JCEMS' Brian Jennemann loses battle with meningitis

By JOHN HULTGREN
Kentucky EMS Connection

LOUISVILLE — Brian Jennemann, 27, a new Jefferson County EMS emergency medical technician, died this morning at University of Louisville Hospital from what JCEMS officials are considering a work-related case of bacterial meningitis.

Earlier this morning over 60 EMS workers from around the Louisville area gathered outside the Emergency Department at University of Louisville Hospital, and then moved under Jennemann's window, to hold a candlelight vigil, praying for a miracle. At that time Jennemann was on a ventilator in grave condition.

Jennemann worked as an EMT with Yelllow EMS in Louisville for about five years before joining Jefferson County (Louisville) EMS almost six months ago.

Paramedic Matt Creed, Jennemann's partner at JCEMS, described him Thursday to the Louisville Courier-Journal as "just a big, quiet guy," a "very nice guy who would do anything for you."

Creed had known Jennemann for the past four years because they were also partners at Yellow EMS. 

"You get closer to (your partner) than your spouse," Creed said. "You get to know every bit of their life, and they get to know every little bit of yours."

"Even though he's only been with us for five-and-a-half months, he's part of our family," JCEMS Capt. Todd Early told WLKY-TV yesterday. "It's a little different when it's one of your own. We're all pretty shook up about it."

"One of his proudest moments was when he joined Jefferson County EMS," said Jennemann's uncle, Dave Rupp. "He followed in my footsteps. He said he was going to retire from there." Rupp is retired from Louisville EMS.

Creed first noticed that Jennemann was ill on Monday with symptoms of a cold. He didn't report for work Tuesday and was transported to University of Louisville Hospital after he was discovered in his apartment by his roommate, a co-worker.

Bacterial meningitis causes inflammation of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord. It usually has an incubation period of three to four days and can be spread through close contact. 

"This type of meningitis . . .  has a very rapid course," the health department's Communicable Disease Director, Dr. Kraig Humbaugh, told the Courier Journal Wednesday.

The Jefferson County Health Department checked all runs that Jennemann made in the seven days before his hospitalization. There were only 14 runs and in only three of them was Jennemann close enough to the patients to make officials worry that he might have infected them, said Dave Langdon, a spokesman for the health department. 

Three patients have been given oral antibiotics as a precaution. Three family members, his roommate, his fiancee, and other EMTs and paramedics at JCEMS have also been given antibiotics as a precaution.

"There is no public health threat here," Langdon said. We are reasonably certain we've done everything to stop the spread."

The disease is spread through direct contact with oral or nasal secretions, Langdon said, but it cannot be transmitted through casual contact.

According to health officials, there are about 6 - 10 cases of bacterial meningitis annually in Jefferson County. One in every 10 cases is fatal, and one in every seven cases leaves the patient with a severe handicap.

A 37-year-old New Albany (Indiana) woman died Sunday of meningitis. She had gone to Floyd Memorial Hospital but died before tests could even be processed.

Funeral arrangements for Jennemann are still pending.

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