06/13/2026
45 Years ago today:
On June 13, 1981, Bruce Ditlow and Kevin Weatherlow were involved in an attempt to rescue a young boy from an abandoned septic tank. The call was routine, and the paramedics were on the scene within three minutes. However, Bruce and fellow paramedic Kevin—his best friend since high school—were overcome by lethal methane gas as they worked to save the boy and each other. Bruce, a paramedic at St. Joseph Hospital Medic One for five years, was dedicated to educating the public about pre-hospital care and teaching cardiopulmonary resuscitation for St. Joseph Hospital and its satellite clinics. In addition, he taught in St. Joseph’s Paramedic Program. He was planning a career in nursing. Kevin, a paramedic at St. Joseph Hospital Medic One for four years, was on the Dean’s List at Reading Area Community College, where he was attending nursing school. Kevin was also active in the Army Reserves. He and his wife, Sharon, were the parents of one daughter, Kristen. Jeff Jones, a volunteer firefighter with Bausman Fire Company (now Lancaster Township), also died during the rescue attempt.
The young boy Bruce, Kevin, and Jeff were trying to save was rescued and recovered from the experience.
Bruce and Kevin were honored in 1995 at the National EMS Memorial; Jeff was honored at the National Fire Fighters Memorial.
The selfless sacrifice of these individuals is a lesson to us all as we go through our days. Their legacy lives on here at Lancaster EMS in many ways. As staff reach out to one another and step forward to speak for the less fortunate patients we encounter each day, that legacy is faithfully carried on amongst our team. The message can never be lost, nor will it soon be forgotten. We must remain keenly aware of the memory and legacy given to us on that June day in 1981, and by all the other EMS practitioners who have made the ultimate sacrifice. Every year, flowers are placed at Bruce and Kevin’s gravesites at Conestoga Memorial Park. This year will be no different. The flowers will be placed, and the legacy will live on, protected by each one of us as we go through our days caring for the public we have been entrusted to serve.
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15:13
The following individuals from Lancaster County have given their lives in the line of duty: Ethel Speros, EMT, Willow Street Fire Company; Patricia Riccobono, flight medic, Allentown-Sacred Heart Hospital, and former medic at Community Hospital of Lancaster; David A. Sauder, EMT, Leola Ambulance Association, Larry Joe, EMT, Lancaster EMS, Douglas Zima Paramedic NWEMS.
