Ambulance Service has new director
Adam Grant, 33, of Blue Earth, is the new director for the Springfield Ambulance Service.
He began work here on December 27, and is busy organizing his office, getting acquainted with the ambulance crew, health care providers, and the community. “I want to make sure that everything runs smoothly and make sure that we keep providing good service to the community,” he said during an interview last week.
Springfield Ambulance Service continues its contract for management services with Gold Cross Medical Transport as has been done for the past 13 years. The ambulance service is an enterprise fund of the city. The enterprise fund establishes a separate accounting and financial reporting mechanism for a municipal service for which a fee is charged in exchange for goods and services. The revenue is expected to support the operation.
Grant grew up in Winne-bago. He attended elementary school in Winnebago, junior and senior high classes in Blue Earth Area Schools, then studied college courses in Mankato at Minnesota State University and South Central College. Grant worked at various jobs through high school and college, and was undecided about what direction to take in his choice of career. He had some friends working for the American Red Cross who influenced him to work in its mobile blood drives. “It was my introduction to the medical field,” he said. He spent two and a half years working as a phlebotomist. That provided him experiences and the opportunity to work as a medical laboratory technologist at Mayo Clinic Health Systems in Albert Lea and Austin. “I really enjoyed going to the ER, in the atmosphere hearing doctors and staff talking about various medical issues, and that sparked my interest” in a medical profession, he said. During his work with MCHS he learned more about the EMT program. He enrolled in a six-month EMT course at Riverland Community College in Austin and after successfully completing the course and passing national examinations and physical requirements, he was certified under Minnesota Emergency Medical Services Board.
A work opportunity with Gold Cross Medical Transport in Albert Lea occurred a month later. He applied for the job, was interviewed and hired. “I started with Gold Cross as an EMT in May 2013, and instantly liked the job,” he recalled. “I wanted to know what more I could learn, what more could I do?” His colleagues informed him of the paramedic program at South Central College in North Mankato. “I signed up for that, was accepted and started my education there in August 2013 and finished in May 2015. He took classes two nights a week and every other Saturday while he continued fulltime EMT work, then became a full-time student while doing clinicals. He continued working in Albert Lea as a paramedic, transferring to Fairmont in Sept. 2016.
He saw the job posting for the Springfield Ambulance Service director position a couple of months ago, made application for the job, was interviewed and hired.
“The ambulance service and the crew have been here for many years, so to be a part of that group who have that kind of experience is great,” Grant said. His daily responsibilities include inspection of the rigs, record keeping, scheduling of workers, lining up classes for continuing education for the crew, and taking service calls from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. five days a week, Monday through Friday. His main goal is retention and recruitment of crew to ensure success and strength of the department. “It really does take the whole community to work together to make it work well,” he said.
Grant and his family live in Blue Earth. His wife, Kristin, is a financial analyst for IBM Rochester and works out of their home. They are parents of three daughters: Ava, 10, Makayla, 8, and Cassidy, 5.