LOCAL EMT GOES ON ROAD TRIP WITH OLYMPIC TORCH

Perry Davis knows what to do in an emergency, so he seemed like the logical person to call when the Olympic Torch Relay committee had a crisis Monday.

And since prompt responses are part of his job as an emergency medical technician with the Cape County Private Ambulance service, Davis was quick to accept a temporary job offer from the Olympic Torch Relay committee.

He won't be paid any cash for his work, but Davis was offered a chance to carry an Olympic torch in Kentucky and received an invitation to the Olympic Games in Atlanta.

The Centennial Olympic flame arrived via train in Cape Girardeau Monday afternoon before heading up U.S. Highway 61 to Crystal City and St. Louis. It will travel 15,000 miles before arriving in Atlanta for Opening Ceremonies July 19.

Davis replaced another Missouri medic who was called home for a family emergency. He accompanied the flame from Cape Girardeau to St. Louis before returning late Tuesday.

"It was a last minute deal and we really needed someone qualified," said Rock Storey with the Torch Relay committee. So the committee contacted the ambulance service where Davis works and he agreed to do the job.

"I got off work at 7:30 a.m. and had been up all night so I was ready to take a nap when they called," Davis said. "They explained what they needed and I said I would do it." He reported for work about 45 minutes after he got the call.

Working with the Olympic medical team was a once-in-a-lifetime chance, he said. "It could have been anybody but I was the first on the list that could go."

During his 48-hour trip to St. Louis, Davis only treated about three people with minor complaints, which ranged from nausea to motorcycle burns.

Each state usually sends a medical representative along with the Torch Relay while the torch is in that state, Storey said. "In case something comes up, then we have someone local."

Davis, 30, was available to treat both the crowd and the torch runners. A woman passed out near Arnold and his team stayed with her until a local paramedic team could make its way through the crowd. Other injuries weren't as severe -- one of the Olympic staff photographers fell off a van and bumped his head, Davis said.

Before seeing the torch entourage up close, Davis never imagined that hundreds of people travel with the flame. About 150 people -- from Georgia State Patrol officers to members of the Atlanta Committee on the Olympic Games -- travel daily with the Olympic Torch Relay.

"It was really something," he said. "The amount of people was phenomenal. They were like one big family and I was lucky to be included."

Davis has been an EMT for 11 years, but has only worked in Cape Girardeau County for about two years. He also works part-time with Stoddard County Emergency Services.