It Happened in Crawford County: Zach Wolfe's dedication to emergency medical services

Zachary Wolfe is the son of Dale and Joan Staib Wolfe. His brother Amos is a lieutenant in the Bucyrus Police Department. His sister Elita is chief deputy in the Clerk of Courts Office.

Zach was born in Crawford County. He started school in Bucyrus at Kilbourne and then middle school until 1993 when the family moved to Holmes Township. He began junior high at Wynford where he enjoyed band, show choir (The Royal Singers) and theatre productions. Zach also spent 4 years in the All-Ohio State Fair Youth Choir and the Cardinal Chorale, a select version of the choir. After 4 years he joined the Youth Choir’s staff. He was also active in 4–H with his animal projects he showed at the Wyandot County Fair. In addition, Zach joined the Holmes Township Fire Department where he currently serves as assistant chief. Zach graduated from Wynford High School in 1999.

Zach went on to Hocking College majoring in fire science and EMS for one year. He came back home and started working for the Rural Metro Ambulance in Marion as an EMT for a year and a half until he got laid off. Zach joined Med Corp in 2001, the 911 service provider for Bucyrus. He also began paramedic school at Tri-Rivers Career Center in Marion, graduating in June 2002, and was hired in Delaware County. At that point he passed his paramedic certification and became a paramedic at Delaware County EMS.

From EMT to EMS instructor

From there, Zach started working in the Ashley station. He asked if he could teach within their training division in addition to working a station assignment. In 2006 he went back to Tri-Rivers and was certified with the State of Ohio as an EMS instructor. He started teaching in the EMT program at Tri-Rivers and also started as an instructor in the Ohio Youth Fire and EMS Training Academy. It's a program with the Ohio State Firefighters Association that focuses on teaching the Explorer Programs in the State of Ohio.

It provides a foundation for those who might want to join the fire service and get a taste of what they could be doing when they graduate. They basically do a week-long academy the second week of July at Hocking College. This gives them a chance to experience dorm life and meet students from a dozen states who come through that program. Zach became chief instructor in 2009 and director of the program in 2012.

In 2012 Zach met with the State of Alabama Fire College and helped them get a similar program, modeling it after the one at Hocking College. Next month, Zach will head to New Jersey and teach there. When Zach’s mom was Crawford County auditor, she volunteered at Hocking College and oversaw the dorms, etc. Later on, his dad, Dale, saw what was happening and became an advocate for the program.

Zach worked at Morrow County as EMS supervisor and their training officer for 10 years until July 2014 when he left and started at MedFlight based out of Columbus. It's owned by a consortium of hospitals that provides critical care transport by air and ground. They have nine helicopter bases and four mobile ICU ground bases throughout the state. Zach primarily works on the ground base at OSU Don Scott Airport.

Locally, MedFlight has a helicopter base in Galion. He got his board certification in critical paramedicine in 2016 where all of the staff has advanced certification in critical medicine. He is either teaching or taking classes to maintain his credentials. Zach can go anywhere MedFlight sends him to teach classes — primarily the airway anatomy labs — roughly 20–25 times a year. Link’s Country Meats in Crestline gives Zach pig lungs needed to teach classes. The students love the hands-on experience. It’s a great visual and one of the most requested outreach lectures. He has students working as far away as Alaska.

Zach is still at MedFlight in Delaware County and within the past 10 years has gone back to teaching in the EMS and Fire Program at Hocking College. He also works in the OSU Medical Center Emergency Room teaching students how to be EMTs and paramedics. He has also served as a firefighter medic at Wyandot East Fire District since 2000 and has chaired the Crawford County Public Health Board for the past five years. In 2022, with the dwindling number of volunteer fire and EMS personnel in the State of Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine created a statewide taskforce to try to fix the problem. Zach serves on that taskforce.

Zach’s dream is to have the opportunity to be at home more in Tod Township. The experiences he has gathered he wouldn’t change; it's molded him into what he is today. He doesn’t regret any of his life. He enjoys his friends and co-workers. Zach can go to hospitals anywhere in Ohio and the personnel will joke about how far and wide he is known. He's been in the field for 23 years, has taught many students and hopes to teach many more. Zach plans to retire in 10 to 12 years but still plans to do MedFlight.

Go online for more of Mary Fox’s stories and photos on bucyrustelegraphforum.com. If you are interested in sharing a story, write Mary Fox, 931 Marion Road, Bucyrus, OH 44820 or email [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Zach Wolfe's career in EMS includes teaching youth, firefighters, MedFlight