976 and 1977 and was appointed
Director of the Bureau of EMS, under the Department of Health
and Environment, in October of 1977.
Lyle
implemented many improvements in the late 1970s that resulted in
Kansas becoming an EMS leader - statutes and regulations requiring all
ambulance services to be licensed and provide care 24 hours a day and
a minimum equipment list for ambulances are examples.
Lyle
assumed the responsibility of administering the state EMT examination
in late 1982, creating a consistent evaluation of expected written and
practical knowledge.
In
1983, in a move to keep the Bureau of EMS from being reduced in staff
and authority, Lyle initiated legislation that moved the agency to the
Kansas Highway Patrol.
Lyle
was a leader in the 1987 interim study on Government Affairs that
studied the consolidation of the Emergency Medical Training Program at
the KU Medical Center and the Bureau of EMS into one agency.
On April 14, 1988, legislation was signed into law that created
a free-standing Board of Emergency Medical Services and Lyle became
the first Administrator.
Lyle
retired in 1988 and maintained his MICT and I/C certifications for
several years. His death
in 1996 closed a chapter in Kansas EMS that will never be matched.
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