Robert G. Nixon, MBA, EMT-P 1950-2008

     Last month, EMS Magazine editorial advisory board member Robert G. Nixon passed away after losing his battle with skin cancer. I had worked with Bob since I started at EMS Magazine in May 1995 and was always impressed by his willingness to mentor new writers, his commitment to the EMS profession—and the quality of EMS education in particular—and by his sunny disposition, which always made it a pleasure to be around him. He was a frequent contributor to EMS Magazine, as well as a regular speaker at EMS EXPO. He will be much missed by us all. Following is an obituary from Charles E. Stewart, MD, a close friend of Bob's and former EMS Magazine editorial advisory board member.

Robert G. Nixon, MBA, EMT-P • 1950–2008
     Bob was a paramedic, an educator, an author, a consultant, a nationally acclaimed speaker and, above all, my friend.

     We met at the first EMS EXPO 20 years ago. We joined the advisory board of EMS Magazine together. We suffered through each other's divorces, and rejoiced through each other's subsequent marriages. We also suffered together when Bob developed melanoma on his scalp…and laughed together about a hat that remained on during a full EXPO (to protect the excision and graft).

     We became best friends and went beyond to become co-authors. This proved to be a relationship that consumed us more than mere friendship. Bob and I conferred many hours about topics, inclusions, exclusions, language, wording, words and the meaning of life. We rejoiced again as jobs changed and our books were successfully published.

     Then the cancer recurred. Bob responded well to chemotherapy and we were both upbeat. Long-term projects were discussed and started. Bob took a new job in California. Disaster struck when the chemotherapy was stopped due to immune suppression. It was as if the cancer had been given a license to kill…and it did, within weeks.

     I didn't get to say good-bye to my best friend. The end occurred within a few days. He flew from California to Atlanta to visit his sister and daughter. Bob arrived with a significantly altered mental status. He rapidly lost consciousness and his beloved wife, Teena, called me and said, "I'm in Atlanta, Bob's in the hospice. He's dying!" I'd talked to a cheerful, optimistic Bob five days earlier. Bob died the next morning.

     We have lost a paramedic, an educator, an author, a speaker…and a friend. Bob's accomplishments aren't measured by the number of speaking engagements, the number of articles and the number of books, but rather by the countless patients and providers he touched with his words, deeds and thoughts. This is his legacy.

     —Charles E. Stewart, MD, FACEP, FAAEM, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, University of Oklahoma, Tulsa, OK

Teena's and Bob's family would like any remembrances given to the American Cancer Society in his name.