The Galveston County Daily News

Paramedic Lisa Camp recalls one memory in particular of the chaos following Hurricane Ike — the first glimpse she had of her paramedic husband — the moment she knew for sure he had survived the aftermath.

“Telephones were down... You never know when you’re going to see your friends or family again,” she said. She had been working without relief for days, struggling to find shelter for victims, sharing their concern for loved ones they could not contact.

Camp has worked many hurricanes in her 30 years of emergency services work. She was in the Super Dome in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when the levees broke and has assisted the Texas-3 Disaster Medical Assistance Teams in several Florida hurricanes.

But Ike hit home. As assistant chief for the city of La Porte Emergency Medical Services, Camp was unable to meet up with her husband, Andrew Chalk, and friends working with the Friendswood Volunteer Fire Department for several days.

They finally met in Webster.

“I was so happy everybody was alive, that everybody was OK,” she said.

Even in calm weather, Camp keeps a hectic pace. She carries two cell phones and a hand-held emergency radio for work that includes:

• Assistant chief, La Porte Emergency Medical Services;

• EMS chief, Friends-wood Volunteer Fire Department;

• Coordinator of continuing education and training programs, including community CPR classes;

• Adjunct faculty member in the Public Service Careers Department of the College of the Mainland in Texas City;

• Member of Texas-3 Disaster Medical Assistance Team;

• Safety Clown, performing at schools and community events (she wears a fire helmet, red hair, blue and white costume and big red and yellow shoes); and

• Helping with a monthly free immunization program for children.

For her dedicated work in emergency services and community programs, Lisa Camp has been selected as a 2009 Unsung Hero.

Camp, who lives in Friendswood, joins others selected by The Daily News from across the county who were recently honored with a plaque at a reception.

“To me, an Unsung Hero is someone you strive to imitate, and Lisa Camp is my local hero due to all the wonderful things she does for her community,” wrote Roy Hunter, chief of the Clear Lake Emergency Medical Corps, in nominating her for the honor. “She has always striven for the best in care from herself and from her service.”

Camp started volunteering with Friends-wood Fire Department when she was 17. Now, she teaches teenagers in an innovative partnership with the Friendswood school district, Volunteer Fire Department and the College of the Mainland.

“I try to tell them how rewarding it is,” Camp said. “I tell them to follow their dreams, find something you like and stick with it.

“In 30 years, I’ve never not wanted to go to work, or call in sick,” she said. “Every day is a different day; every call a different call.”