Wesley Wells becomes Lee County Public Safety director

ALBANY — Following a two-decade-plus career riding the firetrucks and ambulances of Albany and Lee County, second-generation firefighter and trained paramedic Wesley Wells has a new challenge ahead of him as he prepares to blend Lee County’s fire and EMS services into one Public Safety division.

After months of discussion between county leaders about how to best manage and maximize the the county’s two emergency services, with particular attention being paid to employee costs and county’s ISO rating, the Lee County Board of Commissioners recently made the decision to authorize the hiring of an interim Public Safety director.

Following a brief search, interim County Co-managers Mike Sistrunk and Christi Dockery recommended Southwest Georgia native Wells, who has been a fixture with both the fire and EMS departments since becoming a firefighter/EMT with Lee County six years ago.

Wells, a married father of five, has an extensive background in all aspects of public safety, having gained experience in fighting major commercial fires, serving as part of the regional hazardous materials response team, and participating in vehicle rescues and extractions.

He also handled response and rescue during the 1994 and 1998 floods, and has received numerous medals for valor. He has also been named “Firefighter of the Year.”

Additionally, Wells holds an associate’s degree in Fire Science, has advanced training in incident command and handling explosives, as well as having received weapons of mass destruction and Homeland Security Training.

“I’ve been around this area my whole life, I was born and raised in Albany,” said the second-generation firefighter and new Public Safety director during a recent sit-down. “I’ve been in public safety almost 26 years. I’ve worked most of my service in Albany, (and) I’ve been working for Lee County since 2010 as a firefighter/EMT.”

That chance to becoming a paramedic, Wells said, was not unlike his acceptance of the new Public Safety role, as it was motivated by a desire to further his career and to make sure his friends and neighbors throughout the area were getting the best emergency service the county could offer.

“I started out firefighting, and in 2009 I decided to go back to school to become an EMT. That was driven from the standpoint of working enough critical incidents in the fire service that I wanted to learn better how to treat patients,” said Wells.

Although hearing an alarm and not grabbing his gear and jumping on a firetruck or into an ambulance will take some getting used to, Wells said he believes it’s the right decision and one that seems to be supported by his fellow public servants.

“When a call comes in and suddenly you’re not the one going out in the field responding to emergencies, it’s a little different,” he said. “I’ve been riding the trucks and performing in the field for almost 26 years, and I was just ready to advance my career into more of a management-type role and a leadership position.

“I’ve always had a sense of leadership and have kind of been a go-to person in the services, so it is a little different anytime you transition from being an employee to being the leader of the organization. There’s always that transition phase, but it has been extremely well-received by both the general staff and the management staff. It’s been a really nice transition, and everyone has been extremely positive and energetic about the change.”

Wells said he believes the reason he’s been well-received in the new role is because the team of firefighters, paramedics and firefighter/EMTs currently serving Lee County believe in what the county, and by extension, Wells is trying to accomplish with the change.

“Our ultimate goal is to have it where everyone is dual-trained so that any call that comes for help, we can send adequate personnel to take care of any emergency the citizens of Lee County are faced with,” Wells said. “The good thing is that we have an overall vision, and our mission is to provide absolutely, the most-professional, best-trained services that we can to the citizens. Through that vision, everyone has adopted the same thought process in moving us forward and being one unit.”

Wells said the Public Safety department currently has 20 full-time paramedics who achieved firefighter certification and 15 firefighters who are receiving in-house training as emergency technicians. As more of the team become dual-certified, Wells said the department is moving closer to its goal of the entire team being able to respond to any given situation.

“By having these extra trained personnel on the scene, our success rate in rescues and extinguishing structure fires is greatly increased,” Wells said. “The largest benefit to it is that we have enough personnel on the scene to allow us to perform the jobs of life safety and property conservation, which are our primary duties.”

In addition to working toward dual training for the entire public safety team, Wells said he is also hoping the county can update the technology and equipment of the Public Safety department, which again will allow it to better serve the county’s residents.

“We are currently looking to develop an Advanced Life Support engine that would be capable of treating any medical emergency but without transport capabilities,” he said. “They could respond and immediately start all life-saving measures and then have an ambulance come in for transport.”

If Wells is able to guide the department to where he and other county leaders think it should be, there is also a hope that the county’s ISO rating, which is currently at a Class 5, will be improved, thus helping to reduce insurance costs for the county and for county homeowners.

“You’re trying to go down,” said Wells of the ISO rating. “A class 1 is the very best you can get. And its extremely difficult to achieve. For the resources we have, Class 5 is actually not bad at all. But we are always looking for ways to improve. Because, the better the service that we provide, it not only helps our citizens but could potentially save them money in insurance costs as well.”

Although Wells said he feels good about the future of the department, he is also aware of some of the challenges the team will have to overcome in order to get where it wants to be.

Once such challenge is scheduling, since paramedics and firefighters have long been on different schedules. Right now, Wells said that isn’t an issue, but there will be some changes that will likely have to be made down the road.

“As we go, things will transition. But as far as the shifts go, I hate to say we will or we will not change any schedules,” he explained. “We’re working through the management of what we have right now and just determining the best overall management of our personnel and resources. Whatever decisions we make will come as we make our transition and we reclassify positions. We are still working two schedules as we go. But we have managed to work it out that that is no longer as much of an issue as it has been in the past.”

Another challenge Wells has identified is handling the cost of providing the training the EMTs and firefighters need to become dual-certified.

“The biggest challenge is being able to acquire the training while keeping the economic side of it in mind and keeping the cost factors as low as possible for the citizens of Lee County,” Wells said. “We’re currently trying to do as much of the training as possible in-house, which keeps us from paying tuition and keeps us from paying the expenses of having to hire additional personnel to cover the time slots for employees to go to class.

“So the biggest challenge is going to be not only getting everyone dual-certified, but also a matter of retaining these employees and having a plan in place for the recurring training that will have to take place to continue full staffing.”

While many of the challenges Wells sees on the horizon are real, he is steadfast in his belief that a unified Public Safety Department will greatly benefit everyone in Lee County.

“I have ideas and thoughts about moving things forward and implementing more advanced technology, and the challenge of I guess you could say blending the fire and EMS services into one Public Safety service was something that I envisioned being involved with,” said Wells. “It’s exciting.”