When someone calls 911, Allen County EMS personnel are likely walking into the worst moment of that person’s life.
New EMS Director Colter Whiting wants the community to understand just how much training, equipment and preparation goes into being ready for that moment.
Whiting took over as the county’s EMS director July 20, replacing Michael Burnett, who left the department in May after 13 years at the helm.
Whiting has worked in Allen County full-time since 2024 and brings 20 years of experience in emergency medical services to the position.
His career in emergency services began in 2003 when he was a firefighter in Washington. “I got interested in 2003,” Whiting said. “I got fully certified in 2004. I’ve been in EMS since then.”
WHITING, 41, grew up primarily in California, although he has moved around frequently. He was a station captain for a volunteer fire department in Washington and also worked with various wildland firefighting crews there.
From Washington, his career took him to New Mexico, where he spent 13 years as a paramedic. He worked alongside various federal entities and served with the Doña Ana County Fire Rescue and the Mesilla Fire Department, where he was an EMS lieutenant.
He also ran an EMS agency out of El Paso, Texas, for a federal entity and worked for various federal agencies in Washington, including teaching wilderness medicine. “That was a lot of fun,” he said.
Whiting holds a bachelor’s degree in health science from Grand Canyon University in Arizona, with an emphasis in advanced patient care and professional development.
His professional certifications include paramedic, advanced wilderness life support, advanced medical life support, advanced cardiac life support, pediatric advanced life support, pre-hospital trauma life support, tactical combat casualty care and tactical emergency casualty care.
His move to Allen County was about more than work. “My family lives here,” Whiting said, noting that his father lives in LaHarpe.
Now, Whiting is responsible for leading an EMS department while also dealing with many of the same challenges facing emergency medical services across the country.
ONE OF the biggest is a shortage of highly trained personnel, particularly paramedics. “When you’re looking for staffing, there is just a national shortage for EMS agencies,” he noted.
Whiting said another problem is that EMS is not generally considered an essential service by states. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, only 19 states and the District of Columbia have enacted legislation explicitly using the term “essential” to define EMS in statute.
He believes part of the staffing problem comes from the amount of education and responsibility required of paramedics.
Paramedics are trained to interpret EKGs and provide advanced medical treatment in the field. During cardiac arrest, Whiting said, paramedics can perform many of the same procedures as physicians.
