Vickie Cleary

Vickie Cleary

Victoria Cleary, an Orange County Emergency Care Icon, passed

comfortably and peacefully on August 14th, at home surrounded by

her family after a courageous battle with cancer.

Vickie was born in Long Beach, California on May 19th, 1946

and graduated from Queen of Angels School

of Nursing in Los Angeles in 1967. Vickie

began her career immediately at Hoag

Hospital in Newport Beach in the new

Critical Care Unit. Paramedic Services

were introduced in Orange County in 1978

and Vickie became one of the first Mobile

Intensive Care Nurses to begin directing

Paramedic rescues from the hospital over the

Base Station radio. In 1980 she was selected

by the Hospital and local Fire Agencies to become the Pre-Hospital

Care Coordinator and manage the hospital’s responsibilities for the

Paramedic Program. In 1987 she accepted a promotion to become

the Coordinator for all of the Emergency Services at Hoag Hospital.

In 1993 after serving the Hospital in several other administrative

roles she followed her primary interest and vocational love and

became Newport Beach Fire Department’s first Emergency Services

Manager. Perhaps, one of Vickie’s greatest personal gifts was to

work very effectively in this heavily male dominated environment

without sacrificing any of her remarkable femininity! She could be

strong and gentle at the same time and infused those characteristics

into the fire department culture. Vickie’s contributions to the

growth, maturity, professionalism, and quality of pre-hospital care

are recognized as unequaled from 1980 until her retirement in 2004.

Virtually every Orange County Emergency Medical Services (EMS)

process, program, form, committee or person was influenced in

some positive way by “Miss Vickie” during those years.

Among her many contributions to the EMS field was START,

a plan to reduce the chaos and provide an organized medical

framework for the first responders to Mass Casualty Incidents in

1982. START was adopted by most Fire Agencies and other First

Responder Agents throughout the United States, Canada, Europe

and Australia. It was used at both of the World Trade Center

disasters and the bombing of the Murrah Building in Oklahoma

City, as well as countless other less well publicized disaster scenes.

With minor modifications, START remains, twenty five years later,

the most widely used initial triage plan around the world today. In

1987 she co-authored the textbook “Prehospital Care: Administrative

and Clinical Management”. A few years later in collaboration with a

few close Fire Agency personnel she developed the plan to organize

the Paramedic Units and Base Hospitals managing incidents with

multiple victims, the Multiple Victim Incident Plan. She was an

American Heart Association Instructor in both Basic and Advanced

Cardiac Life support, a member of the National and Orange county

Emergency Nurses Association, served on many Orange County

emergency care committees and boards, and was the recipient of

dozens of awards for her contributions to the Emergency Services

arena.

Vickie will be remembered as combining superior wisdom, a

dry wit, engaging warmth, easy social grace, even temperament,

gregariousness and a very special knack of making co-workers good

friends. She had a Dolly Parton like figure which led to many well

meaning humorous comments which she accepted or tolerated and

occasionally, perhaps, encouraged with élan and grace. She enjoyed

ocean cruises, motor home trips in the States and Mexico, Classical,

as well as Old Time Rock and Roll music and, especially the lyrics

and melodies of Jimmy Buffet and The Eagles. Many friends

will remember Vickie with a glass of wine in her hand as stories

from adventures past were shared around a campfire! Vickie was

respected for her work and loved for her character and spirit and will

be greatly missed by all.

She is survived by her husband, Jack Cleary, her daughter, Tami

Cleary, her always patiently and completely loved and enjoyed,

very active granddaughter, Ella, her mother Catherine Florea and

her three sisters, Debbie Salvucci, Kim Shurley and Rhonda Frost.

Vickies father, Rolland and brother Bud Florea preceded her in

death.

The Fire Chief’s of Orange County will honor Vickie by

including her in the 911 Memorial Service, which is usually reserved

for sworn personnel, at 10:00 AM on September 11, at the Santa

Ana Civic Center.

At Vickie’s request a Celebration of Life in lieu of a funeral

will be held on September 6th from noon until dusk at 3848

Carnegie Drive in Oceanside California. More detail is available at

VickieCare@gmail.com.