WACO, Texas — A Waco woman is heading to Washington D.C. to be honored at the American Ambulance Association Stars of Life award ceremony.
Darla Biggerstaff has been a paramedic in Waco for 15 years.
During that time she's made a name for herself as a calm and collected leader, important qualities when working as an EMT.
She said her motto is "no one is allowed to die, multiply or panic."
"The dying part, that's my hard and fast rule," Biggerstaff said.
"Nobody dies in my truck,
"Nobody multiplies, that means I don't have extra patients and my pregnant ladies stay pregnant a little longer,
"And nobody's allowed to panic until I do, that's because I haven't run into a situation where I have panicked."
That motto and her level-headedness caught the attention of her team, including Karen Willis.
Willis is Biggerstaff's friend and former partner, she was also the one who nominated her for this prestigious award.
"When you walk up on a scene and her name precedes her," Willis said.
"She goes 'Hi I'm Darla' and they're like 'I've heard about you,'
"Automatically, then it's like she needs recognition."
Biggerstaff and 33 other paramedics from around the country will spend the next four days at the nation's capital.
She is the only person attending from Texas.
They will attend the ceremony and be recognized as Global Medical Response Stars of Life.
"I'm in awe of it, honestly. It's just surreal," Biggerstaff said.
"I didn't think somebody from such a small town could be going to Washington D.C. to represent everything and the company and something I truly ended up loving altogether."
Biggerstaff said she didn't always want to be a paramedic, but is thankful this is where her life took her.
