Ind. First Responders Recognized at State EMS Conference

A state EMS organization named the leader of Cass County's emergency dispatch center as its dispatcher of the year and a local paramedic as its paramedic of the year.

Cass County's emergency 911 medical provider, Phoenix Paramedic Solutions, announced the Indiana EMS Association honorees in a press release.

Dan McDonald, director of Cass County E-911, received the Johhna Parker Dispatcher of the Year Award at the Annual Indiana EMS Association Conference on Nov. 30.

McDonald's distinguished career in EMS, from a frontline paramedic, and later a dispatcher, and now the director of Cass County E-911, has demonstrated his ability to function at a high level on a daily basis to help to save lives, the press release states.

McDonald possesses the skills needed to calmly advise and communicate with callers to obtain the accurate and essential information necessary to establish priority and to initiate a timely response to emergencies, the release continues. The release notes his ability to work through periods of stress and high call volumes without sacrificing decision making or quality of work.

The award also recognizes McDonald's outstanding ability to manage a busy call center and to coordinate with his staff and with outside agencies for mutual aid when needed, according to the release.

McDonald "is a true asset for the residents of Cass County and we salute his hard work and dedication to service," the release states.

Natives of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, McDonald and his wife, Deborah, reside in Royal Center.

The Indiana EMS Association recognized Chad Bowlby as the Indiana Paramedic of the Year. Paramedics are responsible for saving lives and helping the sick, critically ill and injured. Each day they can face the whole range of human emotions, from compassion to aggression, despair, love and hope, and only rarely do they receive thanks and appreciation, the release states.

A native of Howard County and a Western High School graduate, Bowlby has worked in EMS in Indiana since 1992, first as an EMT and for the past 20 years as a paramedic. He has served as a paramedic in Cass County for the past four years with Prompt—now Phoenix Paramedics.

The award recognizes Bowlby's outstanding clinical and professional skills, his exemplary patient care and his demonstrated ability to work under pressure while saving lives, the press release states.

Bowlby also serves in a leadership role with Phoenix Paramedics, providing valuable mentoring to the medics and EMTs working alongside him in Cass County.