NC Native Becomes Carteret County EMS Coordinator

June 23--MOREHEAD CITY -- A career in emergency medical services has come full circle for a Jacksonville native who has returned to work in the area where he first learned EMS work is what he loves.

Stephen Rea began his duties June 9 as the new Carteret County EMS Coordinator and said he and his wife, Jan, who is from Morehead City, are glad to be back in their home communities.

"My wife is from Carteret County, and since both of us grew up in the area we thought it would be good to start thinking about coming back, and then I heard about this position," Rea said.

The two met while they were attending paramedic school at Coastal Carolina Community College, but Rea's love for EMS work and the health care profession dates back further than that.

His best friend talked him into getting involved with the Jacksonville Rescue Squad as a junior volunteer and he stayed with the program from 1985 to 1987, his senior year in high school. The experience solidified for him that he wanted to work in the health care field.

"The junior volunteer program was good for that. You could see whether you wanted to go into that career or if it wasn't the thing for you," Rea said.

It proved to be the career for him and motivated him to join the Navy after high school, during which time he served as a corpsman.

After three and a half years in the Navy, he worked at the naval hospital at Charleston, South Carolina, before returning to Jacksonville and pursuing his associate's degree in applied science at CCCC in emergency medicine/paramedic service.

His career took him to Union County, where he worked as a paramedic for 12 years, and then to Piedmont EMS in Fort Mill, South Carolina. Before heading to Carteret County, he had been working as executive director at Thomas Jefferson EMS Council in Charlottesville, Virginia, since December 2008.

His previous job required working with a number of EMS agencies for six local county governments and one city.

"I saw this position as a good opportunity to get back to a one-county system," he said.

Carteret County has an EMS system of nine paramedics who serve the county through its three stations set up in the eastern, western and central sections of the county. It also coordinates with the municipal services in the county.

While he misses working in the field at times, Rea said an administrative role is an opportunity to work with the paramedics and the county officials to ensure quality care for all the citizens they serve.

"I feel I can steer what we do as an EMS service to provide the best care possible for everyone we serve," he said.

Rea received his bachelor's degree in health care administration from Pfeiffer University and is currently completing a master's degree in business administration with a concentration in health care administration.

Rea has also maintained his National Paramedic Registration for 14 years.

He and his wife have five children, ages 15 to 29.

The Carteret County Emergency Services office has seen other changes as well.

Longtime employee Jo Ann Spencer, who was serving as deputy director for the Emergency Services office, retired in May after more than 20 years with the office.

With her retirement, the position was reclassified with a greater focus on emergency management planning. Jen Sawyer, who was working in the county's Consolidated 911 Center, was named Emergency Management coordinator/planner.

Copyright 2014 - The Daily News, Jacksonville, N.C.