Delaware County EMS

It’s that time of the year for the Delaware County Emergency Management fan drive for People In Need, Inc.
Drop new box fans off to any DCEMS station and we’ll get them to PIN. Thanks in advance for your generosity in keeping Delaware County cool!

Happy Friday, Delaware County! Monday officially begins the Delaware County Emergency Management Fans For Friends box fan drive to help Delaware County residents in need beat the heat this summer. Extreme heat is the #1 cause of weather-related deaths in the US each year. Working with our partners at People In Need, Inc. (PIN), we set a goal of 350 donated box fans to be distributed to Delaware County residents served by PIN. Last year, your generosity positively impacted 244 local families. A special shout-out to our donation collection partners at all of our fire departments, EMS stations, and public libraries in Delaware County, as well as at SourcePoint and PIN. Starting Monday, June 1st, and continuing through September 15th, you can drop off a new box fan at any of these locations. Please see the flyer for days/times. Will you help us help a friend in need? Delaware County District Library Wornstaff Memorial Public Library Community Library - Sunbury, OH @ SourcePoint: Thrive after 55

Continuing our day celebrating the men and women of DCEMS both past and present, we are excited to share about our first-ever retirees breakfast hosted in conjunction with the IAEP Local R7-11 and the Delaware County Citizens Academy Alumni (Delco EMS Citizens Academy Alumni). All groups joined together to serve 15 of our retired members at the Brown Township Delaware Ohio hall in Kilbourne. It was a great time for our retired members to gather around the table, have a meal, and reminisce about their time at DCEMS. These 15 individuals that joined us today provided a combined total of 375 years of service to the residents of Delaware County Ohio. As we close out National EMS Week, we are thankful for the years of service these men and women gave to Delaware County to lay the foundation for the agency we are today.

We’ve made it to Saturday, the last day of EMS week 2026 and the theme for today is remembrance. DCEMS has a rich history of service to the community and excellence in patient care and none of that would be possible without those who did the job before us and those in the job now. Whether these individuals are still with us or have passed away, we are indebted to them for their contributions to the community.
We’re limited in how many photos we can post so we’ll be including more in our comments and on our stories. We hope you will do the same!

And our final recognitions on Recognition Day of EMS weeks belongs to those who have put forth significant efforts for the betterment of our department, our community, prehospital medicine and beyond.
We are proud to recognize the following individuals with the following awards:
Directors Award - Lt. Travis Ries
Excellence in Service Awards - Paramedic Cory Gherman
Coordinator or Officer of the Year - Coordinator Ben Berger
Medical Director's Award - Paramedic Robert Glaze
Customer Service Award - Paramedic Michael Rezentes
EMT of the Year - EMT James Bebris
Paramedic of the Year - Lt. Jess Paqari

Congratulations to all our award recipients and thank you all for your contributions to the health and wellness of our community.