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Cyclists honoring fallen emergency medical professionals stopped at the Falls Church Volunteer Fire Department on July 18 as part of a 62-mile National EMS Memorial Bike Ride through Northern Virginia.

The riders arrived around 9:10 a.m. after leaving the Hyatt Crystal City, host of the National EMS Weekend of Honor. Their route followed a metric century through Arlington, Falls Church, Vienna and Herndon before returning to be welcomed by relatives and friends of the 2025 honorees.

At the firehouse at 6950 Little Falls Road, just off the W&OD Trail, volunteers provided water, ice, refreshments, restrooms and a place to recover from the intense July sun. One rider also received first aid for a bee sting.

The Falls Church Volunteer Fire Department has hosted the rest stop for three years. Department Secretary Richard Klein said the arrangement began after organizers noticed that the station sat near the middle of the route and asked whether it could support the cyclists.

Klein said the department was glad to help people riding in memory of EMS professionals who died in the line of duty. The stop also gave participants an opportunity to pass through Falls Church during the national event.

The visit came during the department’s centennial year. Founded a century ago, the volunteer organization marked its 100th anniversary in 2025 while continuing to provide emergency medical services and safety education in Falls Church and Arlington County.

Remembering 29 fallen providers

The National EMS Memorial Bike Ride has organized commemorative long-distance cycling events for 25 years. Its work combines remembrance with efforts to promote physical and mental well-being among emergency personnel.

Eric Morrison, a member of the organization’s board, said the weekend’s ceremony would honor 29 EMS providers who had died in the line of duty. He said the ride was intended to assure their families that the service and sacrifices of their loved ones had not been forgotten.

Morrison, an EMS director in North Carolina and a paramedic for nearly 30 years, joined the organization after the Covid pandemic. Although this was his first year at the event without personally knowing one of the current honorees, the ride fell near the anniversary of the line-of-duty death of a provider who had worked with him.

He said EMS personnel face risks both at emergency scenes and while traveling to calls. Their work requires repeatedly lifting patients, stretchers and equipment, while the many hours spent in ambulances expose crews to roadway hazards. Vehicles in his service average approximately 60,000 miles per year, he said, underscoring the importance of drivers yielding to emergency vehicles.

Jennifer Scott, assistant chief nursing officer for Piedmont EMS, rode in memory of Chelsea Jackson, an EMS professional who had died nearly a year earlier. Scott carried Jackson’s dog tags during the event.

A nurse for 27 years, Scott said paramedics and emergency medical technicians often complete the most difficult early work before a patient reaches the hospital. Crews may enter chaotic scenes involving shootings, stabbings, car crashes or other emergencies without initially knowing what they will encounter. Some have been struck by vehicles while responding to crashes, she noted.

Physical danger and emotional strain

John, an EMT from Washington, D.C., was participating in the memorial ride for the first time. He planned to add another 14 miles by cycling between his home and the Crystal City starting point.

After about three years in EMS, John described the profession as one of the most rewarding things he had done. He emphasized that crews are trained to determine whether a scene is safe before entering, leaving police, utility workers or other specialists to address hazards when necessary. Even with those precautions, he acknowledged that unexpected incidents can occur.

John also praised the event’s support volunteers, whose work extended well beyond the hours cyclists spent on the route.

Trauma nurse Cindy Anthony rode in memory of those who had died and in support of those who continue to serve. Her medical career began with EMS training in the 1980s and has included work in emergency rooms, intensive care units and trauma care.

Anthony said some of the profession’s most serious hazards receive less public attention. Along with infectious diseases and behavioral emergencies, EMS workers confront burnout, mental-health pressures and compassion fatigue. Caring deeply for patients can make the emotional burden especially difficult, she said.

Tim Perkins, an 18-year consecutive participant, was the person who originally asked the Falls Church department to open its firehouse to riders three years earlier. A Richmond resident who works for the Virginia Department of Health, he has served as a paramedic, EMS administrator, state regulator, ride board member, public information officer and route coordinator.

Perkins said EMS can sometimes receive less attention than police and fire services even though medical emergencies account for most calls at many agencies. He estimated that some departments devote about 80 percent of their responses to EMS calls and approximately 20 percent to fire, rescue and other incidents.

He also pointed to health problems within the profession. Providers may devote tremendous care to patients while neglecting their own physical and emotional needs. The memorial organization therefore uses its rides not only to honor the dead but also to encourage better health and safety among working EMS personnel.

The pressure can accumulate throughout long, unpredictable shifts, Perkins said. Providers routinely enter people’s homes at moments of fear and vulnerability, even when responding to apparently simple incidents such as helping someone who has fallen. In busy systems, a scheduled 12-hour shift may stretch longer when demand remains high.

That unrelenting workload contributes to burnout and short careers, he said, with many people remaining in EMS for only four or five years.

Dog tags carried for hundreds of miles

Kerry Bering, a North Carolina paramedic, flight medic and 20-year EMS veteran, supported the cyclists from the sidelines this time. She has participated in the Weekend of Honor and the organization’s East Coast route every year since 2018, but was recovering after the demanding 500-mile ride and jokingly described herself as being on the injured-reserve list.

Bering had previously served as both a cyclist and board member. At the Falls Church stop, she concentrated on ensuring riders had supplies and assistance.

She carried dog tags memorializing EMS professionals, including Andrew “Andy” Humphrey, who died in 2024. Humphrey’s death was not classified as occurring in the line of duty, but Bering had ridden in his memory during the seven-day journey from Boston to Washington.

Bering had taught Humphrey’s son, Nick, in paramedic school and later worked with him as an instructor. Humphrey had served in both law enforcement and paramedic care in Northern Virginia and was believed to have worked in Fairfax.

Later that day, Bering planned to present Nick with one of his father’s dog tags during a ceremony in Sterling. She had carried it throughout the East Coast route, through rain, sunshine and 500 miles of cycling.

Participants generally keep one memorial tag and give another to the honoree’s family. Bering keeps tags from previous years in a satchel because wearing all of them around her neck while cycling has become uncomfortable.

For Bering, the tags are physical reminders of the people she has honored. During difficult climbs, she thinks about them and draws strength from the bond shared by paramedics and EMTs.

She said EMS colleagues would not abandon one another—and that conviction keeps her riding for those who are gone.