EMS Chief Comes Home

Being the "local boy done good" isn't necessarily how Tony Hartman sees himself, but he fits the picture.

"It's neat being able to come back to my home town and see the friends I grew up with and how we're now the leaders of the community," he said.

Hartman, a 1981 Warsaw Community High School graduate, returned to his roots last January to take over operations of Multi-Township Emergency Medical Service.

"My wife and I, after we adopted our daughter, decided this is the area where we wanted to raise our children," he said.

And Hartman had a firm basis on which to base that decision, having worked in the emergency medical field since 1981, serving EMS agencies in Fort Wayne, Reno, Nev., and Tampa, Fla.

Upon returning to Warsaw, he took over as operations manager for MTEMS, sharing responsibilities with Business Director Cindy Dobbins.

The board split the managerial position into an administrator and an operations manager. The pair manage the operation, which includes 10 full-time and six part-time paramedics and nine advanced emergency medical technicians.

"I work hand-in-hand with Cindy," Hartman said.

The major challenge Hartman faces is managing his staff and striving for continual improvement.

"I work very hard handling the personnel issues and keeping everyone focused on the goals of the service and keeping them improving," he said.

One of the hardest parts of his job is dealing with the tragedy he and his staff see nearly every day.

"It's very hard sometimes," he said. "I can usually justify it or rationalize it that sometimes those we serve are better off if they don't make it, but it doesn't make it any easier," he said. "It's like my paramedic instructor said: 'When you get to the point you stop caring, it's time to get out.'

"It's just the point that we do what we can and then you have realize that after that it's out of your hands," he said.

What does he enjoy most about his job? Being able to do what he knows is the root of his satisfaction.

"The pat answer is that I like helping people," he said. "But really, it's all I know. I started out as an EMT at 18, so I've done this my whole adult life.

"It has its bad times - like that run we had (Monday) on Fox Farm Road, but it has its good points, like delivering babies or saving someone in cardiac arrest. Those times make me realize the good that we do," he said. "And a lot of the times, it's just being there and holding their hands to make them feel better. That's what really helps."