2025 Florida Ambulance Association Star of Life
Heather Burke, Critical Care Paramedic 
Trident EMS

Heather Burke began her career in EMS at Volusia County EMS in 1998. During her time at Volusia she was honored with several awards including Signature Retrieval and Paramedic of the Year. She was also bestowed an award by the Weather Channel and Brighthouse Network following the 2004 hurricanes. She volunteered for multiple hurricane deployments both in Florida and other states, including the response to Hurricane Katrina. She also played a key role in coordinating the EMS response to mass casualty incidents and, for five years, was actively involved in the school safety program. As part of this program, she visited kindergarten classes to teach safety lessons on topics such as stranger danger, fire safety, drugs, walking safety, and gun safety.

Heather later joined Lake / Sumter County EMS in 2007 where she became an AHA instructor, where she was awarded the True North Award for always going above and beyond. She was also awarded the first ever Lake County EMS Medal of Honor for rescuing a woman from a local lake. In addition, she was a member of the Muddy Angels, which is a group that cycles from Maine to D.C. to raise money for the National EMS Memorial.

Since joining Trident EMS, Heather has transported several high acuity CCT calls inducing a balloon pump transfer. While working at the Bay County location she saved numerous lives during high rip currents caused by a tropical storm offshore. During COVID she dedicated herself to transporting hundreds of critically ill patients to experimental treatments. Heather has been an outstanding addition to every service she has worked for and is extremely deserving of the 2025 Florida Star of Life award.