A national tribute honoring emergency medical services professionals who died in the line of duty will soon make a stop in Mississippi.
The National EMS Memorial Service’s annual procession will be in Jackson this weekend. The event will be held at the the state capitol on Saturday at 10 a.m. Officials say the procession is making 32 stops in 24 states to memorialize 37 EMS professionals who passed away in action in 2025.
Locally, three EMS professionals from the University of Mississippi Medical Center Air Care, who died in a medical helicopter accident, will be recognized as part of the tribute. They are Jakob Kindt, Dustin Pope, and Carl Wesolowski.
The trio was headed northeast from the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson before crashing in nearby Canton on March 10, 2025. Kindt, a critical care paramedic, Pope, a flight nurse, and Wesolowski, a Med Trans pilot, were identified as the victims shortly after the crash. The families of two of the three victims later agreed to confidential settlements related to the crash.
The National EMS Memorial Service’s Mississippi event is one of the many stops along a 9,000-mile journey that began June 1 in Redding, Calif. and will culminate in Arlington, Va. on July 19 where fallen EMS providers will be honored as part of the National EMS Memorial Service and Weekend of Honor.
At the heart of the journey is a specially wrapped ambulance carrying the Tree of Life — this year’s installment of the memorial bearing the names of those lost.
Built by EMS volunteers, the Tree is transported with reverence and remains sealed until its unveiling at the national service. A replica Tree of Life will be on display at each stop, offering communities a space to pause, reflect, and honor lives of service.
“These fallen heroes are not just names – they are fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters,” an official statement from the Mississippi State Department of Health reads. “They are the ones who leave their homes, families, and safety behind to answer the call, never knowing that their work would cost them their lives.”
Mississippi has lost at least 23 EMS professionals in the line of duty since 1989.
