Dr. Michael Copass was voted by the Mercer Island City Council as the 2011 Citizen of the Year on June 18.
“In a city who is full of people who do remarkable things, we have overachievers of all professions, all ages,” said Mercer Island Mayor Bruce Bassett.
But for the years of work in bringing emergency services delivery to the highest standard ever in King County and beyond, Dr. Copass might need to be the citizen of the year for the last several decades.
Mike Cero gets credit for nominating and promoting Dr. Copass, said Bassett. They were neighbors on Avalon Drive. Councilman Cero noted in his nomination of Copass that he is an amazing Halloween pumpkin carver.
At the Council meeting, more than a dozen firefighters and police came to salute Copass as he received his award.
Mercer Island Fire Chief Chris Tubbs spoke on behalf of the Council about the accomplishments and attributes of Dr. Copass.
Dr. Copass was one of the founding fathers of Medic One — a notion that was highly controversial when it was first proposed, Tubbs noted. Medic One combines the training of firefighters with that of medical responders who work together to quickly and effectively attend to patients, no matter where they are.
The idea was one thing, but the implementation was quite another. Copass’s focus on every aspect of emergency services is what saw it through.
“The leadership, vision and uncompromising nature of Dr. Copass,” Tubbs said, “has set the gold standard for emergency services.”
Indeed, a person’s chance of surviving a heart attack in the Seattle area is the best in the nation and perhaps the world. Organizations come from all over the world to learn from Seattle’s program.
In addition to Medic One, Copass founded Airlift Northwest, a network of aircraft and helicopters that transport critically ill or injured patients by air to hospitals. He was the director of paramedic training at Harborview Medical Center.
Dr. Copass is supposed to be retired by now, but he still sees patients, and by all accounts, keeps a hand in.
He is trained as a neurologist and continues to see patients.
He is a legend in the EMS community, Tubbs said.
It is his uncanny ability to show up at just the right time when an emergency is underway that is part of his persona. And he does not hesitate to correct or participate in the process, Tubbs explained. He demands excellence.
“Many EMS providers have the scars to prove it,” Tubbs said.
Tubbs worked with Copass at a major disaster right here on Mercer Island. In 1982, two planes collided over Mercer Island and six people died.
“For some, having Dr. Copass show up is discomfiting — like dad showing up to watch you perform,” he said. “But most are grateful for have Portable ‘55 at your disposal.”
It is possible that Dr. Copass has done more for the health of this region than any one man.
Better here than anywhere else.
As a firefighter, Tubbs himself has been a patient three times at Harborview. He remembered the time he was taken to be treated for burns at Harborview.
As he was rushed in the door at the hospital, he was swarmed by a legion of doctors and nurses tending to him. There was not room for another person to stand at his gurney, he said.
But suddenly, there was silence. The crowd parted. And standing there with his arms crossed and that familiar look on his face, was Dr. Copass.
He said: “I heard one of my boys was injured, so I thought I should come see how he is.”
“I could have walked on water,” Tubbs said, “to be called ‘one of his boys.’”
Dr. Copass thanked the Council for the honor, but said little about his life’s work. Instead, he spoke of coming to live on the Island after he left the Army because it was cheaper than living in the city. He and his wife, Lucy, raised three children who loved the open spaces and the parks, and received ‘ferocious’ schooling.
Copass and his wife have recently moved from the Island, a place that he said has a sense of calmness.
But, he remains on alert.
He still tries to stop “when I see a big red and white truck, and poke my nose into their business.”
