Piedmont Columbus Regional has named family nurse practitioner Carissa Dehner, Officer Brian Dudley, and K9 partner, Frog, with the Columbus Police Department the organization’s First Friday Heroes for the month of January.

Piedmont Columbus Regional Midtown ER nursing staff were having trouble with a difficult patient who had special life circumstances and had no place to go after being expelled from a group home prior to being at the hospital.

Dudley was walking around the ER with Frog one morning when he noticed flames in this patient’s room. He immediately took action by kicking out the flames with his feet. Dehner heard the commotion, grabbed a hospital blanket, and ran to help put out the fire.

If it weren’t for the fast actions of Dudley and Dehner, patients and staff in nearby rooms could have been seriously injured.

A ceremony with Dehner, Dudley, Frog, and hospital leadership will be held at a later date to commend them for their response. Their story is also featured throughout the hospital on commemorative posters and Piedmont Columbus Regional’s social media pages.

Piedmont Columbus Regional created the First Friday Hero program in mid-2016 to recognize first responders each month who have gone above and beyond the call of duty. Their line of work is often a thankless job and we want to make the community aware of our local heroes and all they do to make Columbus a better and safer place.