The Record Newspapers - Hometown News For Orange County, Texas

First responders from the Boston Marathon bombings in April will be the guest speakers at the Lamar Institute of Technology Foundation’s Salute to Real American Heroes at 6 p.m. on Sept. 5.

Capt. Raymond Dupuis from the Watertown Police Department in Watertown, Mass., and Joseph O’Hare, deputy supervisor of the dispatch operations for Boston Emergency Medical Services, will speak at the annual fund-raiser.

The event is held at the Wesley United Methodist Church Family Life Center, 3810 North Major Drive.

The Watertown Police Department was very involved with the pursuit and eventual capture of the bombing suspects, from the shootout in the early morning hours of April 19 to the capture of the younger Tsarnaev brother that same evening. Capt. Dupuis was one of the first officers on the scene when the Watertown Police Department captured bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

He has been a police officer for 30 years, having been promoted to captain in 2000. In the past 13 years as second in command at the Watertown Police Department, he has been in charge of the Bureau of Field Operations, the Patrol Division, Traffic Division and the Public Safety Dispatchers.

Joseph O’Hare was in charge of coordinating the City of Boston’s ambulance service to the site of the bombing. From the unified command area, he and his co-workers had already initiated the disaster communications plan.

O’Hare has been a registered EMT for more than 35 years. He worked in the private sector as an EMT and a paramedic for 13 years, and began working for the City of Boston 1991. He was promoted to deputy superintendent in 2006, and assumed command of dispatch operations in 2008.

O’Hare’s department processes 110,000 calls for service each year. They also provide radio communications between ambulances and hospitals in the region. The Boston area Ambulance Mutual Aid network, an implementation of O’Hare’s department, provides direct communications between Boston EMS and regional partners. All of this proved valuable during the Boston Marathon bombing.

From 8 a.m. to noon on Sept. 5, Capt. Dupuis and O’Hare will put on a continuing education program for area first responders at the LIT Multi-Purpose Center. First responders who wish to register for the course should call the LIT Regional Police Academy at (409) 880-8022.

The Salute to Real American Heroes celebrates area first responders and active military.

The event raises scholarship monies for the LIT Foundation. The scholarships are awarded to outstanding students in the Regional Police Academy, the Regional Fire Academy, homeland security, emergency medical technology and criminal justice programs.

Dinner will be provided by the Cooks 2 Doz. + Inc., and is sponsored by the Sabine Area Restaurant Association.

Tickets are $50 each, and admission is free to active uniformed personnel and their spouses.

Reservations are required. You may reserve a table or buy tickets by visiting the LIT Web site at http://www.lit.edu, or calling (409) 839-2956.