New scholarship honors EMS pioneer

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Candace Otte Scholarship for Nursing has been established at Grand Valley State University by friends and colleagues to create a lasting memorial to honor Candace Otte (Ingram).

In the late 1960s, along with colleague C. Mark Vasu, M.D., Otte developed and promoted training that made CPR a household name and helped to spread this training nearly universally to emergency responders, doctors, nurses and others. Otte served as director of emergency medical services programs at Grand Valley State University during the 1970s and 1980s and later at Davenport College (now University). She died last spring from complications of heart surgery.

A gathering to celebrate Otte’s life and announce the scholarship will be held Saturday, March 8, from 5-7 p.m., at the DeVos Center on Grand Valley’s Pew Grand Rapids Campus, 401 W. Fulton St. 

Speakers at the gathering include:
• Dr. Jon Krohmer, former medical director for Kent County EMS and current principal deputy assistant secretary and deputy chief medical officer of the Office of Health Affairs for the Department of Homeland Security
• John Hubinger, director of the Division of Health Policy for the State of Michigan

“Candace Otte epitomized the patient-driven desire for excellence and evidence-based practice associated with the professional nurse,” said Cynthia McCurren, dean of Grand Valley’s Kirkhof College of Nursing. “She was a champion for ensuring best practice for individuals experiencing trauma or cardiac crisis. The continuation of her example and legacy has been made possible for future generations of nurses through the establishment of the Candace Otte Scholarship for Nursing.” 

ABOUT THE SCHOLARSHIP
Candidates for the Candace Otte Scholarship for Nursing must be enrolled part-time or full-time as a BSN or graduate nursing degree-seeking student in the Kirkhof College of Nursing at Grand Valley. Preference will be given to candidates who are licensed paramedics, advanced EMT or equivalent training. Those wanting to give to the scholarship can contact Grand Valley at (616) 331-6000.

ABOUT OTTE
Candace Otte (Ingram) began her health care career at Butterworth Hospital working in the then-new ICU.  Otte was a devoted wife, mother of three children and a friend to many. In the spring of 2007, Candace Otte passed away due to complications from heart surgery.

In the late 1960s, Otte, R.N., an ICU nurse, and her cardiologist colleague C. Mark Vasu, M.D., believed that a newly introduced procedure, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, could save lives. Otte began teaching the then-new technique of CPR to physicians and nurses in area hospitals. While today it is standard practice for doctors, nurses and emergency workers to be trained in CPR, it had never been done before Otte and Vasu initiated the training. 

In the 1970s, Otte was persuaded to try her teaching techniques with police officers in Kent County.  A group of physicians who called themselves the Crash Squad were responding to emergency calls in their own vehicles to treat victims on the scene of an accident or illness. Otte and Vasu created a training program for ambulance attendants, fire and police officers, doctors, nurses and others which over the next two decades evolved into a nationally and internationally recognized paramedic training program.

Otte spent much of her professional life teaching in West Michigan and lending her expertise to the State of Michigan in the design of rules, regulations, and licensure exams for pre-hospital care providers. Otte served as the program director for Grand Valley State University’s Emergency Medical Services Training Program and the Davenport College Center for the Study of Emergency Medical Services Program. 

For more information, contact GVSU News and Information Services at (616) 331-2221.